1-2-3 Come Do Some Thanksgiving Activities With Me

I think you’ll really like the versatility of the Turkey Feathers number packet, as you can pick and choose what’s appropriate for your students PK-1st.

What’s especially nice about the variety, is that you can easily differentiate the activities to suit various student levels.

Use them as table top worksheets, independent centers, whole group activities, something for early finishers, homework, interventions, or a sub folder.

The packet includes a trace & write counting booklet, a variety of worksheets, games, puzzles, several assessments, odd & even activities, plus a graphing extension.

There's also a turkey slider “craftivity”, with “slider strips” for numbers 0-10, 0-30, counting backwards from 10-0, as well as 20-0, plus skip counting strips for 2s, 3s, 5s & 10s.

Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to have a look see: Turkey Feathers. 

While you're there, I'd so appreciate it if you'd follow me, so that you'll know when I post the latest FREEBIE or am throwing a sale.

Speaking of FREEBIES, today's is  my "Tasting Feast" packet.  It's filled with everything you need to throw a Thanksgiving Tasting Feast for your students: signs, ingredients, letters and notes home + tips.

The packet is one of the first Thanksgiving activities I posted years ago, before all of the clip art, fonts, and graphic design programs that I use now, but I think you'll still find it helpful.

A tasting feast is a fun and easy alternative to help celebrate this historical event.  My kiddos absolutely loved it. 

Half of them chose to be Wampanoag Native Americans, the other half were Pilgrims.  They especially enjoyed making hats and headbands, as well as collars and paper bag vests to wear.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by. The carpet cleaners are coming tomorrow to do the whole house. 

Babies, toddlers and a puppy have taken it's toll,  so it will be a busy day getting ready. 

At least I feel energized to get things spruced up for Thanksgiving. Wishing you a carefree day.

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received.  Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling.  Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse." - Henry Van Dyke

1-2-3 Come Play Some Number Games With Me

As things are winding down, for a much-deserved Thanksgiving break, you may want to plug in a few educational, yet quick, easy and fun games on that last day.

The Easy As Pie Learning packet, reviews all sorts of standards, with a cute little turkey game that's easy to differentiate, for a variety of learning levels. 

Use the 10-sectioned pie pattern, to simply make a 10 piece puzzle, for younger students to practice counting and sequencing numbers 1-10. 

Older students can practice numbers and their number words, if you cut the puzzle slices into numbers and number word pieces, making a 20-piece puzzle.

You can also review colors with your little ones, by running off the number wheel pattern, on 10 different colors of construction paper; mixing and matching pieces 'til you have 30-mini puzzles, each with 10 different colored pie slices.  It only took me a few minutes to make 10.  Store them separately, in Ziploc Snack Baggies.

 Reinforce life skills, by playing with the puzzles as a partner game.  You can use dice and practice addition, or use the spinner (3 are included) to play that way. 

Students take turns rolling one dice, to fill in pie slices numbered 1-6, then use two dice and add them together, to play puzzle pieces 7-10.

If your kiddos are also studying fractions, they can play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games, with the turkey's pumpkin pie fraction cards. There's also a larger set to use as flashcards.

For more fraction practice, I've included a set of black and white pocket chart cards that you can run off, so your students can make an Itty Bitty fraction booklet.  Click on the link to grab this fun fall FREEBIE:  Easy As Pie Learning Thanksgiving Game packet.

Thanks for visiting.  It's really started to snow outside, so I'm off to go find the snow shovel, as it is tenaciously sticking to the ground. 

Sigh... I am so not ready for winter yet, but then I don't think I'm ever happy when it truly arrives either. 

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

1-2-3 Come Do Some Thanksgiving Shape Activities With Me

One of the most common symbols of Thanksgiving is the Pilgrim hat. When I was doing research about the Pilgrims for several of the packets, I was surprised to learn that they did not really sport the large brass buckles on their hats and shoes, despite belief to the contrary.

In search of a "buckled up" pilgrim picture, I came across a costume company that sells this "authentic" Pilgrim garb.  It is because most of the 17th-century artists also depicted couples this way, that we have come to believe that they all wore buckles.

Buckles didn’t come into fashion until decades after the Pilgrims left England, and were used as a status symbol, since they were more expensive than other fastening solutions. 

The Pilgrims did wear the conical hats, which I discovered were called capotains, but they didn’t have buckles, nor did their belts. 

Pilgrim boys and men, held up their pants with leather laces tied to their shirts and doublets. These facts have been gleaned from historical records, passenger lists, wills, diaries, and letters that included descriptions of clothing.  Buckles later became very popular in England because they were an expensive fashion statement, however, they were not part of Pilgrim dress.

