As November begins, I like many teachers begin planning for Thanksgiving activities for our classroom. One of the best things that I like teaching about Thanksgiving is discussing about the different traditions that my students may have.
Growing up in a traditional Vietnamese family, we never celebrated Thanksgiving the way that my friends at school did. I didn’t realize it until I was in middle school! Yes, I know. Middle school. hahah… One day it just dawned on me that all of my friends had the traditional turkey, stuffing, corn, mashed potato dinner, and my family had never done so. Instead, my sweet mom would whip up our family’s favorite- pho, chicken curry with baguette or duck soup with vermicelli. One year I proposed the idea of having the traditional Thanksgiving instead and was met with….hmmm… much opposition. So then I started thinking, “Ok, maybe Asian families just don’t do the turkey and stuffing and such.”, and then I met my husband whose Vietnamese family does the whole turkey SHABANG!
So there you have, at 30 something years old, I have never had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with my family. hahaha… We definitely are grateful for all the blessings in our lives and celebrate the meaning of Thanksgiving, but maybe….I’m still holding out…that maybe… we’ll have turkey together one day… along with a traditional Vietnamese dish, of course. 🙂
I have also asked my Blogger & TPT Friends to share their K-2 Thanksgiving resources below. Please check out their awesome resources below!
