I didn't have a chance to say this in class last night, but I was taught the truth about Thanksgiving in sixth grade. We did an entire unit on Native Americans and we talked about everything from Colombus to the Trail of Tears. I think this was the perfect age to learn all this. We did a really cool role-playing assignment with it that went something like this: we were all given identities of Native Americans that lived during these times. For instance, I was told that I was a 9 year old, living in the east, and had to go out west with my family because the government told us that we had to. I had to dress up and give a speech in front of the class as that character. I talked about how the experience made me feel, how being forced to live on a reservation wasn't what I wanted, and how cruelly we were treated by these new white settlers. It was a really cool assignment because it really made us aware of what happened by letting us investigate on our own. Our teachers told us the truth; they didn't sugarcoat it, nor did they make any excuses.

Wow, that is a really neat assignment. Well, I guess I'm more attracted to it because it involved acting and role play. But I too think that in th grade students are right at a point in their lives when things seem to be more understood. The truth about everything is coming out and becoming easier to understand. This assignment that you are talking about is really awesome because I feel like it gives the students a chance to somewhat feel and act how they would during that time, and still staying the age that they are.

I just wanted to comment on how much i liked this assignement!

What a great way to introduce the truth about Thanksgiving to your class. You were very lucky to be in the class with that teacher. I am sure everyone that was involved in the role play had a better understanding of those events than if your teacher had just read it out of a text book. By the 6th grade you were ready to hear the true story.

I think role playing is a neat way to bring understanding and help children and even adults reach their own conclusions and feelings they have regarding certain issues. Some people might say that this sort of activity forces some "soul searching." It helps individuals to get in touch with their own views. I hope that I will have opportunity to use role play in my classroom in the future. I just wanted to throw my thoughts in on this one.

I agree that 9-10 would be a great age to explore the topic of the real Thanksgiving. Students are mature enough to understand. I do think the teacher must be careful how she presents the subject. Very graphic violence would not be appropriate but the truth is. We can make students understand what the Indians when through without making being extremely graphic. We should not sugarcoat, but we must be careful not to go to far.

ya know its kind of funny that you learned the truth about thanksgiving when you were in the sixth grade. i agree with sherry that around 9 and up is probably about the time when kids can understand and handle this kind of information. i'm not sure really, though, if i ever learned the truth of thanksgiving from school. i remember being 9 and learning about the trail of tears and doing different activities to learn about the harsh treatment of native americans. i dont recall a teacher ever coming out and telling me the non-sugar coated version of thanksgiving. it never occured to me either as being strange. but now that i've thought about it, it is so strange that we sit there and candy coat such a piece of history.

My parents and I have always celebrated Thanksgiving. However, my parents had always been honest with me about what the holiday actually was. They see the holiday as a chance to get to spend time with family, (since they got off from work anyway), rather than to celebrate pilgrims and the indians. I had some trouble with it though. When my friends brought up the conversation I would never talk about it because I felt like their parents or someone else was supposed to tell them. This happened in fourth grade when we went to Cherokee and saw the play, "The Trail of Tears." Then it was all explained and I felt like most people understood what actually happened an we could talk about it. I don't know if would be a good idea for all children to know the true meaning behind Thanksgiving at such an early age, but I am glad that my parent choose to explain it to me.

You must have had a great teacher. 6th grade would be a good time to start telling students the "whole truth". I think the idea of role play is great. It gives students a chance to experience the past . I think students would get more out of the lesson if they experienced it.

I'm all for role playing in our lesson plans. I enjoyed hearing about your teachers assignment. It was a cool idea and I'm sure everyone had a great time. You're right we don't need to sugar coat the truth about Thanksgiving or anything else. Of course, we need to be careful in the way we present the information to our students. I also feel that 6th grade is a good age for kids to begin learning the true meaning of Thanksgiving. Personally, I'm looking forward to incorporating role play as often as I can in my lesson plans whether it be Thanksgiving or some other topic. I want my students to not only sit there & listen to me teach, but to actually get involved and have some fun with it. We need to make learning fun for our kids.

I am kind of like Kaelyn, because I don't remember ever learning about the true Thanksgiving. I rememebr learning about the Trail of Tears and the other horrors Native Americans went through, but none of them ever centered around the meaning of Thanksgiving. I think at some point students need to learn about what really happened where they don't go through life with the misconception that Thanksgiving is about good pilgrams and good indians.

I also agree that this assignment was a great idea! Sixth grade is a good time to talk about theh realities of situations with kids. At that age, they are more mentally equipped to understand and process situations (like the Thanksgiving story). The assignment is great because the children are getting to pretend they are someone; and when children can relate situations to their lives they are more eager to learn and participate.