If you follow along here, you may know how I feel about celebrating Thanksgiving. I am on the let's cancel Columbus side. But hear me out. It is important that we know what happened and the history of settlers coming to America. It is important we also learn about the indigenous people that came before. I just don't think there should be a holiday celebrating what he did or perceiving him as a leader we should follow.
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But I can't just tell you to cancel Columbus and not give you some great alternatives for this month for your classroom. If you are looking for fun November books that are not focused on Columbus and instead focus on indigenous people, check out my latest blog post for some of my faves.
My former classroom had 3 bulletin boards. I made one a writing wall, one an art wall, and my outside bulletin board, a Buddy Class board. We would do an activity with our Buddy Class and would decorate the board together. The picture above of the turkey with the feathers, was an activity we all did together.
That activity was super simple. We cut out the feathers (yay fine motor skills) and wrote down what we were thankful for. Then of course we decorated the paper feather with craft feathers and glitter.
Other activities you can do with your children or students can focus on the community, being thankful, and food! In my FREE Buddy Class Curriculum, you can get weekly activities to do in your classroom or with your children. The curriculum is free when you sign up for my monthly newsletter!
One of my former students was not able to control how much he ate and would eat until he threw up. This activity also gave us the space to discuss rules on eating for him. We had to give him direct rules on how many helpings you can get from a buffet and how to regulate it. How long to wait until you get more food. What activities do we do after we eat so much food. All of these activities are flexible and can be easily modified to what your students need to learn.
I also love anything to do with change. Fall has the leaves changing, the end of the year bringing closure and a new beginning is change, and let's be real, we are always changing, this is the time we reflect on it.
Having activities where students can reflect on themselves and how they are changing like the seasons is always fun. Appreciating where you have been and where you are going to go is a great activity for November. Click on the image to the right for a free worksheet!
Please add picture icons or word prompts for your students if necessary. And enjoy!!
The worksheet to the right is down below!
Have you tried any of these? Have any to add? Let me know!
Inclusion Starts With You
and I just want to help
Kayla
xx
