Looking for Thanksgiving writing activities that are standards-focused but still fun? These five Thanksgiving writing activities provide a little variety for your middle school students while also helping them to strengthen their writing skills.
Because Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, the week leading up to this holiday break can be… interesting.
Whether it is the excitement around the approaching holiday, the disruptive schedule, or the lack of focus in other classes, you’re fighting against the tide, trying to keep everyone moving forward without introducing anything entirely new that will lose momentum over the holiday.
That’s where one-day writing activities come in.
These activities are easy to fit into your existing curriculum, require little setup, and provide meaningful opportunities for students to practice middle school ELA skills. No matter what kind of writing you want to work on, Thanksgiving offers plenty of opportunity and inspiration.
We have put together 5 activities that are great for middle school writers as they require some creativity, work on word choice and both narrative and information gathering, and they have something to do with the holiday without being too history-focused.
That being said, once you decide what kind of writing activity you want to do, you can always work alongside other teachers (like the Social Studies teacher) to see how history and research could be incorporated into these writing prompts.
Most students have no idea that the President of the United States pardons a turkey every Thanksgiving.
That’s what makes this activity so engaging.
Start by introducing students to the tradition. We’ve included a short nonfiction passage in the resource. You can also show students images of past Presidential Turkey Pardons. Then, have students answer evidence-based questions before transitioning into the writing portion.
Students write a narrative from the turkey’s perspective, explaining why it deserves to be pardoned. This is heavily based in character development, so the Turkey needs to have a complete personality in his appeal to the President. This is where students can include dialogue, thoughts, descriptive details, and a sequence of events.
This activity naturally blends informational reading, narrative writing, and a unique Thanksgiving tradition.
Descriptive writing becomes much more interesting when students have a real experience to write about… and when it comes to experiences, food is always fun!
Bring in a small Thanksgiving-themed food item, such as popcorn, dried cranberries, apple slices, pumpkin bread, or even a favorite Thanksgiving candy. (Don’t forget to check for allergies before bringing in food.)
Challenge students to describe the experience of eating one of the items without ever naming the food itself.
Encourage them to think about all five senses:
The goal is to create such a vivid description that another student could guess the food without it ever being mentioned.
Not only does this strengthen descriptive writing, but it also helps students understand how sensory details make writing more engaging for readers.
The next of our Thanksgiving writing activities combines research, historical thinking, and creative writing into one engaging project.
Begin by having students research the First Thanksgiving. As they gather information, encourage them to think about what life may have looked like through the eyes of a child.
Then, students create a digital children’s book using Google Slides or another presentation platform.
The main idea is to tell the story of the First Thanksgiving through the eyes of a child.
Their story might follow a modern-day child who travels back in time to experience the First Thanksgiving firsthand, or it could be told from the perspective of a child living during that time period. They can really get creative about how the child gets there and how their own personal experiences affect their perspective.
As students create their books, encourage them to include:
This project is a wonderful way to blend research with narrative writing while giving students an authentic audience for their work.
Optional: Let students add illustrations to their books to tell the whole story and give your artistic students a chance to show off some skills!
One of the easiest writing skills to overlook is word choice, yet it is often the one students struggle with most!
Thanksgiving provides the perfect opportunity to practice replacing ordinary words with stronger, more descriptive vocabulary.
Challenge students to improve sentences like:
“The food was good.”
“We had a nice dinner.”
“The pie tasted good.”
By replacing overused words with more precise language, students begin to recognize how word choice affects the quality of their writing.
As an extension, students can create a Thanksgiving-themed vocabulary display or bulletin board that serves as a classroom reference throughout the season.
Explore our Thanksgiving Word Choice Activity to get a fully built-out example of this activity!
Thanksgiving is filled with traditions, memories, and family stories.
Ask students to think about a Thanksgiving memory that has stayed with them over the years. It could be funny, meaningful, surprising, or even something that didn’t go as planned.
Encourage them to focus on bringing the memory to life by including dialogue, sensory details, pacing, and reflection rather than simply listing events.
Students who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving can instead write about another meaningful family tradition or special gathering that is important to them, or they can watch a movie where someone walks into a home during the holidays; then the student can retell the character’s experience, adding their own flair and description.
This activity gives students an authentic reason to write while helping them practice narrative techniques that transfer to future writing assignments.
The days leading up to Thanksgiving break don’t have to be filled with worksheets or busy work. These Thanksgiving writing activities can be started in early November, or you can save them for the final week before Thanksgiving (or even the week after). No matter what you decide, they are sure to challenge your students while keeping the spirit of this holiday season.
With a few engaging writing activities, students can continue practicing important ELA skills while embracing the excitement of the season. Better yet, many of these activities can be completed in a single class period, making them easy to incorporate into an already busy November schedule.
For even more Thanksgiving ideas for the middle school ELA classroom, check out this blog post!!
