Challenging historical narratives

Megan | Nov 13, 2024Nov 13, 2024

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this speaking lesson are to:

• discuss the history of Thanksgiving and modern-day celebrations;
• watch a video about Native Americans’ feelings about the holiday;
• talk about challenging historical narratives.

In this speaking lesson on Thanksgiving, students discuss what they know about the holiday and its customs and traditions. They look at its true history and watch a video in which Native Americans do a word association task related to the holiday. Students discuss adjacent ideas surrounding challenging historical narratives, like defacing monuments and state-issued apologies. They also have an optional vocabulary task.

WARM-UP AND DISCUSSION

This speaking lesson on Thanksgiving starts with a warm-up. Students think of a national holiday and discuss points in the boxes (e.g. origins, attitudes, celebrations). Then, students move on to talking about Thanksgiving and provide two short facts about it. After that, they look at the words in the boxes and guess the modern-day Thanksgiving traditions they refer to (e.g. potluck, football). At this point in the speaking lesson on Thanksgiving, you can do an optional vocabulary activity. Students read sentences and think of a word that fits in each gap, using the first and last letters to help them. There is a synonym provided in brackets at the end of the sentence. After this activity, they read two opposing narratives of Thanksgiving and discuss the questions (e.g. How do you think these narratives influence the way people celebrate Thanksgiving?).

VIDEO AND MORE DISCUSSION

At this point in the speaking lesson on Thanksgiving, students prepare to watch the video. Students read the beginnings of some comments about Thanksgiving made by Native Americans in the video. They guess how they might end (e.g. I don’t know what the first Thanksgiving was, but I highly doubt…). Then, they watch the video and use some provided adjectives to say how they feel about it (conflicted, appalled). Next, they discuss questions, which move from Thanksgiving to broader questions of challenging historical narratives (e.g. Do you know of any celebrated histories in your country that involve myths or inaccuracies?). The speaking lesson on Thanksgiving ends with an opinion task. Students read opinions about historical narratives (e.g. Changing the names of national holidays (e.g. Unthanksgiving Day) is better than creating alternative holidays). They choose some statements and explain if they agree or disagree.

WORKSHEETS

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