US Thanksgiving HolidayOriginally developed for an ESOL Computers and Language Learning Course,
Fall 1995 with Leslie Opp-Beckman from the American English Institute at the University of Oregon.
Overview
This is a self-paced "webquest" activity. It is an example of how to use the Internet to support learning on a cultural topic, using a fun and interactive approach. Work by yourself or with a friend or classmate. Choose sites that interest you from Webquest Choices below, and do the tasks. Note that there are some additional Educator Resource ideas at the end.
Webquest Choices
Quizzes || Web Tales || Word Games || Fact-Finding || Virtual Tours || Jokes || E-Cards || Compare-Contrast || Recipes
Turkey Trivia Quizzes
Choose and do: See how much you already know about this holiday with one or more of these quizzes.
Brain Drain, Thanksgiving Quiz #24, from Funology.
Let's Talk Turkey, from Family Education.
Thanksgiving History Quiz, from Family Education.
Thanksgiving Pop Culture Quiz, from Family Education.
Wilstar Thanksgiving Quiz.
Fill-in-the-blanks Web Tales
Choose and do: Fill in the blanks with your favorite English words and you will have a funny story to read.
Thanksgiving Dinner, a Mad Lib by Rowan West
Wacky Web Tales: My Amazing Thanksgiving, from Eduplace.
Wild and Wacky, A Holiday Letter, from National Geographic (you can use "Thanksgiving" as the fill-in-the-blank holiday).
Word Games
Choose and do: Try one or more of the puzzles and then check your answers.
Seek-A-Word Thanksgiving Word Puzzle, from Tcastle.
Thanksgiving Meal Word Game and Crossword Puzzle from Internet TESL Journal.
Thanksgiving Puzzle, from Puzzle Me Silly.
Thanksgiving Day Crossword Puzzle, from Sunnie BunnieZZ.
Fact-Finding
Choose and do: How many millions of turkeys do you think the US eats on this holiday? How many pounds of pumpkins? Check your guesses against the facts about these and other "typical" food and side dishes in this report.
Facts for Thanksgiving Day, from the US Census.
Virtual Tours
Choose and do: Take a tour and learn something about homes, food, and customs for this holiday. What has changed since the 17th century? What seems to be the same?
Plimoth Plantation and Online Learning Center, from Smithsonian.
Online Tour, The Thanksgiving Parlour, from the Stanley-Whitman House Museum.
Thanksgiving Day Parade, from Macy's in New York City.
Jokes
Choose and do: Pick a joke, and tell it to a friend. Did he or she laugh?
Gobbler Groaners, from Web Pages for Students, Saskatchewan, canada.
Thanksgiving Jokes, from Jokes and Quotes.
Thanksgiving Riddles and Jokes, from KidsDomain.
Turkey Humor, from Mike Fonseca and Dan Courtney.
Turkey Jokes, from Chevron cars.
Holiday E-Cards
Choose and do: Choose one of these e-cards sites and send a Thanksgiving greeting to a friend, family member, or colleague.
Thanksgiving Ecards
Thanksgiving Day Ecards
123 Greetings, Thanksgiving
What's New? Compare and Contrast
Choose and do: Look for differences in past and present, in places around the US, and in activities that people do to celebrate this holiday.
CNN's "Oh, how that Thanksgiving spread has changed since 1621" with article and pictures about Thanksgiving and its history.
CNN-Interactive with news stories, polls, pictures and more.
Recipes and Menu Makers
Choose and do: There are lots of different ways to put a meal together. What are some of the "traditional" foods? What are some alternatives? Check out the recipe and menu sites below, and see which one(s) most appeal to your sense of taste.
Celebrate with Epicurious.
Low-Fat Thanksgiving Recipes, from Anita Epler.
Thanksgiving Recipes and Say "No problem" to Vegetarian Guests, from All Recipes.
A Thanksgiving Alternative to Turkey, from Teri's Kitchen.[Top]
Teacher support sites have many materials for holidays and cultural occasions on the web. Thanksgiving Theme Unit, from EdHelper, is one such example. For more ideas, visit the Online English Language Center (OELC), Teacher Resources site and select the web guide for Lesson Plans. You can run a search on any of these lesson plans sites for Thanksgiving and other theme-based teaching ideas.
Public media sites (television, newspapers, radio) also make interesting resources available freely through the Web. BBC Language Learning, CNN Student News, Discovery School, The New York Times Learning Network, and PBS Teacher Source, are just a few.
Web directories offer lists of sites for Thanksgiving, harvest festivals and holidays in other countries, and other topics. For kids and teens in particular, run your searches through youth-friendly resources such as DMOZ Kids and Teens, Google Kids and Teens, Ithaki for Kids (a meta-search engine), or Yahooligans.
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