Thanksgiving Music Lesson Plan: Easy Song to Treasure

You’ll love this favorite Thanksgiving Music lesson plan that you can easily adapt for all your elementary classes. This is a song I remember from my childhood that always made me feel happy because it is about going to a Grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving! I used it my first year teaching and every year since. Let me show you how to craft a lesson you can use over and over again. 

When you ask your students what they are doing for any holiday celebration, going to their Grandmother’s house always comes up. I love to respond with “That is the best!” Partially because I am the Grandmother and also because I had the best Grandmother ever, and her memory brings me so much joy! 

“Over the River and Through the Wood” is a timeless and beloved Thanksgiving music lesson song that has been cherished by generations. Teaching this song to elementary students can brighten their day as well as meet educational standards to create, perform, and respond. Let me show you how!

History: Lyrics to Over the River and Through the Woods Song

First off share the history of this Thanksgiving music lesson plan with your students. Sharing the story of the song’s origin allows students to connect with the past, creating a meaningful context for their learning.

“Over The River and Through the Wood” song was a poem written by Lydia Maria Child and originally published in 1844 as “The New England Boy’s Song About Thanksgiving Day.” When Lydia Maria Child was 13 years old, President James Madison declared April 13, 1815, a day of national Thanksgiving. When the poem was written, Thanksgiving was most likely still celebrated in April. Nearly 50 years later in 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to be the last Thursday of November. 

The original poem words written was about going to “grandfather’s house” on Thanksgiving day. At some point Over the River and Through the Wood song lyrics changed to grandmother’s house. This 12-stanza poem describes the sights, sounds, adventure, and excitement of a chilly sleigh ride through the snow to celebrate Thanksgiving day. The poem was anonymously set to music and became popular after the Civil War and a classroom standard around the turn of the century.  

One verse referenced the jingle sound of a sleigh ride. Before automobiles were invented in 1893 the mode of transportation in the winter was a horse and sleigh. A sleigh pulled by a horse on snow makes very little noise. During a blizzard, the sleigh was difficult to see. The jingle bells added to the harness of the horse were a warning sound to let others know a sleigh was coming. 

Both of Lydia Maria Child’s grandfathers had passed away before she was born, but her grandmother,  Susanna Rand lived in Medford, Massachusetts a place known for its sleigh races held on Salem Street. Another famous song by Pierpont in 1857 describes the famous Medford sleigh races in his song “Jingle Bells.” 

Picture Books: Over the River and Through the Wood Song 

I so enjoy how students love to be read to. There are several wonderful book options available that beautifully illustrate the journey described in the song making reading them the perfect way to introduce or wrap up this Thanksgiving music lesson plan. I always read a fun one that uses the original lyrics with illustrations showing a family’s journey to their grandfather’s house and on the way they get mixed in with a Thanksgiving parade. Over the River and Through the Wood: Lydia Maria Francis Child, David Catrow (illustrators)

You can also find YouTube videos to use that will read a book for you making it a great choice for vocal rest. 

Musical Elements: Thanksgiving Music Lesson Plan  

Now, let’s dive into the musical aspects of this Thanksgiving music lesson plan. The song is typically sung in 6/8 time, giving it a lively, waltz-like feel. Teach a new time signature or reinforce eighth notes, syncopation, dotted quarter notes and play in the key of C.  

Get your kindergarteners or 1st graders playing a dotted quarter note steady beat with this Thanksgiving music lesson plan. I use barred instruments or colorful boomwhackers on a chord accompaniment. Make colorful cue cards or try your hand at creating a follow-along video. 

For upper elementary, you can also teach the notes to the melody on any C instrument. This is fun on the ukulele, boomwhackers, and xylophone. Perform the song in ensemble arrangements. The best way to teach music theory is by polishing a song for performance. Combine melody, and chord accompaniment, add a horse’s trot and jingles on auxiliary percussion, and finally a chorus of singers.   

You can also use Over the River and through the Wood song to introduce or practice the concept of solfège and have them sing the song using these syllables. The melody uses all the notes at least once in the C-sale. I always like to tell students the solfege is sign language for singing. It would be fun to perform a verse of just signing. 

Create and Respond: Thanksgiving Music Lesson Soundscape

My favorite way to use the Over the River and Through the Wood song is to use keywords of the poem to create a soundscape on musical instruments. This teaches students to respond and create with the song. I pull out the words: river, wood, horse, sleigh, wind, sting, and bite paired with a short rhythm pattern on a variety of instruments. 

A visual cue card makes teaching and reading rhythms for this Thanksgiving music lesson plan fun. Laminate your cards and use them year after year. I use this with Kindergarten and again in first grade to encourage and reinforce note value and rhythm reading. In kindergarten, students might be learning by rote. While in first grade students can begin to recognize the note and assign a value to it. 

Let upper grades choose and create their own soundscape with this Thanksgiving music lesson plan. Have them work in small groups so each group can perform their musical instrument creation together. I give them the lyrics and have them use a variety of shapes to identify their word choice. Such as circle, square, or underline. Each shape corresponds to an auxiliary percussion instrument and a rhythm they create. 

Then have them perform while the class sings the song. If you want to get in a variety of verses then assign a different verse for each group. This not only enhances their rhythmic skills but also adds a fun and engaging element to the song.

Get ready for December with my blog on Teaching The Nutcracker. If you are looking for a completed Thanksgiving music lesson plan, here is the one referenced throughout this blog.