Microsoft Word - thanksgiving.doc

www.ESL HOLIDAY LESSONS.com

THANKSGIVING

http://www.eslHolidayLessons.com/11/thanksgiving.html

CONTENTS:

The Reading / Tapescript

2

Phrase Match

3

Listening Gap Fill

4

Listening / Reading Gap Fill

5

Choose the Correct Word

6

Multiple Choice

7

Spelling

8

Put the Text Back Together

9

Scrambled Sentences

10

Discussion

11

Student Survey

12

Writing

13

Homework

14

ALL ANSWERS ARE IN THE TEXT ON PAGE 2.

THANKSGIVING

THE READING / TAPESCRIPT

Thanksgiving is a very American holiday. It is also called

Thanksgiving Day. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in

November every year. It used to be a religious holiday to give

thanks to God. There are two versions of the origins of this holiday.

One is thanks for the early settlers arriving in America safely. On

December the 4th, 1619, a group of English pioneers arrived at a

place called Berkeley Hundred, in Virginia. The group made a

promise that the day of their arrival should be a "day of

thanksgiving" to God. The second version is the thanks given to

Native Americans for teaching the pilgrims how to catch eels and

grow corn in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1941, President Roosevelt

made Thanksgiving a federal holiday.

The main event of any Thanksgiving is the Thanksgiving dinner. It is

traditional to have baked or roasted turkey. This is usually

accompanied with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, fall

vegetables, cranberry sauce, and gravy. Pumpkin pie is the most

commonly eaten dessert. The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is one

of the busiest times of the year for traveling. It is a four-day or five-

day weekend vacation for most schools and colleges, and many

businesses and government workers get three or four days off.

Thanksgiving is also the unofficial signal for Christmas preparations

to begin. Once Thanksgiving finishes, stores fill their shelves with

Christmas goods. It is also a bad time to be a turkey.

THANKSGIVING

PHRASE MATCH

Match the following phrases from the article.

Paragraph 1

1.

a very American

a.

promise

2

the fourth Thursday

b.

to God

3.

to give thanks

c.

holiday

4.

made a

d.

corn

5.

how to

e.

in November

6.

grow

f.

catch eels

Paragraph 2

1.

The main

a.

eaten dessert

2

accompanied with

b.

days off

3.

the most commonly

c.

times

4.

one of the busiest

d.

event

5.

get three or four

e.

shelves

6.

stores fill their

f.

mashed potatoes

THANKSGIVING

LISTENING GAP FILL

Thanksgiving is a very American holiday. ________________

Thanksgiving Day. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November

every year. ________________ religious holiday to give thanks to

God. There are two ________________ origins of this holiday. One is

thanks for the early settlers arriving in America safely. On December

the 4th, 1619, a group of English pioneers arrived ________________

Berkeley Hundred, in Virginia. The group made a promise that the

________________ should be a "day of thanksgiving" to God. The

second version is ________________ to Native Americans for

teaching the pilgrims how to catch eels and grow corn in Plymouth,

Massachusetts. In 1941, President Roosevelt made Thanksgiving a

federal holiday.

The ________________ Thanksgiving is the Thanksgiving dinner. It is

traditional to have baked or roasted turkey. ________________

accompanied with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, fall vegetables,

cranberry sauce, and gravy. Pumpkin pie is ________________ eaten

dessert. The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is ________________

times of the year for traveling. It is a four-day or five-day weekend

vacation for most schools and colleges, and many businesses and

government workers get three ________________. Thanksgiving is

also the unofficial signal for Christmas preparations to begin. Once

Thanksgiving finishes, stores fill their shelves with Christmas goods. It

is also a ________________ turkey.

