A Creative Writing Prompt That Will Have Your Students Saying: "I'll Have Seconds Please!"

One of my favorite writing prompts for my Y5’s was Thanksgiving Dinner. Use a paper plate for the cover, add plastic "silverware" for a realistic 3-D effect and tie with some yarn.

Simply show your little ones the sample and they'll get excited about making one of their own.  Since “flying solo” writing things on a blank page didn’t really work for them, I designed booklets where they could first trace a sentence and then rewrite it.

This got them used to reading from left to right and top to bottom. I could also explain to them that the first letter of the first word was capitalized and that they needed punctuation at the end of each sentence.  We worked on the period, question mark and exclamation point. They could also see that they needed a space between words. Although simple, I was covering quite a few Common Core State Standards.

My students were also listening and following directions, strengthening their finger muscles, improving their penmanship, and learning to recognize words.

Students had the option to add the sight word NOT to their sentence if they were not going to be eating that food.

They could also substitute other foods in, such as another vegetable in for corn.  I also included a page for them to get more specific about what else they would be eating.  Here they could also illustrate those foods.

We’d brainstorm together on the floor in front of the white board and I’d add words to the board, so they could refer to the list, when they wrote in their booklets.

When everyone had completed their booklet, we’d read it together a few times, as a whole group.

The booklet also was a nice vehicle for discussion, for students from different cultures who might not be celebrating Thanksgiving.

These children could substitute a cultural word in their title and write about the kind of dinner or celebration they have.

You may also want to discuss how today's Thanksgiving foods are different or the same as the 1st Thanksgiving by making a Venn diagram.

Students will enjoy taking their booklets home to their families to read again, reinforcing the lessons they have learned at school.

Because my Y5’s could read these simple booklets, their self-esteem grew as they became emergent readers. I hope they do the same for your kiddos.

These also make an awesome November bulletin board display too.  Cover your bulletin board with a fall looking table cloth, then "set the table" with the plates.

Add a few napkins on the side for a more 3-D effect.  For even more pizzazz, add your students' school pix on a leaf with a splash of glitter, and staple to the napkins as a napkin ring!

Click on the link to view/download My Thanksgiving Dinner.

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“Take time to look at the winning team and find out what they do to win.”