Allison Young

Thanksgiving Text Set

2nd Grade
Table of Contents
Rationale:.........................................................................................................................................3
Standards:........................................................................................................................................3
Exploratory Questions.....................................................................................................................3
Text Set Bibliography......................................................................................................................4
Critical Reviews...............................................................................................................................9
PhotographsVisual Display........................................................................................................14
Student Response Form.................................................................................................................17
Samples of Student Responses......................................................................................................18
Rationale:
I decided to base my text set around Thanksgiving because I think that it is important that
students know the history and reasoning behind why we celebrate different holidays. I also
thought about how I could show the students how and why different people celebrate and think
of Thanksgiving differently than they might. I think that Thanksgiving was a really great holiday
to address this idea with, as it lacks the religious meaning that holidays like Christmas and
Hanukkah do. Thus, I was able to avoid any of the potential controversy that can come with
introducing religious topics in schools.
Both of these ideas are great to address in second grade. By this point, the kids know
about how they celebrate Thanksgiving and probably know something about the traditional
Thanksgiving story. Digging a little deeper into the historical events and figures behind the
holiday is a logical next step, and the students have both the capacity and interest to do so. The
kids are also familiar with the ideas that not everybody celebrates the same holidays as they do
and that not everybody celebrates holidays in the same way that they do. Continuing this idea
and showing the kids how other people, especially people that they might not encounter very
often, celebrate the holiday is very important.
Through my text set, I addressed several different standards. From the Pennsylvania
Common Core, my text set aligns with the standard 8.3.2.A Identify groups and organizations
and their contributions to the United States. Books such as Squanto: The Pilgrim Adventure,
Samuel Eatons Day, How Many Days to America?, and Mollys Pilgrim tell the stories of
multiple diverse groups (Native Americans, Pilgrims, refugees, and Jewish people, respectively)
that make up America as well as how these groups have contributed to America and its history.
The text set mostly aligns with the second NCSS theme: Time, Continuity, and Change.
In this theme, students are supposed to examine the past and see how it has influenced the
present. Through this text set, the students were able to learn about the history of Thanksgiving
as well as how we celebrate it today. Some of the specific NCSS standards the text set aligns
with include D2.His.6.K-2. Compare different accounts of the same historical event and
D2.His.2.K-2. Compare life in the past to life today. Students were able to access information
about the history of Thanksgiving told from different perspectives, including that of the Pilgrims
and that of the Native Americans. They were also able to see how the first Thanksgiving was
compared to how we celebrate Thanksgiving today.

Standards:
8.3.2.A Identify groups and organizations and their contributions to the United States.
D2.His.6.K-2. Compare different accounts of the same historical event.
D2.His.2.K-2. Compare life in the past to life today.

Exploratory Questions
1. How do we celebrate Thanksgiving today?
2. What does Thanksgiving mean to other people?
3. How do other people celebrate Thanksgiving?
4. What was the first Thanksgiving like?
Text Set Bibliography
Berenstain, M. (2014). The Berenstain Bears: Thanksgiving all around. New York, NY: Harper
Festival, an imprint of HarperCollins.
Form: fiction/picture book
Reading level: 2.0

Biography.com. (2016, August 1). The Explorers: Squanto. Retrieved November 14, 2016, from
https://newsela.com/articles/bio-explorer-squanto/id/19588/
Form: nonfiction/article
Reading level: 480 Lexile

Brown, M. (1983). Arthur's Thanksgiving. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
Form: fiction/picture book
Reading level: 3.1

Bunting, E. (1988). How many days to America?: A Thanksgiving story. New York: Clarion
Books.
Form: fiction/picture book
Reading level: 3.1
Bunting, E. (1991). A turkey for Thanksgiving. New York: Clarion Books
Form: fiction/picture book
Reading level: 4.5

Carlstrom, N. W. (1999). Thanksgiving Day at our house: Thanksgiving poems for the very
young. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Form: illustrated poetry collection
Reading level: 2.4

Cohen, B. (1983). Molly's pilgrim. New York: Bantam.

