Thanks for the Giving

Today is Thanksgiving. What is its history? What are its implications? Feast your eyes on these holiday activities. Gobble them up!

CONNECT:

Visit the first Thanksgiving virtual to discover the location and history of that famous event and time: http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/

How does a turkey get from the farm to your table? Trace the trip at http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving/videos/american-eats-turkey-assembly-line?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false

The History Channel also has a video about the technology behind the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade: http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving/videos/thanksgiving-day-parade-tech

We often think of Thanksgiving as one event that is food-centric, but that wasn’t the case 100 years ago. Enjoy looking as these photographs of Thanksgiving maskers; you might be reminded of Halloween: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/25/vintage-thanksgiving-phot_n_6213806.html

CREATE:

The Thanksgiving meal isn’t just the turkey. Each state has its own food specialties: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/?_r=0. Maybe you can help prepare a family specialty.

While some folks are cooking and watching sports, kids can have fun with these Thanksgiving activities: http://familycrafts.about.com/od/thanksgiving/ (Note that some older folks might need to help youngsters).

Have fun telling Thanksgiving jokes and riddles: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/jokes/topics/thanksgiving.shtml

CARE:

How much did you family spend on the Thanksgiving meal? Use this infographic http://blogs.kqed.org/lowdown/2013/11/27/what-a-typical-thanksgiving-meal-costs-this-year/ to guide your calculations – and to compare costs for the last couple of years.

Did you know that the Pueblo people domesticated turkeys for their feathers – before thinking of them as food? You might care more for turkeys after viewing their history: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/my-life-as-a-turkey-the-making-of-a-turkey/7376/

Try one of these easy Thanksgiving service projects for kids: http://www.suburbia-unwrapped.com/2014/09/easy-thanksgiving-service-project-kids.html

CAREERS:

There are lots of ways to “slice up” careers related to Thanksgiving: from historians and writers to travel, entertainment and social workers. And don’t forget all the people involved in the food industry from farmers to waiters.
Did you know that one in six people work on Thanksgiving? We can all thank them for for efforts. Here are some details: http://abc7chicago.com/careers/survey-16-pct-of-employees-work-on-thanksgiving/410403/

What does it mean to be a citizen?

November is election time, time to vote for individuals to represent you – and bills that improve your life. Voting is a right and a privilege for citizens. What are the citizen of? Today, you might be a digital citizen. Find out what it means to be a citizen in this global society.

CONNECT:

• Congress for Kids (http://www.congressforkids.net/) gives you access to interactive, fun-filled experiences designed to help you learn about the foundation of our federal government and how its actions affect you.
• You are a citizen of a country, but also have state’s rights. Find out about state government by seeing California’s state capitol museum at http://www.capitolmuseum.ca.gov/
• Tour the Angel Island immigration station and learn about what many Chinese and Japanese immigrants had to endure to become US citizens: http://aiisf.org/?page_id=5
• Did you know that it’s the Electoral College who elects the US President; technically, it’s not by popular vote? Find out about its procedures, policies, history and information on Presidential elections at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/index.html

CREATE:

• iCivics teach kids about important civics topics: Citizenship and Participation, Separation of Powers, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the Judicial Branch, the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch and Budgeting. Sound boring? How about running for President? Passing new laws? It’s fun and games at https://www.icivics.org/
• One of the reasons for the American Revolution was lack of representation; Americans had little voice in the government but they were being taxed. Find out about the Boston Tea Party, and how this event by Boston citizens helped lead to the founding of the USA. Watch young people reinact this history-changing party at http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/
• Explore what it means to be a digital citizen at http://www.digizen.org/kids/
• The U.S. Department of Justice is adding a Kids Page where you can learn their department. Since this website is just for kids, the department wants K-12 kids to submit their ideas for the welcome page in a contest. You can draw, write, or use your computer. You can send entriies to the Department of Justice by mail or email. See https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/kidspage.pdf for details.

CARE:

• The Center for Civic Education tries to help students develop (1) an increased understanding of the institutions of American constitutional democracy and the fundamental principles and values upon which they are founded, (2) the skills necessary to participate as effective and responsible citizens, and (3) the willingness to use democratic procedures for making decisions and managing conflict. Do you have a minute? Try their 60-second civics quiz and podcast at http://new.civiced.org/60-second-civics
• You can participate in elections even before being of voting age. Find out from PBS at http://pbskids.org/democracy/vote/
• Rock the Vote (http://www.rockthevote.org/) is dedicated to protecting freedom of speech, educating young people about the issues that affect us, and motivating young people to participate by registering, voting, and speaking out.
• One of the rights and responsibilities of citizens is to participate in the democratic political process. You can so this as part of the Endangered Species Coalition. Get active at http://www.endangered.org/

CAREERS:

Think about the jobs that are connected with citizenship, from helping people enter the country to teaching them how to become citizens to participating as a citizen through government service and leadership. Here are a few leads:

http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Government-Jobs.shtml

http://www.wikihow.com/Prepare-for-a-Career-in-Politics

http://immigration.about.com/od/lifeintheus/a/ImmigrationJobs.htm

http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2008/10/23/7-best-nonpolitical-jobs-for-political-junkies