thanksgiving writing activities 2nd grade

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6 engaging thanksgiving writing activities for kids.

If you’ve seen my recent post about Thanksgiving Reading Activities , here is your follow-up for Writing! These Thanksgiving-themed activities will be great add-ons or replacements for your standard writing activities!

Try Story Building with a Cooperative Learning Structure

Firstly, try an All-Write Round Robin! Do you use Kagan Strategies in your classroom? This is one of my favorites! An All-Write Round Robin will allow your students to build upon one another’s writing to create a story! Grab a few different color pens and some paper. The first person will write 2 or 3 sentences for the story prompt, in one color. Then, the story will move to the next person, with them adding 2-3 sentences to the story in a different color. This can be done in a small group or even as partners!

Typically, I like to give time limits so that students have equal opportunities to write, but this is up to you! Another tip is to mark halfway and endpoints. Give students a warning when they should be about halfway through and when time is almost up. This will help them include a beginning, middle, and end of their story!

Lastly, have your students swap and read or share their stories with the class! They will love hearing how everyone’s stories turned out!

Prompts to give your students:

• Turkey Going On Vacation
• Thanksgiving at Grandma’s
• The Pie Eating Contest
• Football in the Backyard
• Scarecrow Comes to Dinner
• Leaf Pile Playground

Practicing Supporting Details and Reasoning with a Whole-Group Craft

Meanwhile, if you’re looking for an informational or response writing activity, try one like this! Draw a turkey on an anchor chart and give students slips of paper to decorate the “wings.” On each slip of paper, students can write something they are thankful for and why. This will help your student practice supporting details and reasons. This activity can be repeated with any sort of written response that requires evidence or reasons. You can even reuse the turkey poster all month, practicing a short response each day or week!

Practice Strong Introductions

Similarly, if you need to work on writing introductions, use a Strong Introductions Matching Activity. Students can match Thanksgiving-themed pictures to two different strong introductions. Then, they can write their own strong introduction for each topic! *For learners that may need more help with this, you can match the cards as a small group, whole group, or even partners! Save the strong introductions that the students wrote to use as examples for future writing, starters for their own writing pieces, or extra matching pieces for the original activity!

Shown is the 1st & 2nd-grade set but you can recreate this activity for 3rd & 4th graders, too!

Link: Thanksgiving 1st and 2nd Grade ELA

Get Into Thanksgiving Themes with a Daily Writing Prompt

Daily writing prompts are a great way to build young writers’ skills. You can add a Thanksgiving-themed daily writing prompt to be completed as a bell ringer or early finisher! Students will be excited to write about topics that are currently relevant and fit the theme you’ve carried across your ELA blocks! Not only will this help them stay on topic, but it will also provide them with creative ideas. If your reading activities, mentor texts, language lessons, etc., are on theme, they will be full of examples and details to improve their Thanksgiving-themed writing!

The writing prompts from the resource in the photo come in both printable and digital formats. So, students can write in their journals or type their responses on their devices. This will make trading, sharing, revising, and editing a breeze!

Link: November Writing Prompts

Practice Editing and Publishing

On the other hand, their writing isn’t the only skill that will benefit from practice. Editing and revising are writing tools that your little learners need constant practice in, too. Add a Thanksgiving-themed editing and revision activity to your plans. Partners can find and edit mistakes in pre-written sentences. They can trade and revise one another’s Thanksgiving-themed writing pieces. *If you use the November Writing prompts, have your students “share” the digital versions or trade their writing notebooks to practice revising and editing!

Link: Thanksgiving ELA 1st & 2nd Grade

Add a Few On-the-Go Pages to Early Finisher Folders or Use as Morning Work

Lastly, add Thanksgiving Writing activities to your morning work or early finisher folders. There are lots of applicable writing pages in the November On-the-Go set. Students will be able to practice writing letters, creating lists, making words, and more. They will love these fun, on-topic activities that allow them to practice a variety of writing skills without them even realizing it! 

Link: November On-the-Go

Here are a few Thanksgiving Writing Activities you may find useful:

• Kindergarten Thanksgiving ELA Activities
• 1st & 2nd Thanksgiving ELA Activities
• 3rd & 4th Thanksgiving ELA Activities
• November Writing Prompts
• November On-the-Go Worksheets

Want to read more Thanksgiving-themed blogs?

• Thanksgiving Activities
• Virtual Ideas for Thanksgiving
• Thanksgiving Read Alouds

FREE THANKSGIVING FEAST PARTY

 This free download will be sent to your email! It’s two free party planning sheets, plus a Bingo-style game with a Thanksgiving theme. Get this fun activity sent directly to your inbox. 

• Read more about: Common Core Aligned , Fall Season , Thanksgiving , Writing Blog Posts

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The Best Thanksgiving Writing Prompts for Elementary Students

Don’t you wish you could teach fun Thanksgiving writing prompts and activities that both celebrate the holiday and academically challenge students?

