1-2-3 Come Do Some Turkey Activities With Me
Studying a bit about turkeys is not only super-interesting, but it helps me get in some science and non-fiction practice as well.
Turkeys are a perfect November theme, without being totally tied to Thanksgiving, which is not celebrated by everyone in our very diverse classrooms of today.
With these things in mind, I designed “Turkey Talk”. It’s chock full of a variety of activities that include:
* A colorful KWL chart which can be done as a whole group, while the BW version can be done individually.
* 4 realistic and lovely clip art posters featuring a male, female and baby turkey along with a nest of eggs.
* I’ve also included a set of “Match Game” picture and word cards.
* A “color me” Turkey Talk emergent reader, that’s packed with Dolch sight words, as well as a “trace & write” version for younger kiddos.
* A “Let’s Talk Turkey” vocabulary building poster, with a matching...
* “Define These Words” worksheet.
* A “Turkey Time” word search as a fun way to practice these new words.
* A labeled turkey head, photo-poster, with an accompanying definition one, plus
* 2, “Label the Turkey” worksheets.
* 20+ interesting turkey facts. Pick your favorites, share with your students, then use this background information to check their comprehension.
* A follow up “Some interesting facts I learned about turkeys” writing prompt worksheet.
* 10 photo-posters of wild and domestic turkeys.
* 2 Venn diagrams, which come in color to do as a whole group, as well as BW to be done individually or with a partner.
* 3 photo-posters of a peacock for a comparison-contrast activity.
* A “Turkeys Are Can Have” worksheet in color and BW
* A “Would you like to have a turkey as a pet?” writing prompt worksheet.
* A “Describe a Turkey” worksheet for adjective and descriptive writing practice.
* 2 life cycle of a turkey crafts. One's a slider the other a "Turn & Learn Wheel" Plus several matching worksheets & a game.
All come in BW as well as color, so that you can quickly & easily make samples to share; and finally,
* 2 “We learned about turkeys today! Ask me what I know.” color-me bookmarks.
Renee over in Virginia, asked me if I had any Thanksgiving-themed "Fix The Sentence" cards, as her students have enjoyed a few of my other seasonal "pocket chart punctuation" packets.
Just finished them, so I thought I'd include them in this blog post as well.
These 28, Thanksgiving-themed sentence cards, are a quick, easy and fun way to practice capitalization and end punctuation, while reinforcing some factual information about the first Thanksgiving.
Choose your cards, then read them together as a whole group to practice lots of Dolch sight words.
Pick a student to come up and using a dry erase marker, circle letters that should be capitalized and then add end punctuation. (period, question mark & exclamation point).
You can do this on a whiteboard, with a pocket chart, or pass a card out to each child to correct.
For more practice, as an individual activity, have students choose X number of mini cards and rewrite the sentences correctly on one of the 7 worksheet options.
Afterwards, students can swap their paper with a partner to correct.
I've included 2 sizes of mini "fix the sentence" cards for this, which makes a nice Daily 5 word work activity too.
There are 28 mini cards on one sheet of paper. Simply print, laminate and trim several copies, for a class set.
The featured FREEBIE today is a collection of fall-themed, 2D shape matching games. Students place the colored shape tile on to the matching shape on the leaf, spider, bat, owl, or turkey card.
I've included a blank template for each theme, so you can program with more shapes or whatever. Hope your kiddos enjoy them as much as mine.
Well that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by. Time to hit the road and do some grocery shopping for turkey day.
Lots to do when our crowd of 20+ gathers. Feeling very blessed. Wishing you a warm-fuzzy kind of day.
"When I was growing up, and other people I knew were getting into trouble, I was somewhere in a deer stand or going to bed early, so I could be up before dawn to hunt turkeys. My love of the outdoors kept me solid. - Donald Trump, Jr.
1-2-3 Come Do Some Thanksgiving Pilgrim Activities With Me
Do you read ”The Littlest Pilgrim” by Brandi Dougherty?
I think part of the reason my students enjoy this story so much, is that they truly identify with Mini, the main character, for they too are young and often feel left out.
Mini is too little to chop wood, bake bread, hunt, build a cabin, or fish. (A nice list of things that the Pilgrims did).
However, she’s not too little to pick berries and make a special Native American friend; which in truth is the very essence of why the Pilgrims survived.
Because of my students’ enthusiasm for the story and their empathetic identification with Mini, I designed 3 quick, easy and fun writing prompt activities that I think your students will enjoy.
* The first one: “When I was younger I was too little to . . .” features 4 different “toppers” for them to choose from then color. See the samples on the cover.
* The next one is a comparison-contrast activity, where students complete the prompts: “It’s great being a kid because…” then compare that with “I look forward to being an adult because…”
Students can choose a boy or girl Pilgrim worksheet.
* Finally, a Pilgrim girl bookmark, has children make a list of words (character traits) that describe Mini.
