What Are You Thankful For?

Last week, I taught a really fun Thanksgiving lesson to my students.  First, I gave them the rundown of pilgrims seeking religious freedom, migrating to America on the Mayflower, and nearly dying out from starvation and disease.  Fortunately, the Native Americans came to their rescue, teaching them how to farm and survive in the new land.  To celebrate their new friendship and bountiful harvest, they ate a big feast, which was the first Thanksgiving.  While we like to ignore the bloody history that follows, I felt like I had a moral obligation to at least mention the despicable murder of indigenous peoples and theft of their land.  Fortunately, most of my students have seen the movie Pocahontas and immediately understood what I was trying to explain.

Next, I described three Thanksgiving traditions: Macy's Parade, American football, and Black Friday.  My students were so entranced by the sheer concept of Black Friday.  No better way to promote America's love of capitalism and materialism.  For the last 20 minutes of class, we played a football themed game to review Thanksgiving culture points.  First, I drew an football field on the chalkboard, with 10 yard increments and end-zones.  I split the class into teams and assigned each team to a different colored Post-it note, which I placed at the 50 yard line. 

Then, I asked the class a Thanksgiving question and the first team to respond with the correct answer would be given an option: 1) move ahead 5 yards, or 2) take a mystery card, which will move you forward or backwards to some random point.  The students really got into the game and found it absolutely hilarious whenever a team drew an unlucky card and were pushed backwards.  I'm proud to say that 700 Korean high school girls now know the fundamentals of American football.

In between the culture lesson and football review game, I had students make hand turkeys.  Due to a shortage of time and resources, I provided a silhouette of a hand turkey and asked students to fill-in it with things that they are thankful for.  Each finger corresponded with a different category of thankfulness.  On the pointer finger, students were asked to write things that they currently own or have that they are thankful for.  On the middle finger, they had to write things that are only found in Korea.  On the ring finger, they had to write people who they are thankful for and last, on the pinky, write things that they can't touch (intangible or abstract things).  By in large, my students did a great job on them.  Here are some samples for your enjoyment.

My students are fascinated by the elusive turkey because most of them have never seen, let alone, eaten one.  For my lower level classes, I described turkeys as a "bigger, fatter chickens."  That made my students very excited.  Some even proclaimed "Ohhh teacher, more delicious than chicken?!  Ahhh, give me turkey!!"  My students surely don't lack enthusiasm or personality.

My girls love to draw and color.  They put my artistic ability to shame.  Given the chance, they'd probably decorate their hand turkey for hours on end.  But since I only see them once a week for 50 minutes, we do not have the luxury of time.  Still, they made some pretty, colorful turkeys that I can now hang up around my desk.

 

Some students were really captivated by this assignment; others, not so much.  In the first example, Student A made it a point to fill in all the empty space.  She even included "Denille?" in the bottom right corner.  Spelling is for losers; it's the thought that counts!  ^_^   On the other hand, we have Student B who owns "nothing" that she's thankful for and writes that "there's no people that I am thankful :("  That is definitely worthy of a sad face.  Call me an optimist but I firmly believe that everyone has something in their lives that's worthy of appreciation and thanks.  At the very least, we all have "vision" - both literally and metaphorically speaking.

 

Next on display, we have some lovely color-coordinated turkeys and some with fun, whimsical patterns.  Yay for fun, creative projects that can be adapted for any age and ability level!

Being that it is Korea, you can imagine that many students wrote academically inspired things on their hand turkeys.  What would the life of a Korean high school student be without an overworked brain and excellent exam results?!

The best way to describe Koreans is with the all-encompassing word "extreme."  This word can be used to describe all aspects of life in Korea.  If you plan to study, damn right you'll sacrifice your family, sleep, social life, and mental well-being to pass Suneung.  If you plan to go hiking, you'll don hundreds of dollars worth of unnecessarily high-tech hiking gear and trek up steep mountains without stopping for breaks.  If you plan to be religious, then this, too, will be taken to an extreme level. 

