Giving Thanks and Thanksgiving!

The holidays are such a wonderful time of the year to say thanks and show our appreciation for others. My kids each picked a staff member from our building, wrote a letter to them, and expressed why they were thankful for them.  Then, they hand-delivered their letter. The children were so excited to deliver their turkey!  

Feel free to download the paper for FREE here and add on a FREE turkey topper from here to finish it off. 

For our Thanksgiving craft, we created placemats and laminated them so the kids could keep them for years to come. We did a direct drawing for how to draw a turkey first and then did it again except we did each of the drawings the correct color sheet of paper.

Not shown… but we added 2 wings by making 2 hearts sideways. Next, we did each of the parts on a sheet of construction paper and assembled it.  Since it's the season of giving, we also made another placemat for a local senior citizen home. They came out great.

 

This month, I wanted my students to learn about the Native Americans, Pilgrims, and the meaning of Thanksgiving.  I would always read Sarah Morton’s Day, Samuel Eaton’s Day, Tapenum’s Day, and The Mayflower by Kate Waters.  All of these are fabulous books, but I wanted to find something new.  I did!  It was GreatMinds123’s Early America - Pilgrims and Native Americans (informational text) from TpT.  Just thought I’d give a shout out and let her know my kids loved learning about the Wampanoag Tribe and the Pilgrims.  It was written in a very child friendly way and it helped to teach my kids about note-taking and using their notes to write a story.  The kids learned so much about the diet, shelter, and clothing of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Tribe.  It's also great to compare the two in many different ways. 

Even though it comes with paper, I LOVE to create paper for my kids, so I made some Pilgrim and Native American Paper which worked great for this project.  We added a cute cover to make it their own book.  Here are some pictures of their finished work.  If you like the paper, you can grab it here as part of my Writing Paper for November.  Other months are also available.

It was also a perfect time for Krista Wallden’s Thanksgiving Coloring Book.  Did I mention it’s a FREEBIE! The kids picked a picture and added to their book as a treat for working so hard. You can grab it here!

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy the holidays!

Ready, Set, Buy! Top Wishlisted Items!

It’s almost here… the sitewide cyber smile sale from TpT.  It’s a lot less crowded and stressful than Black Friday and you’ll get to click and buy from the comfort of your own home with no lines!  Not to mention all the great goodies you’ll be able to snag and use in the upcoming months!  I’m hooking up with Jen from Teaching in the Tongass for the top wishlisted items! 

So here it goes…

Label It! is great for teaching kids how to label pictures in a fun and creative way.  It’s perfect for a center or whole class.  Children love it and feel successful when they can complete it on their own.  I had many requests to create more, so I created Label It! Second Edition and Label It! Third Edition. I’ve also bundled them as well- Click here for them all.

Next up is PolarExpress. It’s one of my all-time favorite units! There is so many activities and centers, that it is great for the whole month and more!

Last, but certainly not least, is Ultimate Edition Editable Labels.  I am a label-aholic and I will label everything in my class.  This ultimate edition has been added to many times (which is probably why it’s the ULTIMATE and it’s helped organize everything in my class from books to manipulatives and more.  Hope you find it useful too!

November Activities and FREEBIES

November is such a busy, but short month with Election Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving.

For Election Day, I’d like to thank Teacher To the Core for her Election Fun Common Core Math Graphing and Fluency Freebie.  The kids loved reading Duck for President, learning about Election Day through various reading passages, and completing some fun graphing activities she provided for the mock election. Thanks for making it a freebie too!  You can grab it here at her store. 

This year, we created cards and wrote letters to local Veterans.  We did a directed drawing beforehand to show the kids how to make a soldier which is why some of them look very similar, but the kids enjoyed it and the letters came out very sweet.  Feel free to download the FREE stationery and cover page by clicking here if you’d like your kids to do the same. 

Here's the writing paper you can get by clicking here.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I sent home my Disguise a Turkey activity and the kids have already brought in some fabulous turkeys as you can see below.

Next up is our Thankful Turkey, which we will be laminating and making into a place mat for the holiday.  If you’d like to do these activities with your class you can check them out here.  Also, please enjoy this Turkey Addition Color by Number for FREE.

  The kids loved how it turned out!

Here are some of our fabulous turkeys:

 Check out Turkey Time Here!

Looking for this type of activity for grades 2-3, check it out here.

November Pinterest Pick 3 Linky

I'm linking up with Pawsitively Teaching, the Inspired Owl! and Just Reed for this month’s Pinterest Pick 3 to give us some thankful ideas for November.  There were so many ideas I wanted to try this month so I added a few extras. Enjoy!

 I create a sock snowman with my students every year, but I never thought of a sock turkey- adorable.

You can check out the original pin here!

Here’s a cute craft to make for young kids.  It’s also great to make for those little ones that you are expecting some for the big dinner. Print out a few pictures and you’re set.

You can check out the original pin here!

 If you're looking for a cute picture, feel free to download this freebie here.

You can check out the original pin here!

It’s always great to have a little treat to send the kids off with right before vacation.  I love the idea of the candy corn being turkey toes- super cute!

Enjoy these extra creative ideas!

You can check out the original pin here!

 

My students have recently discovered Mad Libs and are totally into them. It's also great practice for identifying nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. They will love this Thanksgiving version and  you’ll love it since it’s a freebie.

You can check out the original pin here!

You can check out the original pin here!

Thanksgiving isn’t complete without sharing what you are thankful for.  Here are two examples of the same concept. I especially like the added touch of the patterned paper.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

An InLinkz Link-up