Form: historical fiction/beginning chapter book
Reading level: 3.0

Colandro, L. (2016). There was an old lady who swallowed a turkey! New York, NY: Cartwheel
Books, An Imprint of Scholastic.
Form: fiction/picture book
Reading level: 2.6
Dean, K., & Dean, J. (2013). Pete the Cat: The first Thanksgiving. New York, NY:
Harperfestival.
Form: fiction/picture book
Reading level: 3.2

Devlin, W. (2012). Cranberry Thanksgiving. Cynthiana, KY.: Purple House Press.

Form: fiction/picture book
Reading level: 3.7

George, J. C. (1996). The first Thanksgiving. New York: Putnam & Grosset Group.
Form: nonfiction/picture book
Reading level: 5.4

Hennessy, B. G. (2001). One little, two little, three little pilgrims. New York: Puffin Books.
Form: fiction/picture book
Reading level: 1.0
Jassem, K. (1979). Squanto: The pilgrim adventure. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates.
Form: nonfiction/picture book
Reading level: ages 9-12

Osborne, M. P., & Murdocca, S. (2002). Thanksgiving on Thursday. New York: Random House.
Form: fiction/chapter book
Reading level: 3.3

Roy, R. (2007). Mayflower treasure hunt. New York: Random House.

Form: fiction/chapter book
Reading level: 3

Thaler, M. (2009). The Thanksgiving Day from the black lagoon. New York: Scholastic.
Form: fiction/chapter book
Reading level: 2.7
Waters, K. (1993). Samuel Eaton's day: A day in the life of a Pilgrim boy. New York: Scholastic.
Form: nonfiction/picture book
Reading level: 4.0
Critical Reviews

