A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Lesson Plan

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a great introduction to Thanksgiving, particularly for EFL or ESL students who don't know a lot about the holiday. It covers the Thanksgiving football game, the turkey dinner, the theme of gratitude and friendship, even a name-drop of the Mayflower and Miles Standish! Students are led to discuss Thanksgiving traditions, the meaning of Thanksgiving, and key holiday vocabulary. The movie also lends itself to discussing hospitality and being a good guest as Peppermint Patty invites herself and friends over to Charlie Brown's for Thanksgiving dinner.

This is a favorite that gets students talking and thinking deeply about the holiday! It also makes you feel a little less guilty that you want to pop a video on during Thanksgiving week! This lesson plan requires no preparation, but is also very flexible and adaptable. Use any individual section alone or supplement the lesson with your own materials.

Inside Find:

• A warm-up where students brainstorm what they already know about Thanksgiving and then formulate questions about what else they want to know.
• A summary of the video divided into scenes with the key vocabulary and action listed, for your use. It's also a great way to lead students through the video.
• Video Comprehension Questions, in two differentiated versions-open-ended and multiple choice, for students to answer as they watch, to help guide their comprehension, as well as questions to answer after they watch to guide them in summarizing the video.
• Post-film discussion questions to get students thinking and talking about the meaning of thanksgiving and similar holidays in their culture. They can also discuss the central dilemma of the film
• Teacher Notes
• Answer Key to Comprehension Questions
• Extension ideas, such as acting out a scene from the film or creating their own holiday of thanks!

This activity does NOT include the actual video as that is copyrighted. You can find it for sale or rent on many major streaming and video sites.

Also I will be adding resources acknowledging the native perspective from native voices as it has come to my attention that this is neglected in the movie and my lesson plan. In the meantime, I recommend this book: https://keepunumuk.com/ and also looking at some of the educational resources here: https://bioneers.org/decolonizing-thanksgiving/ to give your students a well-rounded perspective!

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For another Thanksgiving Day lesson plan, check out my Food and Holidays Lesson Plan

For another Charlie Brown video guide, I have my best-selling and beloved A Charlie Brown Christmas lesson plan as well.