Time to Be Thankful

Grace
by Eric Enstrom
1918

November is just around the corner and the month brings my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. Here are some sites to help you enjoy the day.

STORIES

Native Languages of the Americas Wampanoag Indian Legends Meet Moshup the Giant, read about Squant the Sea Monster and more. There are also additional links and resources to help you learn more about this Indian nation. http://tinyurl.com/l5tx8x

The Circle of Life and the Clambake – A lovely story from the Wampanoag culture that encompasses the spirit of thanksgiving, the circle of life and caring for the earth. http://tinyurl.com/kpdyaq

Thanksgiving Short Stories for Kids
http://tinyurl.com/m4563n

The Scarecrow’s Thanksgiving – A Canadian Thanksgiving story.
http://www.uexpress.com/tell-me-a-story/2013/10/13/the-scarecrows-thanksgiving-a-canadian-thanksgiving


CRAFTS

Blessing Boxeshttp://tinyurl.com/5zuk4x

Thanksgiving and Fall Crafts for Children
http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/thanksgiving.html

Thanksgiving Coloring Pages
http://tinyurl.com/yauxtpy


CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Wampanoag Culture and History Links – Geography, lifestyle and traditions, books and more. http://tinyurl.com/njqk6y

Wampanoag Indian Fact Sheet for Kids
http://www.bigorrin.org/wampanoag_kids.htm

Learning to Give – Native American Lesson Plan for grades 9 – 12 in Arts, Language Arts, Library / Technology, Philanthropy and Social Studies. Includes numerous folktales to share. http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit226/lesson12.html

All ‘Bout Cranberries - A comprehensive cranberry curriculum for grades K-8 covering many aspects of cranberry growing and takes the user on a journey from the Cranberry Bog to the Kitchen Table. It is designed to give students an appreciation of Massachusetts number one food crop through problem solving and thought provoing activities. http://www.cranberries.org/cranberries/teachers.html

American Indian Leather Painting– For grades 5-6, students will create stories that resemble ol Indian leather paintings. Students will tell a story using only pictures and drawing them in sequence so others can read the story back.
http://tinyurl.com/6q8jjt

The Pilgrims Voyage: A Map and the Mayflower - This project teaches geography and history. The student makes a map of the voyage and a tiny replica of the Mayflower. http://tinyurl.com/mauanx


SITES TO SHARE YOUR THANKS WITH THE WORLD

Charity Navigator - An independent charity evaluator; provides tips for making decisions about donations, statistics, information about workplace donation campaigns, and a list of the highest and lowest rated charities in various subject areas.
http://tinyurl.com/wlf7

The Hunger Site - Since its launch in June 1999 the site has established itself as a leader in online activism, helping to feed the world's hungry. All it takes is a click of the computer keys. What could be easier?
http://tinyurl.com/2rdph4

Rwanda Baskets - Proceeds benefit Rwandan genocide widows who weave these exquisite baskets to provide for themselves and the orphans of this war-torn nation.
http://tinyurl.com/5l4dke

Give A Good Card - Give a gift card for charity where the recipients get to donate to their charity of choice.
http://tinyurl.com/3bymu8

Oxfam America Unwrapped - For those of us who are blessed to have what we need, why not wrap up your holiday spirit and pick one of the 120 countries from around the world to help? Whether our budget is small or large, we can all do our part to help others in need.
http://tinyurl.com/5uyjr5

Global Action for Children - A nonpartisan, coalition dedicated to advocating for orphans and highly vulnerable children in the developing world. Their goal is for all children to have the health care, education, food, and protection they need to grow up safe and healthy.
http://www.globalactionforchildren.org/

Donors Choose.org - This simple yet brilliant idea was started by a teacher. It is an easy way to provide students in need with resources that ourpublic schools often lack. Teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn and concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose the projects to fund. This is a non-profit agency. http://www.donorschoose.org/about/about.html

Points of Light Institute - Website for an organization that promotes volunteer activity and civic engagement in the U.S., helps develop infrastructure for community change, and "demonstrates the power of citizens actively engaged in changing our world and solving problems." Includes a directory of volunteer centers, description of programs, resources for volunteers, and related material. http://www.pointsoflight.org/ Copyright LII http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27943

African Artists Community Development Project - While traveling this summer I met two wonderful women who donate their time and energy to this amazing project. One of the ladies shared a story of bringing some of the funds to a woman in Zambia and seeing her joy as she clapped her hands and said, "Now I can buy a chicken!" She also told me of sitting on the floor with these women, helping them make handbags out of recycled materials. She said,"They are so poor but they are happy. I love sitting with them and listening to their stories." I promised them I would spread the word about their amazing project so other women will be able to buy animals to add to their small farms and support their families.
http://www.aacdpafrica.org/

Mission to Liberia – This cause is near to my heart as one of my dear friends is connected with this agency. “Old shoes. Very old shoes. These took me on foot, away from the gunfire, far from the shelling of embattled Liberia, my homeland. Joseph Deranamie recounts his days fleeing as a refugee. Mission to Liberia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to serving the health care needs of fellow Liberians who did not escape the devastation that decades of civil war left behind.” http://missiontoliberia.org/

Karen Chace  ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.