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 Writing Prompts Craftivities With Me

It never failed, that no matter what grade I taught (PK, K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th, and even a college lit class), if I introduced a writing assignment that had a little bit of craftiness to eat, my students couldn't wait to get down to the business of writing.

An added bonus, was that completed projects made an awesome bulletin board that they were proud of.

The two writing prompt craftivities that I'm featuring today, are very simple, and can be done in a really short amount of time.

The first one is "Loopy". He's a creative alternative to the ever-popular "I'm Thankful For..." writing prompt.

Students write something that they are thankful for on strips of colored paper, then bend them into a loop and glue their writing prompt "feathers" to the top of their turkey.

I made my sample out of rainbow colors, but you'll have a wonderful variety if you let your students come up with their own designs. 

You can also reinforce AB-AB or ABC-ABC color patterns as well.

I've included 6 different options for a center circle; from as simple as "Happy Thanksgiving!" to several quotes, as well as a poem.

Include a blank, brown loop behind the head of the turkeys, so you can suspend them back-to back from the ceiling.   Click on the link for this "funtastic" Dollar Deal: Loopy the Thankful Turkey Writing Prompt Craftivity.

Next up is the Thankful Tree.  Like Loopy, it's a nice alternative to the "I'm Thankful For"  writing prompt. 

I designed this craftivity, so that I could reinforce the 4 seasons, which we were learning about. It's also a great opportunity to practice the use of adjectives, to make writing more descriptive.

Here, children complete the prompt: "I'm thankful for (winter, spring, summer, fall) because..." 

There's a cover page, 4 seasonal tree top writing prompts: (I'm thankful for winter, spring summer, fall because...) plus an ending prompt that says: "Most of all I'm thankful for . . ."

Students work on one tree top "page" each day. When everyone is done, have students share one of their favorite pages.

I've included a blank tree top pattern for older students. 
For more pizzazz, students can add small seasonal stickers or drawings to the tree tops. i.e. snowflakes for winter, blossoms for summer etc.

Adding a school photo to the "hollow" of the tree adds that finishing touch. 

Since scarecrows continue to be one of my top November downloads, the featured FREEBIE today is Pete the Peeking Scarecrow craftivity. 

Well that's it for today. Time to straighten up my organized chaos, and replace it with some "crafty clutter". 

I'm watching my grandchildren today; Kaiden's 3 and Kaitlyn's 1. We're going to make shoe print turkeys today.  Wishing you a day filled with special memory-making moments.  

 "Grandchildren fill a place in your heart you didn't even know was empty." -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Make Some Thanksgiving-Themed Emergent Readers With Me

I've been super-busy tweaking and revamping some oldies, at the same time designing quite a few new Thanksgiving items as well. 

Today I'm featuring 3 of "Diane's Dollar Deals" that are quick, easy and fun emergent readers.

They are great for Daily 5, or your reading-writing centers.

First up is the "Thanksgiving Emergent Reader Strip Booklet".  I call these “strip booklets”, because I can fit five pages or "strips" on a one-page template, for easy printing.

Trimming the pages provides nice fine motor practice strengthening those finger muscles, as children make a “just the right size” Itty Bitty booklet.

Students read the simple sentences packed with 27 Dolch sight words, trace the words, add end punctuation, then rewrite the sentences, remembering proper capitalization, spacing and end punctuation.

Afterwards, children color, cut and collate the pages.

Next is a "Snip and Flip" Emergent Reader Counting Booklet, that reinforces numbers and number words.

I call them this because students snip the top number pages to reveal the group/set of Thanksgiving-themed items underneath.  

Students trace and write the numbers and number words; they read the simple sentences and add end punctuation, then color the pictures in the group/set.

Review adding plus one more to complete the next grouping, as students count from 1 to 10.

For more reinforcement, and to practice another standard, have students count backwards from 10 to 0 by reading their booklet in reverse.

Finally, the last Thanksgiving-themed Dollar Deal  is "Shapely Buckles" a Pilgrim Hat craftivity, where the buckle is actually a little shape booklet.

Choose which shapes are appropriate for your kiddos and have them color, cut and collate into a mini buckle booklet.

When everyone is done, use it as a creative way to whole-group assess.

Call out a shape. Students flip through the pages, find the correct one and hold their hat up.

You can see at a glance who is having difficulty. Jot yourself a note and work with these kiddos later.

I’ve also included a set of 2D pocket chart cards to use as a review.

There’s also a matching cover, so that your students can make an itty bitty booklet, as unlike the buckle activity above, these pages also include the shape word, which they trace and write.

Finally, there’s a set of picture cards, as well as word cards, so that students can play a Memory Match and/or an “I Have; Who Has?” game. 

Today's FREEBIE. "A Feast of Fictional Fun" is an oldie but goodie, designed years ago before I had all of the clip art, fonts, and design programs that I use today. 

However, I think your kiddos will enjoy the creative writing prompts.  I've also included a class book, travel journal and diary pages.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope your kiddos enjoy practicing a variety of standards with the Pilgrims. 

I got up early to get this posted, but now it's time to get ready for church. I'm thankful for the Pilgrims who paved the way for our religious freedoms.  Wishing you a peaceful day. 