I thought you'd enjoy learning this bit of trivia, which you can share with your students when they do the Shapely Buckle craftivity.  Years ago I made a Pilgrim buckle shape booklet, and thought I'd up-date that idea with a new packet.

This one includes a pattern for the Pilgrim's hat, which I cut out of black construction paper.  A mini-buckle booklet is stapled together and then glued to the center of the hat. 

Children flip the pages to reveal the different shaped buckles.  Adding a bit of gold glitter glue to the cover, really adds that finishing touch.

A graphing extension is also included, showing which shaped buckle your students thought would be the best.  The large shape cards that feature traceable shape-words, can be uses as pocket or flashcards to review and assess.   Make an extra set; laminate, trim and cut into puzzles. 

Students can also make an Itty Bitty booklet, as a cover is included.  Children trace and color the shape buckles, as well as trace and write the shape words.

I've also included smaller buckle shape cards along with shape word cards to play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games.  Children can match shape to shape or shape to word. 

Click on the link to view/download the Shapely Buckles packet.  I've shared quite a few Thanksgiving/Pilgrim links in other blog articles and found another one today that you might also enjoy. This link contains 6 short video clips that include interesting Thanksgiving/Pilgrim information from the History Channel.

Since the Penguin Shape packet I & II as well as the Shapely Owls continue to be three of the most downloaded items on my site, I thought it would be fun to make one featuring turkeys. 

Teachers can make the large shape-head turkeys for display or review, and then have students choose their favorite shape and make a shape body - turkey bird of their own. 

A turkey version of the 4-Corners game can also be played with the large turkey heads.  Directions are included in the packet.

There are some turkey shape word cards you can use for pocket or flashcards. 

Make extra sets to play Memory Match or "I Have; Who Has?" games, or cut them apart and make puzzles.  Click on the link to view/download the The Shape Of My Turkeys packet.

Finally, Susan over in Texas, asked if I could make the Pilgrim Shape Spinner game featuring turkeys.  No problem.  If you'd like a set too, click on the link to grab it.  Turkey Spinner Shape game.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you can stop by tomorrow for a few more FREEBIES hot off the press.

"What could we accomplish if we knew we could not fail?" - Eleabor Roosevelt

1-2-3 Come Make a Thanksgiving Placemat With Me

Because I get into designing frenzies and have so much to share, sometimes my blog posts get a bit too long,  (Mr. husband calls this my "hurricane mode". )  Today I'm endeavoring to try and keep things simple, and since I only got one thing completed yesterday, being brief will be easy.

My husband and I were eating out the other night and we noticed some really well-behaved children, busily working away on the activity placemat that quite a few restaurants hand out.

I think this is a wonderful "super-duper-shutter-upper" and a great way to keep children occupied, with something educational until their food arrives. 

Since my brain never shuts down, when it comes to thinking up new things to make, I wondered what kind of placemat I could dream up, and right away thought one for Thanksgiving would be especially appropriate.

Our kindergartners always had a mock Thanksgiving feast on the floor in the cafeteria.  (I did a Thanksgiving "tasting" feast with my Y5's.)   Click on my link if you'd like to see how easy and educationally fun, a tasting feast is for your kiddos. 

We made Pilgrim hats and Native American paper bag vests the week before, so some children chose to attend the feast as Indians, the others Pilgrims.

If you do something similar, making a placemat on that special day would be a fun activity.  Since the last day before any vacation seems to be a high-energy day, this would also be something you could easily plug in for a little quiet time, before dismissal.

However you use it, I hope it's enjoyable. So that you have an answer key, I've included one that I filled in with my grandson's handprint.  

If you happen to think of any more words using the letters in November, I would enjoy hearing from you.  diane@teachwithme.com I putzed for around 15 minutes and 51 is all that I could come up with. 

Click on the link to view/download the Thanksgiving Placemat.

Thanks for visiting. The snow plows woke me up, so I have plenty of time to fritter away crafting this morning.  Wishing you a fun-filled day.

"Even though we can't have everything we want, we can be thankful that we don't get everything we sometimes deserve." -Unknown

Turkey Time

Are you looking for some fun activities to do with the little “turkeys” running around your house? I have some solutions for you!

     Crafting With Kids: It’s always fun to do crafts with kids, and especially nice if they can become a keepsake or have a practical purpose.  Click on the Patterns & Directions link at the end to view/print all the directions for these projects.

