• Celebrate Thanksgiving with free writing exercises.thanksgiving cook image by dip from Fotolia.com
  
  Free writing is an activity designed to warm students up to writing. It provides an opportunity for them to write, write, write without fear of misspellings, grammar errors or reading aloud. In order to help them think about the meaning of Thanksgiving, give students between three and 15 minutes to write, and encourage them to not worry about whether what they're writing makes sense. The writing they create is for their eyes only. What's important is that those pens keep on moving!
  
  

Appreciation

• Ask students what they can do to show someone how much she is loved and appreciated. Might they bake cookies? Write a thank-you letter? Offer a back massage? Wouldn't it be nice if all of us thought a bit more about how thankful we are for one another?
  
  

Best Thanksgiving

• Neuropsychologist Rick Hanson argues that people can foster well-being and live to their fullest potential by regularly reflecting on positive memories. For this free writing exercise, have students describe the best Thanksgiving they ever had. What made that celebration so special? Who was there? What did they eat?
  
  

Celebration

• How does your family celebrate Thanksgiving? Precede this question with a lesson plan that discusses the various traditions, activities and dishes associated with the holiday. Afterward, students can discuss those traditions they share with one another and those that are unique to their family. Whose family plays football, for instance? Whose watches a local parade? Whose spends the day in the kitchen?
  
  

Native Americans

• Begin this free writing exercise by talking about the relationship between Native Americans and the pilgrims.Talk about what it must have been like to encounter new, strangely dressed people. Describe the knowledge that native peoples shared with the newcomers. Finally, ask what role Native Americans played in the first Thanksgiving.
  
  

Pilgrims

• What do you suppose were some of the difficulties the pilgrims faced? This free writing exercise should follow a lesson plan that focuses on the pilgrims. What was it like to be in an unfamiliar land? How did the pilgrims go about finding food? Building shelter? Taking care of one another in sickness?
  
  

Thankfulness

• Sure, students have answered this question before, but Positive Psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar, who once taught the most popular class at Harvard, claims that habitually reflecting upon one's own gratitude is an essential ingredient for a life lived happily, so this topic for free writing is worth reflecting on at least twice.
  
  

Turkey Crazy

• Ask students to free write as you offer the following topics: What do you know about turkeys? What do you want to know about turkeys? Did you know, for instance, that the turkey was almost going to be the national bird of the United States? How about the fact that domestic turkeys are about twice as fat as wild turkeys?
  
  

Word Game

• H-a-s? V-i-s-i-t? G-a-i-n? T-a-n-k? Give your students a brain workout. Ask them to think of as many words as they can that can be made with the letters T-h-a-n-k-s-g-i-v-i-n-g. This one will truly make them t-h-i-n-k!