The activities are different enough so that you can do all three, or give children a choice of the top two, then build vocabulary and practice descriptive character traits, as a whole group.
Besides the black & white patterns for students, I’ve also included full color templates, so that you can quickly and easily make a sample to share. My finished examples are also included.
To practice "text to self" we discuss times in our lives that we felt just like Mini.
Completed projects make a sweet bulletin board.
I’ve included 2 posters for the center of your display.
Because my storytelling slider craftivities craftivities have been so popular, I decided to design one to go along with "The Littlest Pilgrim" as well.
This craftivity is a quick, easy and fun way to reinforce the "sequencing and retelling a story" standards, while relaying factual information about the Pilgrims at the same time.
Children color the objects on the “slider strip” then cut and glue it together.
As they pull on the end of the “slider” the various pictures go through the window”, so that children can take turns retelling the story to a partner or reading buddy, then take their Pilgrim home to share with their family, once again practicing these standards.
Storytelling sliders are also an easy & interesting way to assess comprehension.
I’ve included a “sequence the story” worksheet for this, where students color and trim the picture “windows” then glue them in the correct order on the blank worksheet.
So that you can quickly and easily make an example, I’ve included a full-color slider pattern. There are patterns for both a boy and girl Pilgrim.
I’ve also included a “Here’s What Happened…” writing prompt worksheet, as another way to check comprehension plus practice sequential writing, hopefully using a variety of ordinal numbers or other transitions.
The featured FREEBIE for today are some fun acorn-themed craftivities, which make a nice "sanity saver" for the last day before vacation.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for popping over.
The Sandhill Cranes are migrating and make a stop over in a marsh close by.
So time to bundle up to go see this truly awesome sight, as literally 1,000s swoop in honking away. Wishing you an inspiring day.
"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." - Langston Hughes
1-2-3 Come Do Some Pete The Cat Thanksgiving Activities With Me
Are your students a bit bananas over Pete the Cat? Mine are; so I was excited to find the book "Pete the Cat and The First Thanksgiving", which allowed me to carry my students' "fur frenzy"- enthusiasm into November.
Because this story is a “lift the flap” book, I thought it would be fun to make a “Flip the Flap Thankful Craft” for an interesting transition activity after reading the tale.
On the last few pages, Pete’s family goes around their Thanksgiving table and tells what they are thankful for.
His mom is thankful for family, his brother Bob is thankful for his skateboard, and Pete is thankful for the Pilgrims. The author then asks the reader what they are thankful for.
The craft features these characters as well. When you lift the flap you see a picture of what they said they were thankful for.
The last flap has a variety of options:
* There’s a blank section so that students can draw a self portrait, or for a sweet keepsake, children glue their school photograph on. (See sample pictures in the PREVIEW.)
* I’ve also included 4 boy graphics, as well as 4 girl clips for students to choose from.
Children pick an option then color, cut and glue their “thankful for” answers under the flaps; completing the project by writing what they are thankful for and then illustrating it.
During Pete’s “The First Thanksgiving” play, children learn a variety of fun facts; so I’ve included a “color me” writing prompt worksheet, where they can list some of these.
There’s also a fill-in-the-blank worksheet, where students complete the 3 sentences with what that character was thankful for, as well as an “I’m thankful for . . .” writing prompt page, where students can write a lot more, then color the picture.
Finally, I’ve included 2, “Roll and Color” game sheets. One is for numbers 1-6 for younger kiddos, the other for numbers 1-12, where students roll 2 dice, then add them together to get numbers 7-12.
This activity is no longer available in my TpT shop, so if you'd like a copy, please e-mail me for details. (Simply click the blue LINK.
Today's FREEBIE is a Thanksgiving-themed Pete the Cat number puzzle, which comes in black and white so students can make their own, as well as one in color to use as an independent math center. The FREEBIE is one of the four 6-piece puzzles included in my big packet.
Students can simply color, cut and put their puzzle together, or they can pick a partner and take turns rolling a dice.
Whatever number they roll, they place that numbered piece on the matching numbered square on their puzzle grid. The first one to complete their puzzle is the winner.
Besides the black and white patterns for your students, I’ve also included colorful templates that you can use for an independent math center.
My students absolutely love the puzzle games, so if you're looking for a "sanity saver" before the holiday break, these provide a quick, easy, and educationally fun activity, which can be used as a sweet Thanksgiving card for parents too.
To extend the activity, have students glue their pieces to the puzzle grid as they play the game, then when done, write about the things that they are thankful for, or a note to parents of why they are thankful for them on the back of their completed puzzle.
Well that's it for today. My feet have hit the floor running, as 2 of my grandchildren are coming over for the day.
Wishing you a day filled with giggles galore and lots of snuggly hugs.
"Even when my grandchildren are not in my arms, on my lap, or in my home,they are in my heart and there they will stay forever." -Unknown
1-2-3 Come Make A Thanksgiving Slider Craft With Me
Do you read ”There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie” by Allison Jackson?
