Web Activity Lesson Plans, Thanksgiving, Social Studies, Glencoe

Student Web Activities

Thanksgiving Around the World

Introduction
In the 1860s Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in the United States. By doing this, he formally established a tradition celebrated in many countries around the world. Many cultures have their own autumn celebration, a festival often revolving around the harvest. Some of these traditions are thousands of years old. China celebrates the Moon Festival. People in southern India give thanks during the Pongal Festival. The following Web sites describe many such celebrations around the world, from China to Israel to Vietnam. When you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, you are taking part in a world-wide tradition.

Destination Title:

The Moon Festival [China]

Pongal Festival [India]

Tet Trung-Thu [Vietnam]

Succoth [Israel]

Yam Festival [Ghana]

Chusok [Korea]

Canadian Thanksgiving [Canada]

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Directions Consider your Thanksgiving traditions. Then read about Thanksgiving traditions around the world on each of the Web sites. Think about how their celebrations compare to your own, and then answer the questions below.

1. What are some of the similarities between the traditions?

2. How is the date determined for the various festivals?

3. Which festivals honor the moon?

4. What are some of the foods associated with these festivals?

5. Most Thanksgiving traditions involve eating various kinds of meals as part of a way of giving thanks for the harvest received that year. Research the kinds of foods prepared in the various harvest meals described in the Web sites, and create a multi-cultural recipe book of those meals. Then prepare a menu describing how you would present your own multi-cultural Thanksgiving meal.

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