THANKSGIVING

WHILE READING / LISTENING GAP FILL

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Thanksgiving is a very American holiday. It is also ____________

Thanksgiving Day. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in

November every year. It ____________ to be a religious holiday

to give thanks to God. There are two ____________ of the origins

of this holiday. One is thanks for the ____________ settlers

arriving in America ____________. On December the 4th, 1619, a

group of English pioneers arrived at a place called Berkeley

Hundred, in Virginia. The group made a ____________ that the

day of their arrival should be a "day of thanksgiving" to God. The

second version is the thanks given to Native Americans for

teaching the pilgrims how to ____________ eels and grow

____________ in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1941, President

Roosevelt made Thanksgiving a federal holiday.

promise

early

called

corn

safely

used

catch

versions

The main ____________ of any Thanksgiving is the Thanksgiving

dinner. It is traditional to have baked or roasted turkey. This is

____________ accompanied with mashed potatoes, sweet

potatoes, fall vegetables, cranberry sauce, and gravy. Pumpkin pie

is the most ____________ eaten dessert. The Thanksgiving

holiday weekend is one of the ____________ times of the year for

traveling. It is a four-day or five-day weekend ____________ for

most schools and colleges, and many businesses and government

workers get three or four days off. Thanksgiving is also the

unofficial ____________ for Christmas preparations to begin.

Once Thanksgiving ____________, stores fill their ____________

with Christmas goods. It is also a bad time to be a turkey.

commonly

signal

busiest

event

shelves

vacation

usually

finishes

THANKSGIVING

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD

Delete the wrong word in each of the pairs of italics.

Thanksgiving is a very American holiday. It is also calling / called

Thanksgiving Day. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November

every year. It used to / used be a religious holiday to give thanks to

God. There are two versions of the original / origins of this holiday.

One is thanks for the early settlers arriving in America safely / safe.

On December the 4th, 1619, a group of English pioneers arrived at a

place called Berkeley Hundred, in Virginia. The group made / did a

promise that the day of their / there arrival should be a "day of

thanksgiving" to God. The second version / vision is the thanks given

to Native Americans for teaching the pilgrims how to catch eels and

grow corn in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1941, President Roosevelt

made / gave Thanksgiving a federal holiday.

The main eventful / event of any Thanksgiving is the Thanksgiving

dinner. It is traditional to have baked or roasted turkey. This is usually

/ usual accompanied with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, fell / fall

vegetables, cranberry sauce, and gravy. Pumpkin pie is the most

commonly eaten / eating dessert. The Thanksgiving holiday weekend

is one of the busiest times of the year from / for traveling. It is a four-

day or five-day weekend vacation for most schools and colleges, and

many businesses and government workers get three or four days over

/ off. Thanksgiving is also the unofficial signal for Christmas

preparations to beginning / begin. Once Thanksgiving finishes, stores

fill their shelves with Christmas goods. It is also a bad time to be a / in

turkey.

THANKSGIVING

MULTIPLE CHOICE

Thanksgiving is a very American holiday. It is also (1) ____ Thanksgiving

Day. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November every year. It used

to be a (2) ____ holiday to give thanks to God. There are two versions of

the origins of this holiday. One is thanks for the early (3) ____ arriving in

America safely. On December the 4th, 1619, a group of English pioneers

arrived at a place called Berkeley Hundred, in Virginia. The group made a

promise that the day of their (4) ____ should be a "day of thanksgiving" to

God. The second version is the thanks given to Native Americans for

teaching the pilgrims how to (5) ____ eels and grow corn in Plymouth,

Massachusetts. In 1941, President Roosevelt (6) ____ Thanksgiving a

federal holiday.

The (7) ____ event of any Thanksgiving is the Thanksgiving dinner. It is

traditional to have baked or roasted turkey. This is usually accompanied with

mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, (8) ____ vegetables, cranberry sauce,

and gravy. Pumpkin pie is the most commonly (9) ____ dessert. The

Thanksgiving holiday weekend is one of the busiest times of the year for

traveling. It is a four-day or five-day weekend vacation for most schools and

colleges, and (10) ____ businesses and government workers get three or

four days off. Thanksgiving is also the unofficial signal for Christmas

preparations to (11) ____. Once Thanksgiving finishes, stores fill their

(12) ____ with Christmas goods. It is also a bad time to be a turkey.

Put the correct words from this table into the article.

1.

(a)

called

(b)

calling

(c)

calls

(d)

call

2.

(a)

religion

(b)

religious

(c)

religiously

(d)

religions

3.

(a)

settlers

(b)

settles

(c)

settled

(d)

settlement

4.

(a)

arrives

(b)

arrived

(c)

arrival

(d)

arrival

5.

(a)

caught

(b)

catches

(c)

catch

(d)

catching

6.

(a)

took

(b)

made

(c)

did

(d)

had

7.

(a)

main

(b)

mainly

(c)

mainline

(d)

mains

8.

