I-2-3-Come Make A Thankful Turkey Craft With Me

All I ever have to do to get my kiddos highly motivated and excited to write, is put a little bit of craftiness into the project.

With that in mind, I designed this "Thankful Turkey Wheel”, which does the trick in getting them happily engaged, and right down to business.

As a pre-writing activity, students make a list of 4-6 things that they are thankful for.

When they are content with their final draft, they choose one of 3 turkey-topped worksheets to write their list on.  So that you can quickly and easily make a sample to share,

I've included options in color as well as black and white. 

Once students have finished their final list, they assemble their wheel and illustrate those “things” on it.

Students can also use stickers, pictures cut out from magazines, digital clip art, or perhaps real photographs. For example if they are thankful for their family they could glue down a family photograph.

There are 3 wheels to choose from:
A simpler 3-piece wheel for younger children who’d skip the writing portion, as well as a 4 and 6-sectioned wheel for older students.

You can keep things simple with just the head and body of the turkey, or you can add some 3D pop by adding a wattle, beak and wings.

For more writing practice, have students label their pictures.

Completed wheels and prompts make a sweet bulletin board.

I’ve included a “Let our lives be full of Thanks and Giving” poster for the center of your display.

Be sure and make your own, to help explain what you want your students to do, as well as share with them, what you’re thankful for.

Pressed for time? For your convenience, I've included my completed, full-color samples of both the wheel and writing prompt. 

Little ones can simply make a list using a few words. 

Encourage older students to include some descriptive words and a bit more than one or two-word answers. 

You can also do this as a whole group activity with preschoolers, asking what they're thankful for, then listing their answers on the colorful worksheet making a class composite of gratefulness.

Today's featured FREEBIE also has a Thanksgiving theme.

If you're students are as bananas over Pete the Cat as mine are, then I think they'll enjoy this "Color Me" dice game puzzle.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.

Mother Henderson's cupboard is bare, so time for some marathon grocery shopping.  Wishing you a peaceful and productive day.

"Forget the mistakes. Remember the lesson." - Unknown

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 Thanksgiving Writing Prompts With Me

The activities in the "Thanksful Packet", are a creative alternative to the ever popular “Thankful For…” writing prompt.

The THANKFUL word, is a quick, easy & fun little craftivity your students can do in 5-10 minutes.

Children fill in the letters with things that they are thankful for. Drawings, stickers, or even a little photograph adds pizzazz.

I used all caps so that students had more room. Take a teachable moment to discuss why they think that most signage that they read is a “rule breaker” and uses all capital letters.

The packet also includes a class-made booklet, which includes several page options and covers.

It’s formatted on a full-page for a large booklet, as well as 2-on-a-page templates to conserve paper.

The booklet is a wonderful way to build students’ self-confidence, and is especially appropriate if your class participates in the “Bucket Filling” program, as children choose a partner then write why they are thankful for them.

Encourage older students to use at least 3 adjectives to describe their classmate, as well as 2-3 verbs of what they do that you are thankful for.  

Add school pictures for that finishing touch.

After they share their page, collect, collate and add a cover.
Remember to set your booklets out for parent-teacher conferences. 

As always, I've included my completed samples, so that you can quickly and easily make an example to share with your kiddos, to help explain what you want them to do.

There's also a sweet little note from your teacher: I'm thankful you're in our class, that you can tuck in students' desks, folders, or backpacks.

Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to take a look at the: Thankful Packet.

While you're there, I'd so appreciate it if you'd follow me.  I know it's a bit silly, but I really get excited about this growing number. 

I only need two more followers to hit the 800 milestone.  When I do, I'll be sharing a special FREEBIE in celebration. 

By following, you'll know when I post FREEBIES or throw a sale.  Thanks in advance for you consideration.

The featured FREEBIE for today is Patrick, the paper chain scarecrow.  Use him as a creative and fun way to practice, counting and patterning via the links.

Older students can write why they are thankful on eack link, the scarecrow being a nice alternative to a turkey.  Completed projects look cute dangling from the ceiling or as a border up against a hallway wall.

Well that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by.  It's rainy, cold and dreary out. 

The perfect kind of day to start creating some Christmas craftivities.  Wishing you a warm-fuzzy, snuggly kind of day.

"Every day may not be good, but there is good in every day." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Do a Thanksgiving-Themed Writing Craftivity With Me

All I ever have to do to get my kiddos highly motivated and excited to write, is put a little bit of craftiness into the project.

With that in mind, I designed these "Thankful Wheels”, which do just the trick in getting them happily, right down to business.

