Thankful Thanksgiving Writing Activities for 2nd Grade

Few holidays give us the warm fuzzies like Thanksgiving. It’s a time of comfort foods, snuggly sweaters and family bonding—perfect for reminding us of just how much we have to be thankful for. And yet, it’s so easy to overlook gratitude when you’re busy chowing down on stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes and delicious pies, especially when you’re a kid and you’ve been looking forward to the holiday all week.

That’s why I love celebrating Thanksgiving with my students in the classroom before they run off to enjoy the long weekend with their families. It gives us a chance to practice the most important Thanksgiving tradition of all—giving thanks. These Thanksgiving writing activities for 2nd grade students are the perfect way to help them practice gratitude and sharpen their writing skills.

Writing Activity #1: Considering the meaning of gratitude.

It’s easy enough to say “Thank you,” but what does it mean? This writing activity is more than a vocabulary lesson—it’s a chance for your students to think critically about what it means both to feel gratitude and to express it. Ask your students to answer the prompt, “What does it mean to be thankful?” using as many details and examples as they can come up with to illustrate their point.

PROJECT IDEA

This writing activity also happens to make for a lovely publishing project. Begin with a simple brainstorm worksheet to help your students organize their thoughts before writing their responses. After writing, show them how to proofread and revise their work. Then, once their final drafts are ready to publish, ask them to draw a picture of someone or something they are grateful for. Finally, gather up their writing and art and send it in to be published as a beautiful hardcover classbook!

Writing Activity #2: Practicing thankfulness while building self-confidence.

Sometimes the easiest things to take for granted are our own gifts and capabilities. This unique Thanksgiving writing asks your 2nd graders to consider what abilities of their own they are grateful by filling in the following blanks: “I am grateful I can ___ because ___.” Perhaps little Jamie is grateful to be a good singer because she wants to perform on Broadway someday. Perhaps young Eric is thankful he’s tall and athletic because he wants to play for the NBA. But remind your students to consider smaller, everyday gifts too, like being able to run and play with friends on the playground, or being able to read well and enjoy lots of wonderful books. It’s a great way to both encourage gratitude and boost your students’ self-esteem at the same time.

PROJECT IDEA

To easily turn this writing activity into a lovely Thanksgiving keepsake book, return to the assignment after a short break (either a few hours or a few days) and ask your students to self-edit their work, keeping an eye out to make sure they’ve supported their claim with multiple reasons or examples. Once they’ve finished editing and revising, ask them to create a self-portrait of themselves using the talent or ability they wrote about. Publish their work in a professionally bound classbook that will delight your students and their families for many Thanksgivings to come.

Writing Activity #3: Acknowledging a memorable learning experience.

When giving thanks around the Thanksgiving dinner table, the first things that come to mind tend to be people or objects which we see or interact with on a regular basis, like family members or the home we share with them. But what about the experiences that help shape us? This Thanksgiving writing activity digs a little deeper than your average gratitude exercise by asking students to complete the following sentences: “An experience I am thankful for is ___. I am thankful because ___.” Encourage them to think carefully about the experience they choose. It can be a happy one, such as something that excited or amazed them, perhaps even inspired them to try something or pursue some new passion. But it might also be one which taught them something, such as a mistake that taught them something valuable.

PROJECT IDEA

For a more in-depth version of this writing activity, ask your students to write two paragraphs instead of two sentences: one paragraph describing the experience, and one explaining all the reasons why they are thankful for it. After writing, have them swap papers and peer-edit each other’s work. Ask them to illustrate the experience they described. Then, wrap it all up by publishing their work in a one-of-a-kind classbook.

The Spirit of Thanksgiving in Your 2nd Grade Classroom

Whether they’re writing about the meaning of being thankful or the abilities and experiences they are thankful for, your students are sure to keep surprising you with their creativity and honesty. There’s nothing like a kid’s point of view to put your own life into perspective and remind you of all the things you have to be grateful for—including, of course, your students. What better way to give thanks than to give them an experience they’ll always remember and cherish—by helping them become published authors? You could even make it your new classroom tradition, giving both you and your students something to look forward to each and every year.

Image sources: Lead image via Shutterstock; Images 1, 2, 3 via Openclipart.org