“If I Were a Thanksgiving Turkey…”

This post originally appeared on the blog Mrs. Beattie’s Classroom.

I love inspiring my students to write using seasonal themes and resources! In the days leading up to Thanksgiving we read lots of books and discuss its origins and the traditions surrounding it. Several years ago, I scoured the internet to find a fun activity that I could display in the hallway outside the classroom, but couldn’t find anything just right. So, I created this…

I began this mini-unit by teaching my students about the parts of the paragraph. I decided to adapt the OREO model I kept seeing on Pinterest to the needs of my own students, and came up with this:

It’s not perfect, but totally resonated with my students.

Next, I made our learning goal and success criteria explicitly clear: 

And now, the fun begins! I read the book “The Great Turkey Race” to my kiddos.

They LOVED it! My students thought the silly turkeys in the story who were vying to become THE Thanksgiving turkey were hilarious.

When the story was finished, we discussed what it would be like to be a Thanksgiving turkey at this time of the year. What a fun chat that was! Their ideas were so cute!!

Were they ever ready to write after this?

Finally, we prepared our own Thanksgiving turkeys… really! I took a
photo of each student and had them developed prior to this lesson. We
cut out their faces and THEY became the turkeys. They had so much fun
decorating these! Take a look at the final products. (I wish I could show their little faces!)

All the girls claimed it would be scary! The boys, however, had some very interesting approaches… Like this one, who said he would “tap dance out the door.”

 ….or this one, who said he would “Throw a stink (stick) at his head to knock him out so I can run away.” Then concluded with “Being a Thanksgiving turkey would be great… until Thanksgiving.”

You can grab a copy of this package for use in your own classroom NOW.

Find more Thanksgiving activities and resources on this Pinterest board.

And be sure to pin this post!

Erin has taught 2nd to 5th grade for the past 18 years in Ontario, Canada. She has Specialist qualifications in the field of Mathematics and strives to motivate and engage her students by creating high-quality hands-on resources. You can visit Erin at her TpT store, on Facebook, on Instagram, or at her blog, Mrs. Beattie’s Classroom.  

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Canadian Thanksgiving falls on the 2nd Monday in October and is celebrated in much the same way U.S, Thanksgiving is celebrated: Lots of good food, friends, and family! Have a safe and wonderful Canadian Thanksgiving, TpT’ers!