"It's not enough to attend church and pray every Sunday; you have to act." -Abbe Pierre

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 Play A Shape Game With Me

Come the end of November, my Y5's could identify their 2D shapes, but I liked to continue to incorporate some sort of shape review with them throughout the year, so they could retain that knowledge. 

The vocabulary words hexagon, pentagon and octagon, constantly needed to be reinforced as they easily confused them.

Thus, I like to create games and hands-on crafts that not only review shapes, but other skills & standards as well. The Native American headband does just that.

Run off the shape masters on matching construction paper.  Rough cut and have students trim.  Make the headbands out of strips of white construction paper that are 3 inches wide and 24 inches long.

Students choose a partner and take turns spinning.  Whatever shape they land on, they glue the matching shape to the center of their headband.  After the game, students can glue a feather to the back of it. 

You may want to give an extra feather to the winners of the game, or an extra shape. (When you cut out the hexagon, pentagon and octagon shapes you will have different sizes of diamond shapes as scraps.)

For extra pizzazz, students can add flat-backed rhinestones to the center of their shapes with glue dots.  If you'd like to add some writing to this activity, have students write something that they are thankful for under the shapes. 

These things should be the color of that shape.  i.e. I'm thankful for the blue sky.  You may want to brainstorm with students prior to the writing portion.  As children share things that they are thankful for that are those colors, write the words on the board to help with spelling.

If you've studied the Wampanoag people or Squanto you can also have students write a fact that they learned on the feather.

If you need some facts to share with your students I highly recommend the books: Squanto:The Miracle of Thanksgiving by Metxas,  Squanto Friend of the Pilgrims by Bulla and Squanto's Journey by Brucha.

I also found several sites that have some good factual information: Wampanoag Fact Sheet is extremely helpful with lots of links and pictures. Plimoth Plantation's site is also an excellent source as is Social Studies for Kids.   Current tribal information can be found here.  You can also check out ABC Teach,  Activity Village & Squanto.

Click on the link to view/download the Native American Headband craftivity.  Thanks for visiting.  I'll be designing lots more things today, so I hope you can pop back tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN away.

"I don't think the Lord wants any pompous proclamation of thanks on one Thursday in November as much as He would like a little humble service from us every day in the year." -Burton Hillis

Fall Into Some Fun Common Core Writing For Fall!

I LOVE combining art with creative writing.  I call these activities “Craftivities” and when you can mix in a little science at the same time, that's a real win-win.

Craftivities also make simple and easy bulletin boards or hallway displays that are pretty outstanding.

These fall writing prompts will help you teach several Common Core State Standards. They are listed and explained below.

Draw an oak tree on brown bulletin board paper with bare branches so that you can hang the leaves and acorn writing prompts on it, and scatter the squirrels underneath.

The leaves say: I see... I hear... I smell... The acorns say: I taste... and the squirrels say: I feel... (Older students write the entire sentence; younger students trace the first few words.)

Display the tree on a wall in the hallway.  You can use the caption: Our 5-Senses Creative Writing Oak Tree OR Using Our 5-Sense In The Fall.

If you want this to appear a bit more 3-D, twist brown lunch bags into strands, and use duct tape to attach them to the branches and down the trunk.

Run the oak leaves off on a variety of colored construction paper, as this will look better than brown leaves, even though oak leaves turn brown when they lose their chlorophyll.  Mention this fact to your students.

Gather students in front of the whiteboard. Review what the 5 senses are.  Brainstorm with them about using their 5 senses to see, hear, smell, taste and feel different things typical of the fall season.

Review beginning capitalization of words, Common Core State Standard: L.K.2a, as well as ending punctuation. Common Core State Standard: L. K. 2b, and RF.1.1 as well as L.1.2b for 1^st grade.

Have students spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships, or write a list of words from your brainstorming session on the white board having students help you spell them as you write them. Common Core State Standard: L.K.2d for kindergarten and L.1.2d for 1^st grade where they use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.

Review what a noun, verb and adjective are, with older students.  Keep things simple for PK students and have them TRACE the beginning words and complete the sentence with 1 noun and a period.  K’s can add nouns and verbs; older students can add adjectives as well.

Make sure that you do an example yourself, explaining the parts of speech, grammar and punctuation as you go. RF.K.1a (Point out to students that they are reading words from left to right, top to bottom and page by page.) RF.K.1c (Point out that the words are separated by spaces and remind them to make sure they have a finger-space between their words too.)

Students can add color to their cut out pieces.  Remind them to include their names.  For a bit more pizzazz, you can also add glitter.  Use this as an incentive for students if they give their best effort and do their work correctly.

To give variety to your “wall board,” I have designed two squirrels.  You can run off both kinds and give children a choice.  Sprinkle the squirrels around the bottom of your oak tree.

If you don’t want to make a bulletin board, or hallway tree mural out of these writing prompts, you can collate the pages together to make a class book.  I’ve provided a cover for you if you want to do that.

You can also suspend the various similar pieces back-to-back from fish line and hang from the ceiling.   Click on the link to view/download 5-Senses Oak Tree Creative Writing packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.

"It takes time to save time." -Joe Taylor