Beforehand, gather children around your whiteboard.  Brainstorm a list of the things that they are thankful for.

We discuss synonyms like grateful and appreciative as well.

Write these on the board, so that students can refer to the list for correct spelling, as well as choose which ones are appropriate to them.

As a pre-writing activity, children make their list of 6 things that they are thankful for, when they are content with the final draft, they write this on the Pilgrim-topped paper, trim and assemble their wheels, then illustrate and color them.

In keeping with Thanksgiving, there are 4, wheel-top designs to choose from: A Pilgrim boy or girl, or a Native American boy or girl.

Younger kiddos do the simpler 3-piece wheel, where they only have to think of 3 things that they are thankful for.

For more writing practice, have students label their pictures.

So that my kiddos get practice speaking, I always have them share one thing about any of the projects that we do.  

This is also an interesting and fun way for them to continue to get to know their classmates.

As always, I've included my completed, full-color samples, so that you can quickly make an example to share, helping to explain what you want your students to do.

Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop to take a look at the “I’m Thankful For . . .” writing prompt wheels & toppers.

Today's featured FREEBIE is a set of Thanksgiving-themed 10 Frames.  I hope you find them useful.   

Well that’s it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  I got up early to post this, so now it’s time to get ready for church.  

I’m extremely thankful to God for all of my many blessings.   Wishing you a peaceful day.

"Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings." - William Arthur Ward

1-2-3 Come Do A Few More Thanksgiving Activities With Me

One of the loose ends I just completed was the fall time cards, so if you are looking for analog as well as digital time activities and games, click on the links for It's Turkey Time and Time For Pumpkins.

I've had several visitors inquire if I'm going to start designing some activities for older elementary students. 

It's certainly on my bucket list, as I've taught many grades: PK, K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, (prepped an entire summer for 8th before I was bumped back down, 3 days before school started! ) assisted with MEAPS for 5th, and taught 9th, 10th, 12th + college.   Whatever grade I was teaching at the time, became my favorite. 

I think lots of the writing prompt activities on the site can be given to older students.  Writing is one of my "hot buttons" and I'm passionate about motivating students to WANT to write. I truly believe that if you grab their interest, students will excitedly get down to business.  It's one of the reasons I just designed the Dear Pilgrim Letter Writing packet.

As I was doing research on the Pilgrims I came across the wonderful Scholastic Thanksgiving site.  They teamed up with Plimoth Plantation (this IS spelled correctly) to make a wonderful virtual field trip your kiddo's can go on. 

Among the many cool things they have on the site, are fictional letters written by the Pilgrim child "Lizzie" to her Aunt Constance, as well as several from the Wampanoag. 

I got to thinking that this would make an awesome writing prompt for older el and could even be attempted with lower el with some prior discussion, and examples.

After reading several stories about the Pilgrims, so that your students have some knowledge of their life and times, have them write a letter to a Pilgrim child on the Mayflower.  

My Pilgrim Children packet is chock full of information, as well as a list of the names of the 31 real kids on the Mayflower. 

Write your students' names on the quill tags. Children choose one and write a letter to their "Pilgrim" classmate.  That child receives the letter and then writes one back, as if they were a real Pilgrim child.  This is a great way to practice writing from a specific perspective, as well as explaining point of view.

I spent some time searching the Internet for Pilgrim letter examples that you can share with your students, and compiled a list of links.  I also recommend that you write one yourself, so that your students know what's expected of them. 

Encourage your class to use specific details about the Pilgrims that they have learned.  Click on the link to view/download the Dear Pilgrim Letter Writing Prompt Packet.

Finally, another interesting writing prompt for students would be to have them write about the Thanksgiving vacation of their dreams.  They have unlimited funds to plan an unbelievable (sky's the limit) Thanksgiving.

Brrrring! The bell rings and they are on "holiday" as the English would say.  Where are they going, with whom, what are they wearing, playing, doing, eating, learning. . . ?  It's all in the details and you want plenty of them. 

Writing can be a one-pager where students share their page and you collect and collate the pages into a class book, or have students do lots more writing, by filling in the pages to a fictional fun travel journal. 

I've also included diary pages for yet another writing option.  Click on the link to view/download the "A Feast Of Fictional Fun" Thanksgiving break packet. 

Thanks for visiting.  It's a typical dreary November day, drizzly and damp here in Michigan.  The perfect kind of weather to put another log on the fire and curl up with a good book.   Wishing you a relaxing, warm-fuzzy kind of 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