How about "Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav' Pilkey?
They are two of my all-time favorite Thanksgiving stories and are perfect for practicing the “sequencing and retelling a story” standards.
With that in mind, I designed these quick, easy and fun storytelling “slider” craftivities, that will help your students retell the tale in the proper order.
Children color the objects on the “slider strip” then cut and glue it together.
As they pull on the end of the “slider” the various pictures go through the ”window”, so that children can take turns retelling the story to a partner or reading buddy, then take their craft home to share with their family, once again practicing these standards.
Storytelling sliders are also an easy & interesting way to assess comprehension.
I’ve included a “sequence the story” worksheet for this, where students color and trim the picture “windows” then glue them in the correct order on the blank worksheet.
So that you can quickly and easily make an example, I’ve included a full-color slider pattern.
After I read the story, we retell the tale together using the picture prompts on my slider. I have them guess what they think comes next, before I pull the picture through the “window”.
My students now know what’s expected of them, and are very excited to transition to making a slider of their own.
I’ve also included a “Here’s What Happened…” writing prompt worksheet, as another way to check comprehension plus practice sequential writing, hopefully using a variety of ordinal numbers or other transitions.
A perfect "comparison-contrast" story for "The Night Before Thanksgiving" is Natasha Wing's book with the same title, yet they are two completely different stories, so I read Natasha's book the next day.
I’ve also included a Venn diagram activity, as well as a graphing extension, which you can do as a whole-group activity.
If you don’t have these books, here are the links to short, YouTube videos of the stories being read.:
* http://bit.ly/1lDSSbV * http://bit.ly/2fft8m8
Besides the sequencing & storytelling sliders, I also designed some Thanksgiving-themed ones, which practice a variety of standards. Sliders are also a quick, easy and fun way to whole group assess, whatever we’re currently working on.
Because of my students’ enthusiasm and their success at learning these concepts, I designed 5 different,Thanksgiving-themed slider patterns, in two sizes.
You can make more than one because there are also a variety of slider strips to choose from, which will help practice:
* upper & lowercase letters,
* counting & number recognition 1-10, as well as 1-30, plus
* skip counting by 2's, 3's, 5's, & 10’s, as well as
* counting backwards from 10-0 and 20-0.
* The 2D shape slider reinforces the standard shapes: circle, oval, triangle, rectangle, square, & hexagon; as well as “add-on” options with a: pentagon, octagon, rhombus, trapezoid, star, & heart.
* Besides the sliders, the packet also includes a 10-frame spinner or dice game, and several 10-frame matching games, which come in color for an independent center, as well as black & white, so students can make their own games to continue practicing at home.
* I’ve also included 10-frame cards, with matching manipulatives, so students can practice simple addition & subtraction.
* Children can use the mini number, & math symbol tiles, to make equations and practice greater & less than too.
Today's featured FREEBIE is a collection of Indian corn-themed activities. The "crayon melt" is a personal favorite with absolutely awesome results.
Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by.
Since I stayed up 'til 3:30 AM watching election results, it's time for a brisk autumn walk to help slap myself awake. Wishing you a clean slate and fresh start.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord whose confidence is in Him." - Jeremiah 17:7
1-2-3 Come Do Some Election Activities With Me
There's quite a bit of "generic" election activities out there, so I wanted to design a nice assortment of quick, easy and fun activities specific to the 2016 Presidential Election.
Thus the Election 2016 packet was born and includes:
* Several graphing options
* A variety of Venn diagrams
* An assortment of writing prompts as well as . . .
* “Positive & negative qualities of a candidate” worksheets, which includes the 4 Presidential nominees, plus Vice President running mates Pence & Kaine.
I’ve included black and white patterns for students, as well as ones in color, so that you can quickly and easily make a sample to share, or do them as a whole group activity then post the results.
There’s also:
* A Memory Match Game, where students can match portraits & symbols to the matching picture or to the corresponding word card; plus . . .
* A set of vertical & horizontal number puzzles, which practice sequencing numbers 1-10 & teen numbers, plus counting backwards from 10-0, as well as skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s, & 10s.
They come in color so that you can use them as an independent center, as well as black & white so students can color, cut and put their own puzzle together.
These activities are great for table top, early finishers, and homework.
The featured FREEBIE for today is a collection of election-themed writing prompts. Once completed, they make terrific November bulletin boards and hallway displays.
Some of these are set up to become class-made books, which are wonderful for sharing during Parent/Teacher Conferences. I've included color covers for these as well.
That's it for now. Thanks for stopping by. The sun is shining and an autumn breeze is calling my name.
Time for a much-needed break and a long walk, crunching the lovely leaves with my poodle pup Chloe.
Wishing you a day that dazzles and delights.
"How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days." - John Burroughs