Title: Mollys Pilgrim

Author: Barbara Cohen
Illustrator: Daniel M. Duffy
Genre & Form: historical fiction/beginning chapter book.
CritiqueMollys Pilgrim does a phenomenal job of relating the ideas behind Thanksgiving and
the Thanksgiving story to events and cultures that, on the surface, appear to be completely
different. It shows how people who havent grown up in America and might have difficulty
connecting with the holiday as most Americans view and celebrate it are able relate and connect
the ideas to their own experiences. In this way, it helps answer the question How do other
people celebrate Thanksgiving? while still talking about the original Thanksgiving story. It also
addresses the universal theme of bullying, which is always important to talk and think about.
Mollys Pilgrim passes the criteria for being quality literature with flying colors. It
contains vivid, robust vocabulary that is still very much within the reach of its intended age
group. The plot is logical, cohesive, and very satisfying to the reader. In addition, the characters,
especially the main character, Molly, are well-rounded and very relatable. Furthermore, the
author, Barbara Cohen, is Jewish, which is very important to note because the book focuses on
Jewish culture and experiences. Barbara Cohen has also won awards, including the Sydney
Taylor Body-of-Work Award in 1980 and the Sydney Taylor Picture Book Award in 1981 (both
presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries).
Title: Samuel Eatons Day
Author: Kate Waters
Photographer: Russ Kendall
Genre & Form: nonfiction/picture book
CritiqueSamuel Eatons Day fulfills my purpose by using photographs (of reenactments) to
show how the Pilgrims lived back in 1620. It answers the question of What was the first
Thanksgiving like? by showing the lives of the people involved in the event. It shows how
children of the time period dressed, what they ate, and what sort of chores and work they had to
do in order to survive. It also shows how intensive the labor was by showing how the main
character feels after a day of working with his father in the fields. Details such as this are
valuable because it allows the students to really get a sense of how the Pilgrims lived, how
different that is from how we live today, and how thankful the Pilgrims must have been when all
of their hard work paid off at the end of the season.
The most valuable aspect of this book is the photographs. By using photographs of real
people reenacting the day-to-day life of Samuel Eaton and his family, students can more easily
connect and identify with these people as well as with history. Without photographs and other
such hyper-realistic evidence, its easy to distance oneself from history. These photographs
remind students that all of this really happened and that people really lived this way. In other
words, they make it more concrete.
The book also uses clear language that not only incorporates the vocabulary that the
Pilgrims used but explains the meaning of that vocabulary. It really delves in to what each day
looked like for the Pilgrims, which also helps to make the concepts and the history more concrete
for students.
Title: Squanto: The Pilgrim Adventure
Author: Kate Jassem
Illustrator: Robert Baxter
Genre & Form: Nonfiction/picture book
Critique--How does it fulfill your purpose, standards, and answer your exploratory questions?
Have you used quality literature? How do you know?
Squanto: The Pilgrim Adventure fulfills my purpose by telling about the life of a specific person
that was involved in the first Thanksgiving. I felt that it was very important to share the story of
Squanto with my students because it is a very important one. Squantos life was filled with
sadness and ill-treatment, and its important to learn about how people have been treated in the
past to prevent the negative treatment of people in the present and future. I also felt it important
to share Squantos story with my students because I myself didnt know anything about him until
I found this book in my cooperating teachers library.
I know that this book is quality literature because of the factual information contained
inside. I think that young students, especially those who are at least passingly familiar with our
countrys history with slavery, will be intrigued to learn that African American people werent
the only people forced into slavery. The vocabulary is appropriate for the age group while not
being condescending or overly simple, and the illustrations are simple but expressive.
Title: How Many Days to America?
Author: Eve Bunting
Illustrator: Beth Peck
Genre & Form: realistic fiction/picture book
CritiqueThis book fulfills my purpose by showing some of the hardships that people have
experienced and how that affects their perception and connection to our Thanksgiving. It helps
answer the question, What does Thanksgiving mean to other people? while also showing
experiences that are very different from what most, if not all, of my students have experienced.
The story is one of refugees coming to America and is such a way that the refugees arent
identified by their country of origin or the circumstances of their fleeing their homeland, making
for a universal story that will remain relevant for years to come. This is an incredibly important
topic, especially considering current events and the number of refugees in the world today. My
hope is that this book will help students learn to apply the ideas behind Thanksgiving to other
events, experiences, and ideas, while at the same time fostering empathy and a desire to help
others.
This book is included on BrainPOP Jr.s list Read About It books located with their
Thanksgiving material. The plot is simple and straightforward, and the illustrations are beautiful,
engaging, and expressive. The vocabulary is expressive, vivid, and appropriate for the grade
level.
Title: Thanksgiving on Thursday
Author: Mary Pope Osborn
Illustrator: Sal Murdocca
Genre & Form: historical fiction/chapter book
Critique-- How does it fulfill your purpose, standards, and answer your exploratory questions?
Have you used quality literature? How do you know?
This book fulfills my purpose by showing how the first Thanksgiving was celebrated
(although I fear its not the most accurate account of the event) through the eyes of two young
children close in age to that of my students. The familiarity of the Magic Tree House series
makes the book appealing to my students, and the language is easily accessible to young students
and introduces vocabulary that is important in understanding the time period. The contrast
between the behaviors and language of the two main characters and the Pilgrim characters shows
how different our two cultures are as well as how much people have changed in the last 400
years.
PhotographsVisual Display
 I set up my text set on the counter located in the classroom library. This made it easy for
students to access my text set, as they dont have to think too hard about whether they want a
Thanksgiving book or some other book to read to themselves during the appropriate times in the
day. My initial vision was to stand all of the books up so that their covers were easily visible to
the students, but I quickly realized that that wasnt practical with the space and the books I had.
Instead, I stood up some of the books while laying the rest down in front of them in a way that all
of their titles were visible. With this set up, the books that are standing up will catch the
students attention, and once they come over to the text set, they can take a closer look at both the
standing-up books and the laying-down books.
I also made a poster to increase the visual appeal of my text set. The poster includes
Thanksgiving-themed imagery, my exploratory questions, and the lyrics to the song Five Fat
Turkeys Are We as another component of the text set. My goal was to increase the students
interest in my text set as well as give them a few idea and concepts to think about while reading
these books.
My cooperating teacher suggested that I create an example response form so the students
would know what I was looking for. The second day that my text set was up, I taped it to the
counter next to the poster. That way, the example response was in an easy-to-access location and
helped ensure that it wouldnt get lost.
Student Response Form
Name: ____________________________________
Did you enjoy reading these Thanksgiving books?
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Which book is your favorite? Why?
__________________________________________
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Samples of Student Responses