If you’re looking for Thanksgiving lesson plans for math and literacy, I have some great ideas to share with you today! The week before Thanksgiving is such a fun time to learn more about your students, their families, and their unique traditions while still working on academic skills. Over the years, I have implemented several week-before-Thanksgiving activities that students just love and that parents appreciate. Here are a few Thanksgiving lesson plans for big kids that are perfect for the week before Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Table Writing Activity

This writing activity is always a hit, and I can’t wait to do it with my kids this year! As a class, we brainstorm what our Thanksgiving tables look like AFTER the meal and turn it into a beautiful piece of descriptive writing. If your students don’t all celebrate Thanksgiving, you can do this about any big meal they might enjoy. It’s a great time to work on vivid, descriptive writing, but also learn more about everyone’s unique holiday traditions! You can learn all about this FREE and super low-prep Thanksgiving writing activity HERE.

Thanksgiving Dinner Digits Math Project

This isn’t your average “plan Thanksgiving dinner” math project! I created this project years ago to give students the opportunity to really think about all the work and planning that goes into Thanksgiving dinner. Every year, I have parents come back after Thanksgiving and tell me how impactful this project was on their children. It is available in both printable and digital format, and it’s best for grades 4+ with the differentiated pages! You can get this best-selling Thanksgiving project HERE.

For even more Thanksgiving math, try these Thanksgiving Math by the Numbers Activities! This resource is an engaging way for your students to work on math skills and apply them to real-world situations at the same time! It includes two DIFFERENT themed printable activities for Thanksgiving and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Fall Using Pictures to Teach Inference

If your students are still honing their inference skills, I created the perfect free practice page for you with a sweet Thanksgiving theme. Click HERE to download your FREE version of Using Pictures to Teach. It includes a printable and digital version.

I also have a complete version of Fall Using Pics to Teach to help you teach and review reading, language, and figurative language skills. There’s a mix of fall and Halloween themes, so it’s perfect to use for a wider range of time and not just Thanksgiving. It covers Inference, Main Idea, Story Elements, Compare and Contrast, Sequencing, Cause and Effect, Fact and Opinion, Point of View, Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Prepositions, Adverbs, Idioms, Personification and Hyperbole, and Similes & Metaphors!

Thanksgiving Reading Skills Activities

If you are looking for a huge review of skills, this fall bundle may be just what you need! You can either print the task cards out and play Scoot, do a scavenger hunt, incorporate games, or use them in literacy centers, or you can use the digital versions to help students practice their essential reading skills with a festive fall theme. Click HERE for this fall reading bundle of activities.

I hope these resources can help you in your planning this week! Of course, I love to incorporate a ton of Thanksgiving books (Balloons over Broadway is always a favorite), as well as discussion and learning about the first Thanksgiving. I highly recommend checking out Read Like a Rockstar for fantastic resources about teaching the history of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Logic Puzzles for Reading and Math

Logic puzzles are the perfect activities to sprinkle into your lessons all year long, and I have options for both reading and math!

These Thanksgiving-themed reading logic puzzles help students solve a fun family Thanksgiving reading mystery. They are the perfect way to build critical thinking in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. There are a total of SEVEN logic puzzles for students to solve. One logic puzzle is meant for practice. FOUR puzzles help students solve a high-interest reading mystery, and TWO puzzles stand alone.

You can also enrich and extend your math lessons with these Thanksgiving Math Mystery logic puzzles that are the perfect challenge for 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. The puzzles are skills-based, so they integrate well with almost ANY math lesson or cumulative review!  These four differentiated options will help your students increase their logical reasoning in a way that’s so much fun and perfect for the season.

Black Friday Math and Literacy

Nobody is in school on Black Friday, but kids LOVE learning about this day! They see advertisements for it, hear parents talk about it, and now they can learn about it while practicing their math and literacy skills! It’s FREE, and you can download this Black Friday math and literacy activity HERE.

I hope these ideas make your Thanksgiving lesson plans easier to prep and more fun, too!