These fun turkey crafts, writing prompts and graphic organizers are your answer.

Get everything you need for your Thanksgiving lesson plans while pairing it with fun books and stories about Thanksgiving.

Don’t Eat Turkey! (opinion)

Need a fun opinion writing prompt for Thanksgiving? Try, Don’t Eat Turkey, Eat …..

Let students practice the art of persuasion by having them persuade you to eat their favorite food on Thanksgiving instead.

Let’s save the turkeys and bring the joy of the holiday into the classroom.

Pair this Save the Turkey! activity with the read aloud Turkey Trouble .

The funny story and easy to use graphic organizers and templates are sure to get pencils moving in your classroom!

Thanksgiving Gone Wrong (narrative)

Have you ever had a day where it just felt like EVERYTHING was going wrong?

What about a holiday?

Let students imagine up the most creative, funny holiday with this fun Thanksgiving Gone Wrong writing prompt and craft .

Students will use graphic organizers to go through the writing process and will top it off with a fun craft and bulletin board.

How to Make Thanksgiving Dinner (procedural)

Do YOU need a laugh this holiday season?

Nothing is funnier than listening students describe how they think that Thanksgiving dinner should be made.

Allow students to plan their family’s Thanksgiving dinner with this exciting writing project and flip book .

Students will use different worksheets to plan their pieces, then publish a fun flip book and craft to take home to their families.

My Turkey in Disguise

Disguising a turkey is a fan favorite Thanksgiving project in the classroom.

Bump up the academics by having students not only disguise their turkey, but DESCRIBE their turkey.

They can describe the turkey’s disguise, as well as come up with different interests, likes and dislikes that their turkey has.

This fun project will have students giggling and pencils moving in no time.

How to Catch a Turkey (procedural)

What happens when a turkey gets on the loose?

Well of COURSE students need to catch it!

Students will love reading the book How to Catch a Turkey and then coming up with how they would catch a turkey at their own house.

This fun writing prompt, project and flip book makes a great project to do during the week or month of Thanksgiving.

Macy’s Day Parade (informative writing project – digital)

Do you want to add some fun but educational writing into your November lesson plans?

Have students read Balloons Over Broadway , learning about the history of the Macy’s Day Parade.

Then, give students time to compile notes on how the floats have changed over time.

Finally, have students compile their knowledge into an informative piece about the parade .

You can top off this fun project by allowing students to create a float of their own and share it with the class.

November Writing Journal

Looking for a quick and easy daily routine?

Get students writing (or typing) every single day with this fun November Writing Journal .

Students will spiral through writing informative, narrative and opinion pieces all centered around fun fall and Thanksgiving topics.

This makes a great warm up, early finisher activity, bell work, or daily morning work.

Final Thoughts

What are your favorite Thanksgiving writing prompts or activities in your classroom?

Drop your ideas in the comments below for us to check out!

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15 Fun Thanksgiving Writing Activities and Prompts for Kids

Holiday , Learning | 1 comment

Are you looking for fun Thanksgiving writing activities to do with the kids this fall? Here are 15 different writing activities and prompts that are all about Thanksgiving! 

Writing can be a challenge for kids- of any age!

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Young kids often lack the small muscles- and the confidence- needed to write. 

Older kids can have trouble organizing information and putting their thoughts down on paper. 

But as with anything, practice makes perfect!

One of the best ways to practice writing is to give a variety of assignments and writing types- and a lot of different topics!

Here are 15 Thanksgiving writing activities and prompts for kids- that will help them practice and enjoy writing!

15 Thanksgiving Writing Activities for Kids

Thankful flip book.

Flip books are fun writing activities for kids of all ages. It’s also simple to put together and allows kids to also personalize and use their artistic imagination in the design. 

To make a flip book you will need several sheets of paper, each of just a couple inches shorter than the other. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to put a flip book together: Flip Book Tutorial.  

To make this a Thanksgiving Writing Activity, use colored paper in browns, oranges, and yellows. And then have use a Thanksgiving theme for each of the flaps/ 

Here are a couple of ideas of writing prompts for each tab:

• Historical – with each tab focusing on one piece of the history of Thanksgiving (traditions, symbols, meaning of, etc)
• I am Thankful – each tab covers family, friends, school, self, etc. 
• The Meal – each tab can discuss a different course or aspect of the Thanksgiving meal

Movie Extension Writing Prompt

There are a lot of great movies out there covering Thanksgiving. 

You can choose a cartoon or other fun kids movie or even choose a documentary or other non-fiction film. 

Have the kids watch the movie and then have them write on the movie. Such as:

• Compare and contrast what was depicted in the movie to their own life
• Discuss historical accurateness
• Favorite part and why

Turkey Pardon Persuasive Writing Activity

Take a moment to read or watch about the tradition of pardoning a turkey each year in the US. 

