Top 10 Lesson Plans for Thanksgiving
This year, the nation will celebrate Thanksgiving on November 28th. Bring holiday spirit to your class with these helpful teaching tools. Here are our top 10 Thanksgiving resources to use in your classroom:
-
November 25, 2013 -
September 1, 2013 Celebrate the Meaning of Labor Day
Millions of Americans celebrate Labor Day weekend by traveling and visiting family. Make time to learn about the holiday’s origins, traditions, and themes with our ebook: “The Meaning of Labor Day.” Our ebook features short stories, speeches, and songs from authors like Jack London, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain, and labor activists like Samuel Gompers and Mother Jones.
-
May 30, 2013 The History of Flag Day
Did you know that the founder of Flag Day was a teacher? During the 1880s, a young school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin by the name of Bernard J. Cigrand began advocating for a nationwide celebration of the flag.
-
May 29, 2013 Teaching Flag Day
On June 14, we celebrate Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the American Flag in 1777. Though iconic today—it is hard to imagine World War II without also picturing the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, or to think about 9/11 without also seeing the New York firefighters hoisting the red, white, and blue above the ruins of the World Trade Center—the American flag has a long and … Read more »
-
February 22, 2013 Happy birthday, George Washington!
Even though we as a nation celebrated his birthday holiday on Monday, today—February 22—is George Washington’s actual birthday. (To learn more about Washington’s life and career, read our short biography here.) To celebrate, and to consider what George Washington’s legacy means for us today, read Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.’s “Ode for Washington’s Birthday.” Holmes (1809–94) wrote this poem for the Boston Mercantile Library Association’s celebration of Washington’s birthday … Read more »
-
February 15, 2013 How to celebrate Washington’s Birthday holiday
Monday is George Washington’s birthday holiday—or, as it is more popularly known, Presidents’ Day. How should we as a nation observe the day? Is there more to the day than mattress sales and a day off from work?
Americans in the past have certainly thought so. In 1832, the centennial year of George Washington’s birthday, Daniel Webster said that “a hundred years hence, other disciples of Washington will celebrate … Read more »
-
February 14, 2013 Young George Washington
George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 to Augustine Washington (1694–1743) and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington (1708–89), at their family plantation at Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia. When Washington, at age 11, lost his father to a sudden illness, the family owned nearly 50 slaves and 10,000 acres of land, planting the family firmly in the landed gentry of Virginia—though by no means near the top of that … Read more »
-
February 13, 2013 George Washington for our time
On December 26, 1799, Henry Lee delivered the immortal words that George Washington was “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” This was undoubtedly true—200 years ago. Today, the power of the name has faded, and come Monday we are more likely to celebrate Presidents’ Day sales than we are the presidents themselves. And although the federal holiday remains “Washington’s Birthday” … Read more »
-
February 12, 2013 Do we celebrate Washington’s Birthday or Presidents’ Day?
With the federal holiday celebrating George Washington’s birthday just around the corner—on Monday, February 18—it’s a good time to raise the question: Do we celebrate Washington’s Birthday or Presidents’ Day? This introduction to Washington’s Birthday comes from our new ebook on the holiday; check back here later today for complete readings.
Remembering the birthday of George Washington—February 22, 1732—should be a particularly cherished national obligation. Americans celebrated Washington’s Birthday … Read more »
-
January 18, 2013 Preparing for Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
With the official celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day just a few days away, it’s a good time to take a look at King’s work itself and ways that it can influence how we observe the day in his honor on Monday. As we note in “The Origins and Traditions of Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” in 1994, Congress passed the Read more »
