Last week, we finished all my Thanksgiving Day activities in class. The highlight of my Thanksgiving Day lesson is how to prepare a beautiful dinner table. After teaching the class the art of crafting a visual dining room experience, and all that entails, the students are tested in their ability to do it themselves.
Students are given a variety of centerpieces, colored napkins and patterned tablecloths to choose from. Then I let them create one dinner table for the classroom. After they are finished, I check to make sure all items are in their proper places.
What Will The Table Look Like?
It’s always interesting to see which colorful tablecloth they’ll choose. Will it be vibrant reds and blues? Calming pastels? Or autumn yellows?
Will it be daises on a blue field, trimmed in red?
Perhaps a lovely autumn landscape?
Could it be the swirly flowered pastels?
And which centerpieces will catch their eye. Will it be the vase and flower? The holiday cards? The Pilgrim couple? Pappa pumpkin (the big one) or baby pumpkin (the little one)? Big Tom Turkey or Little Tom Turkey?
So many choices!
And will they take time to match their colors for tablecloth and napkin, or will the two clash?
Four napkins to choose from. Which will look best with the chosen tablecloth is always a huge debate among the entire class.
It’s Perfect! Passed with 100 %
In all classes, students did a lovely job of creating a table which would make anyone proud to sit down at to enjoy a Thanksgiving Day feast. And I could see just how proud they were of their group accomplishment due to all the photos everyone took during the break.
Our only disappointment?
No food to go along with all that magnificence!
A gorgeous display awaits one thing . . . the food!
Our Classroom Experience
Here are a few visuals of everyone fashioning their own dinner table creation .
The tablecloth is chosen and readied for centerpieces.
Big Tom Turkey or Little Tom Turkey? Too many choices!
The finished product — a table worthy of photos.
