November will be here before you know it, which means we have a whole lot of turkey trouble coming up! I have a bunch of turkeys that traipse through my front yard each morning. They don’t really give me any trouble, except for the irritation they cause my dog. Daisy’s barking is the only turkey trouble we have around here.
But in our classroom? That’s a different story.
And there’s plenty of turkey trouble on the agenda!
TURKEY BOOKS
Before you start making your lesson plans for November, check out your favorite turkey books from the library. There are so many to choose from, it’s almost overwhelming. I’m tempted to just get them all, but something something about sharing…
If you can find nonfiction books, make sure to include those. Kids love real photos of real animals. And it’s fun to have them compare the pictures to the silly illustrations in picture books.
Some of our favorite turkey trouble books:
- The Amazing Turkey Rescue by Steve Metzger
- How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton
- A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman
- Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano
- Ten Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston
And our personal favorite… ‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey.
SPEAKING OF TURKEY TROUBLE
Dav Pilkey’s book inspired one of our favorite related activities. In this follow up lesson, the children get to imagine other ways turkeys can escape becoming Thanksgiving dinner.
- Will a disguise work?
- Maybe they can hide in the laundry bin.
- How about a jet pack?
- They could go to the moon!
- Can a turkey fit in a mailbox?
How can they avoid the most troubling of turkey troubles? The possibilities are endless and the kids have fun coming up with their own creative ideas.
We’ve also included written response sheets, related phonics work, and a fun memory game to help them remember key pieces from the story. You can see more here… TEN TRICKY TURKEYS.
MORE TURKEY TIDBITS
We have all sorts of fun turkey trouble planned for November… from funny turkey jokes and a quirky turkey math activity to the life cycle of a turkey and a nonfiction report. It’s reading, writing, math, and science all in one spot.
A little teaser…
Q: What is a turkey’s favorite dessert?
A: Apple Gobbler!
It doesn’t matter that it’s corny. Kids love jokes. In fact, the cornier, the better.
If you haven’t wrapped up your lesson plans yet, come take a look at the TURKEY BUNDLE. It’s loaded with lots of turkey trouble ready to pop into your plans… print and go!
Also, slightly unrelated to turkeys, but totally related to Thanksgiving… if you’ve never planned your own Thanksgiving Holiday Parade with your students, this is the year for you to start. It’s so fun and the children love it! You can read more about how to pull that off in this blog post for first and second grade teachers… BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY. It’s a must-do! For real.
Until next time, happy teaching!