Half of all Koreans consider themselves religious and half of these spiritual folks identify as Christian (the other half practice Buddhism).  Although they comprise only 25% of the population, Christians are very visible and active in Korea.  On the walk home from school, I am constantly bombarded by religious pamphlets and advertisements to join some nearby church.  Many of my students proudly identify as Christian and will not hesitate to tell me all about their professed beliefs.

I also used this activity as an excuse to review the names of fingers.  Even some of my most advanced students who know complex words like "discrimination" and "evasion" were unaware that fingers have special names other than "second finger" and "third finger."  They found it so amusing that the fourth finger is called the ring finger.  Many students capitalized on this new found knowledge and decorated this finger with sparkly gems.

So I was slightly misinformed.  It's not the math teacher that all my students swoon over; it's the chemistry teacher named Kang Dongwon.  Now that I've learned his name, I hear students gossiping about him all the time in the hallways and between classes.  Students love to brag that "Ohh Kang Dongwon Teachaaaa loves me best!!!"  So it was no surprise when I discovered that he was the most frequently listed thing/person that students were thankful for. 

Being that studying consumes their life, my students have nearly no time to socialize outside of school or meet boys - an unfortunate reality that they constantly complain about.  That being said, they are still teenagers so they're always dreaming about boys and handsome male celebrities.  There seems to be an inverse correlation between academic achievement and relationship status.  None (as far as I know) of my A-level students have boyfriends because they cannot afford to be distracted from their studies.  However, many of my D-level students like to remind me and their friends about their active dating life.

The two turkeys below exemplify this correlation.  The first was written by an A-level student.  Notice that she's thankful for her "future boyfriend," as in she hasn't even met him yet.  The second was written by a D-level student.  In the people category, the second student unsurprisingly wrote her boyfriend.  But more interesting is the fact that in the Korean things category, she wrote "sojoo," a.k.a. the Korean equivalent of vodka.  Oh dear...

There are some things that qualify under several categories of thankfulness.  The first and most obvious choice was Kang Dongwon Teacher.  The K-pop sensation Super Junior and actor Daniel Choi also made the cut.  Obviously these three qualify for the categories of Korean things and people.  However, I found it awfully amusing that they also included them for "things that you own" and "things you cannot touch."  Yes, I suppose you won't be touching Daniel Choi or Kang Dongwon in the near future.  Maybe only in your dreams.  ^_~

Some students did some really creative things with the fingers on their hand turkey.  The first is a tribute to the popular video game Angry Birds and the second is a depiction of a student's mother.  Actually, it kinda looks like my mother, too! ;)

Hi mom!  *^^*

It was nice to see that some students even included me in category of people that they're thankful for.  Little things like this always put a smile on my face.  The most creative response for this category was "every author of books I read."  I completely share your sentiment.

Here are some examples of turkeys in costume.  First, we have a turkey that is not a chicken, but rather, a cow.  Next, we have an M.C. Escher-inspired hand turkey.  After that we have two lovely examples of Gay Pride turkeys!

I was most impressed by what my students wrote for the last category: things you cannot touch.  I am always amazed by their vast English vocabulary.  Just take a look at some of the abstract ideas and concepts that they are thankful for.  I am especially fond of the last one, which includes things like gravity, electricity, light, and sound.  My best bet is that a science genius is responsible for this hand turkey.

Of course, my students used this opportunity to draw adorable little pictures.  I shall never grow tired of "Kute Korea."  Literally, everything is so painfully cute and precious.  Personally, I am a fan of the drawing that accompanies the word "soul" in the last example.  It reminds me of Casper the Friendly Ghost!

Last, but not least, I leave you with a true artistic masterpiece.  Seriously, check out the incredible shading work.  And mind you, all of this was done with colored pencils.  She even made the turkey's wing into a paintbrush!  I spoke with this student after class and learned that she's hoping to attend an art institute after she graduates high school.  Just based on this one 10-minute assignment, I'm sure that she'll have no trouble getting in.  Today, I laminated this hand turkey so that I can keep it forever.  These are the things that I will keep and treasure for years to come.