Create Thanksgiving Activities Using an AI Chatbot
In ChatGPT or your favorite AI Chatbot, cut and paste the following mini-prompts to develop various activities for exploring the Thanksgiving holiday with your students.
History of the Holiday
Create a timeline of how Thanksgiving has evolved since 1621. Include different cultural perspectives.
Example: Create a timeline for how Thanksgiving has evolved since 1621. Include the perspective of the Wampanoag people, immigrants in the 19th century, and Indigenous youth from today.
Showing Gratitude
Generate 5 unique ways for me to show gratitude for [MY TEACHER / FRIENDS / FAMILY / ETC.].
Example: Generate 5 unique ways for me to show gratitude to my teacher for all she does to help me learn. She is extremely patient and always listens to me.
Indigenous Perspectives
Provide a fictional first-person narrative on the first Thanksgiving from the perspective of the Wampanoag people with a focus on [FOCUS AREA].
Example: Provide a fictional first-person narrative on the first Thanksgiving from the perspective of the Wamponoag people with a focus on their perspectives of the pilgrims and how they adapted their traditional Harvest celebrations for the settlers.
New Traditions
Brainstorm new traditions for Thanksgiving based on [STUDENT INTERESTS / CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS / ETC.].
Example: Brainstorm new traditions for Thanksgiving that promote sustainability.
Creative Feasts
Create a thanksgiving meal based on [SPECIFIC HISTORICAL TIMES / CULTURES / DIETARY NEEDS].
Example: Create a Thanksgiving meal based on what was available in the 1850’s in New York City.
Service Projects
Develop a service project idea that teaches the importance of giving back and helping those in need.
Example: Develop a service project idea that teaches the importance of giving back and helping those in need in my small town community that has a large community of elderly people living alone.
Additional Prompting Strategies
Have students design their own Thanksgiving Prompts and share them with each other.
Use these or similar prompts in your history class for other important historical events.
Play a Thanksgiving-themed prompt game in your classroom by using one of our prompts such as the Classroom Version of ‘Apples to Apples’ or Classroom Jeopardy. If you already have a Thanksgiving themed lesson, use our ‘Gamification of an Activity or Lesson Plan,” for tips on how to make it more engaging.