(a)

fell

(b)

falling

(c)

fall

(d)

fallen

9.

(a)

eating

(b)

eats

(c)

ate

(d)

eaten

10.

(a)

most

(b)

many

(c)

much

(d)

more

11.

(a)

beginning

(b)

begins

(c)

begin

(d)

began

12.

(a)

elves

(b)

delves

(c)

halves

(d)

shelves

THANKSGIVING

SPELLING

Spell the jumbled words (from the text) correctly.

Paragraph 1

1.

the uhftro Thursday in November

2.

a sliiuroge holiday

3.

the ngoirsi of this holiday

4.

arriving in America ysfeal

5.

made a oepisrm

6.

how to hactc eels

Paragraph 2

7.

The main tenve

8.

sweet pstoaeot

9.

the most moynomcl eaten dessert

10.

weekend aancotvi

11.

unofficial ilnsga

12.

fill their eshsevl

THANKSGIVING

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )

Native Americans for teaching the pilgrims how to catch eels and

grow

( )

of the year for traveling. It is a four-day or five-day weekend

vacation for most schools and

( 1 )

Thanksgiving is a very American holiday. It is also called

Thanksgiving Day. It is celebrated on the

( )

The main event of any Thanksgiving is the Thanksgiving dinner.

It is traditional to have baked or roasted

( )

fourth Thursday in November every year. It used to be a

religious holiday to give thanks to God. There are two versions

( )

1619, a group of English pioneers arrived at a place called

Berkeley Hundred, in Virginia. The group made a promise that

the day

( )

turkey. This is usually accompanied with mashed potatoes, sweet

potatoes, fall vegetables, cranberry sauce, and gravy. Pumpkin

( )

pie is the most commonly eaten dessert. The Thanksgiving

holiday weekend is one of the busiest times

( )

colleges, and many businesses and government workers get

three or four days off. Thanksgiving is also

( )

corn in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In 1941, President Roosevelt

made Thanksgiving a federal holiday.

( )

the unofficial signal for Christmas preparations to begin. Once

Thanksgiving

( )

finishes, stores fill their shelves with Christmas goods. It is also a

bad time to be a turkey.

( )

of the origins of this holiday. One is thanks for the early settlers

arriving in America safely. On December the 4th,

( )

of their arrival should be a "day of thanksgiving" to God. The

second version is the thanks given to

THANKSGIVING

SCRAMBLED SENTENCES

With a partner, put the words back into the correct order.

1.

American is very holiday Thanksgiving a.

2.

a be to used It holiday religious.

3.

of origins the of Versions holiday this.

4.

The given Native thanks to Americans.

5.

to How corn grow and eels catch.

6.

traditional baked turkey is have roasted It to or.

7.

potatoes mashed with accompanied usually is This.

8.

the most Pumpkin commonly pie eaten is dessert.

9.

get off three or Government four workers days.

10.

Stores goods Christmas with shelves their fill.

THANKSGIVING

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1.

________________________________________________________

2.

________________________________________________________

3.

________________________________________________________

4.

________________________________________________________

5.

________________________________________________________

6.

________________________________________________________

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THANKSGIVING

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1.

________________________________________________________

2.

________________________________________________________

3.

________________________________________________________

4.

________________________________________________________

5.

________________________________________________________

6.

________________________________________________________

THANKSGIVING

THE THANKSGIVING SURVEY

Write five questions about Thanksgiving in the table. Do this in pairs/groups. Each

student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

Without your partner, interview other students. Write down their answers.

STUDENT 1

_____________

STUDENT 2

_____________

STUDENT 3

_____________

Q.1.

Q.2.

Q.3.

Q.4.

Q.5.

Return to your original partner(s) and share and talk about what you found out.

Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

THANKSGIVING

WRITING

Write about Thanksgiving for 10 minutes. Show your

partner your paper. Correct each other’s work.

______________________________________________________________________________

THANKSGIVING

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words

from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or

another search engine) to build up more associations /

collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information

about Thanksgiving. Talk about what you discover with your

partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about

Thanksgiving. Write about what happens around the world.

Include two imaginary interviews with people who did something

on this day.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give

each other feedback on your articles.

4. POSTER: Make your own poster about Thanksgiving. Write

about will happen on this day around the world.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give

each other feedback on your articles.