Little School on the Range: Then and Now

I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving! I love the holiday and teaching everything about it. However, by the time that the kiddos hit second and third grade, they have done all the cutesy Thanksgiving things that us teachers love to do. The turkey hat is cute, but it loses its charm after first grade;)

I have found that Thanksgiving is a great way to incorporate some of my “Now and Then” standards. You can teach about the first Thanksgiving while comparing it to the Thanksgiving that we celebrate today.

Fantastic discussion starters for comparing the First Thanksgiving to the present Thanksgiving:

How long did the first Thanksgiving last? How about ours?

What did they eat at the first Thanksgiving? What do you like to eat at yours?

How did they talk back then? Now?

Always a favorite – What did they wear at the first Thanksgiving? What about you?

This Thanksgiving Now and Then Unit covers all these questions while teaching about the first Thanksgiving. It also contains several interactive components that allow to you use this in your interactive notebooks or to make lapbooks! You can buy the unit alone or as BUNDLE that includes a fun presentation to spark your students’ interest.

The 100^th day of school is almost here! By the time that most kiddos are 2^nd graders, they seem to have already done all of the fun 100^th day of school activities. Yes – they have made funny hats, they have brought 100 things from home, they’ve made the 100 necklace – in other words, they know the usual drill. To change things up for my kiddos, I like to incorporate the 100^th day of school into my Social Studies unit for the week. I truly feel that Social Studies is one of the subjects that often gets swept to the side. I think that Social Studies is crucial. Students need to understand their community and the world around them. That is why I LOVE teaching this unit! I have had so many responses from parents and grandparents over the years after teaching this unit. Parents and grandparents enjoy sharing their memories of growing up with their children.

We talk about how school has changed in the past 100 years. Students love looking at pictures of schools from the past. How have the buildings changed? How have the classrooms changed? How have the students changed?

(Pictures from Life 100 Years Ago Presentation)

We also discuss how our communities have changed. Cities and towns have changed so much! I like to show a past picture of New York City and compare it with a current picture of New York City. Since we live within an hour of Austin, we also look at past and present pictures of Austin (since most of my students have visited there). Why are there more people walking the older picture? Why are there more vehicles in the current picture?

(Pictures from Life 100 Years Ago Presentation)

My students also like to look how farming has changed in the past 100 years (we live in a rural farming community). I like to let them guess what older pieces of equipment were used for. What pieces of equipment have made farming easier? Why can farmers now produce more food? Why do they need to farm more land?

Households have also changed a great deal over the past 100 years. What did telephones look like? What did washing machines look like back then? What kind of chores did kids have back then? The discussion questions are endless!!!