Thanksgiving Crossword

Who it is for

Fourth to sixth grade. The clues are plain definitions, and the answers fall into three groups: the crossing and the colony (Mayflower, voyage, pilgrim, Plymouth), the people who were already there and the harvest (Wampanoag, maize, harvest, cornucopia), and the holiday as it is kept today (November, Thursday, turkey, cranberry, pumpkin, drumstick). Autumn and gratitude belong to all three.

Wampanoag and cornucopia are the hardest to spell, and the crossing letters help with both: a student who has the answers across them only has to fill the gaps. It suits a class that has already heard the story, because the clues test what was learned rather than teach it.

After a history lesson

Hand out the puzzle at the end of the lesson as a check on what stuck. When it is done, read the clue for Wampanoag aloud and ask what else the class knows about the feast. The fullest account comes from a colonist's letter of December 1621, one of only two written by people who were there: it says about ninety Wampanoag men came, stayed for three days and brought five deer. Then ask what the letter leaves out. It says nothing about pie or cranberry sauce, and a holiday on a set Thursday in November came more than two hundred years later.

In class and at home

• The short week. When the school week before the break is only a couple of days long, a crossword is a calm task that checks itself: a wrong answer puts a letter in the way of the answer crossing it.
• Early finishers. Keep a stack on the side table all week, with the answer key face down next to it so students can mark their own.
• Before dinner. At home, it suits the older children while the turkey rests. Print one per child, or one between two with a pencil each.

Easier or harder

For third grade, tick "Add a word bank" so the answers print under the clues, and say Wampanoag, cornucopia and gratitude aloud together before the puzzle starts. Solving in pairs helps too: one reads the clue, the other counts the squares.

For a stronger class, leave the word bank off (it is off when the page opens) and rewrite the history clues as questions only your lesson answers, such as "The ship whose passengers signed a compact before they went ashore" for Mayflower. Press Shuffle to make a second layout of the same clues for the other half of the room.

Printing

The puzzle prints on one page, grid above and clues below, and the answer key on the next, filled in and with every answer listed. Print a class set of page one and keep a single key. Cream or pale orange paper looks seasonal and keeps the numbers in the squares easy to read.

The 16 answers and their clues

The grid is 15 x 18, with 7 answers across and 9 down. Edit an answer or a clue above and the puzzle is rebuilt as you type; Shuffle gives another layout of the same answers.