Keepsake Turkey Prints: My all-time favorite turkey craft is traced from my students’ feet (shoe on), and hands and then glued together to make these darling turkeys, sure to be treasured for a long time.  I write this little poem on a heart that's sent home with the turkeys.  “This is a turkey Oh so fine. Look at the body, It’s two feet that are mine. The feathers are traced from my hands too. I made this turkey because I love you!” The Indian corn seen in the picture I made by melting crayon shavings on yellow construction paper "corn cobs" that are covered with a sheet of waxed paper. The "husk" I made by tying on a raffia bow. 

 Oak Leaf Turkey: Another quick craft is Oakey The Turkey. Paint a paper plate; add some oak leaf “feathers” and a turkey head that you’ve added a bit of color to, and you’ve made Oakey!

 Disguised Turkeys:  Several of my fellow teachers do this idea with their Kindergarten and Preschool students and they turn out adorable; so I decided to make a pattern and letter for you to copy if this “floats your boat”.  It’s a nice home-school connection to get parents involved in creating a great bulletin board or wall display.

 Don’t forget to check out the Cutie Cup & Praise Turkey in the November Arts & Activities section of my side Blog! They’re quick, easy and real self-esteem builders.  I also have LOTS of turkeys in my Turkey Art and Activities Book. So click on the link and have a blast decorating your classroom or home while nailing report card standards!

 Click here to view/print  the Turkey art patterns and directions for the above 3 projects. I've also included The Turkey Pokey song.  My students enjoy singing this with whatever turkey creation they've made before they take their "masterpiece" to their locker.

      Games: I design a lot of games for my Y5’s.  It’s a fun way for them to learn life skills as well as report card standards.  These November games help reinforce colors, number recognition, sequencing, counting, etc. Click on the link to view/print patterns and directions. November Games.

      Educational Activities: Clicking on this link will get you a turkey glyph, Venn diagram comparing our modern day Thanksgiving dinner with the 1^st feast, a Native American headband activity that reinforces skip counting, patterning and shapes; a word-wall word skill sheet, + traceable- November word flashcards, and an  “-ump” family Pumpkin spinner.  Educational Activities.

      Other Fun Things To Do On The Web:

Graphic Garden has an adorable free Thanksgiving bear bookmark. Print off a few, glue them to construction paper, punch a hole in the top, tie a nice autumn-colored ribbon at the top, write names on the bottom edge and use them for place cards at your Thanksgiving table.

 A fantastic site for geography and history is found at our National Library site. Click on the link and click on their Jump Back In Time button and read about life during the colonial times.

 To view a cute newspaper article slideshow of the turkeys at the White House click on the link The article shows a photo of the president at the time (Pix from Eisenhower to GW Bush) and also gives an interesting turkey tidbit.

 To play some fun games that represent  colonial times click on the link.  My favorites were Revolutionary Fireworks Frenzy, where you had to light fireworks that went off in a beautiful array, Heads Up For The Colonists where you dragged hats and put them on the correct person on the ship, Paper Dolls At Play, where you dressed the Colonial girl in the appropriate clothing in the correct order.

 Info.Please has some great turkey facts. I knew that Benjamin Franklin argued for the turkey to be our National bird instead of the eagle, however I didn’t know that the US processed more than 6 billion pounds of turkey!  Wow! Click on the link to learn some really interesting trivia. 

 The HolidaySpot.com has a nice history of Thanksgiving. Click on the link. This site also has some great quick facts:  Play a rousing game of tic-tac-toe against a pilgrim and turkey. Careful; it’s addicting. I had to play ‘til I was ahead. Who’d want to admit that you’d been beaten’ by a turkey!

Scholastic's is having several free Web Casts: on Nov. 2nd tour the Pilgrim village, On Nov. 9th tour the Wampanoag village, on Nov. 16th enjoy a recreation of the 1st Thanksgiving. Great for Smartboards!   l copied their blip and it’s pasted below.  I've been to the plantation and it is awesome!   You have to sign up.  Click on  the link to do that.

A thirty minute online field trip to meet a Pilgrim and a Wampanoag—straight from Plymouth Plantation. Watch the fieldtrip from your classroom—or pull a few classes together in the library to take this exciting trip to visit Plymouth. Your class will also receive a series of letters from a Pilgrim and a Wampanoag. 

Last summer my husband and I visited Plymouth Rock.  Plymouth Plantation, a Wampanoag Village as well as viewed a replica of the Mayflower. Click on the links to view my pictures. Perhaps you can make a slide show from them or print them off to make your own picture book or b. board.

Well there it is, LOTS of fun-filled ideas to pack into your November drizzly cold days and squelch any “I’m bored!” complaints from your kids over Thanksgiving breatk.  Whatever you decide to do, I hope it’s simply “turkey-riffic”!

Happy November!