Then have the kids write a persuasive letter or paper from a turkey’s point of view asking to be pardoned. 

In this Thanksgiving writing activity, make sure the students decide on who the audience is (a farmer, a family getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner, etc) and that they speak as the turkey for the duration of the writing assignment. 

Thank You Letters

This is a great Thanksgiving writing activity for kids of all ages. And it’s a great life skill to develop!

Have students choose a person in their life- a family member or friend- to write a thank you letter to. 

This doesn’t have to be a thank you for anything specific, but a general  Thanks for all you do for me  letter that helps kids to feel gratitude for other people in their life. 

You can download a free Thanksgiving Thank You Letter Template here: Thanksgiving Thank You Letter

How to Cook a Turkey Research Project

This Thanksgiving writing activity helps teach kids both now to research and how to organize information in logical, sequential order. 

Have them do a little research- online or in books, depending on the age- and take notes on the steps to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving. 

Then have them write the steps in paragraph form. 

Don’t forget to help them use transition words such as first, then, and next!

Thanksgiving Acrostic Poems

Acrostic poems are a fun writing activity that doesn’t have as much pressure as other poetry! An acrostic poem simply takes a word and then you have to write a line or word starting with each letter in that word. 

Here are some words to use for Thanksgiving Acrostic poems:

• Thanksgiving

Or you can download my Free Thanksgiving Acrostic Poem templates for an easy activity! 

Thanksgiving Traditions

This easy Thanksgiving writing prompt idea is a great way to give kids writing practice with no pressure. 

Simply give them a sheet of paper, or their writing journal, and the topic: Thanksgiving Traditions .

Then let them free write for 10-20 minutes on that topic. 

The First Thanksgiving

Spend some time reading all about The First Thanksgiving. Read various books on the topic that cover both the history leading up to the First Thanksgiving and what the First Thanksgiving looked like. 

Then have the students write an paper on the First Thanksgiving. 

Depending on age this could be a 4 paragraph essay, a paragraph or simply a couple of sentences. 

Use Thanksgiving Words

Give your students a bank of Thanksgiving words and ask them to write a story using as many of the words as they can. 

Bonus points for using ALL of the words at least once!

Thanksgiving ABCs

This Thanksgiving writing activity is similar to an acrostic poem, except instead of using a word at it’s base, it uses the ABCs. 

Have the students write a Thanksgiving phrase or sentence for each letter of the alphabet. 

The Great Turkey Escape

Now let’s get creative! Have the kids write a create writing story about what would happen if the the Thanksgiving turkey got away and escaped butchering. 

How did he escape? Where will he go? Does he get caught?

Then and Now Venn Diagram

After reading and researching the first Thanksgiving have kids fill in a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the first Thanksgiving to today’s Thanksgiving.

Depending on their age they can fill in with words or complete sentences. 

You can also have them use their diagram to turn it  into a few paragraphs.

You can download the free Thanksgiving Venn Diagram Template here: Thanksgiving Venn Diagram

Thanksgiving Story Book Report

Have the students choose a favorite Thanksgiving story book or chapter book (or assign a specific one!) and have them to a book report. 

Include everything you would normally ask for in a book report- characters, setting, plot, etc. And ask some Thanksgiving specific questions as well!

Thanksgiving Journal

Have the kids start a Thanksgiving journal. 

This is a great Thanksgiving writing activity for the whole month of November. You can use different prompts for each day or choose a central theme- such as gratitude or thankfulness.

Have the kids take time each day to write in their journal as a way to practice writing and brainstorming. 

Futuristic Thanksgiving

This fun Thanksgiving writing activity allows the kids to imagine what they think Thanksgiving will look like in the future. 

Set a time- such as 100 years from now- and ask them to imagine what Thanksgiving will look like then. 

What will be different? What will be the same?

Need some Thanksgiving writing paper to use for these activities? Just click here to download some Thanksgiving Writing Paper

Tips for Altering Writing Activities for All Ages

Almost all writing activities can be altered to work for kids of all ages- from kindergarten to high school level. 

Here are some tips for altering lessons:

• Take age and ability into account. A kindergartner can write one word answers for acrostic poems or copy work for other assignments. An older child is capable of full and complete sentences. 
• Vary length. Elementary age kids can be required to write a short paragraph, while middle and high schoolers may be required to write 3-5 paragraph essays. Creative writing assignments will also have differing length requirements. 
• Use appropriate expectations. This includes things neatness and handwriting or if the assignment should be typed. Correct grammar and spelling. The older the child, the higher the expectations should be. 
• Use appropriate resources. Older kids can do their own research and find their own sources. Younger kids might need to be given the resources to choose from. You can also choose to read aloud from resources for elementary aged kids, while middle and high schoolers will likely have assigned readings. 

You may also like: Thanksgiving Coloring Pages

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