Thanksgiving and November Freebies!

November is a time to be thankful for our family, friends… and FREEBIES!  Check out some wonderful FREE Activities to do with your class this month.

But first I'd love to share a fun activity we do each year. 
In November, my kids disguise their turkey so it's not eaten and makes it past Thanksgiving. Here are some of their ideas. It's a fabulous and no-prep project to send home. They are adorable! It also includes a writing activity (not shown).

It also includes math and language arts printables to practice skills such as skip counting, greater/less than, money, graphing, and much more!

You can grab this activity here  which is perfect for students in grades 2 & 3.

 

 

There is also  Turkey Time for students in grades K &1. You can grab it  here. 

We also created these thankful placemats. We did a directed drawing for the body and head of the turkey and then the kids cut out two hearts for wings.  After, we added the face, wattle, and beak and added the feathers.

 

 

 

Now for some November freebies!

Enjoy this adorable Turkey topper to go with a Thankful Writing Activity!

Here are some color code freebies to help students learn color words and practice math facts. Click on the links below!

Enjoy some great freebies from some other fabulous teacher-authors.

An InLinkz Link-up

Election Day Activity, Parent-Teacher Conference Forms & FREEBIES!

Election Day is around the corner so I created this writing activity to go with the book, My Teacher for President.  I can’t wait to see if my students think I would/would not make a good president. 
The reasons why I would make a good president were very funny!  Here are a few:

Grab a copy for your class here.

Here is a copy of the book being read aloud if you don't have a copy:

Here are some other great books to read for Election Day.  

 I thought some of our presidential  Disguise a 

Turkey projects were perfect to share before Election

 Day. Click here for K-1 Disguise a 

Turkey or Disguise a Turkey for grades 2-3 here .

         

  

           Perfect for K-1!         Great for 2-3!   

 Donald Trump

George Washington

Here's another favorite book:

Around the same time as Election Day, we have Parent-Teacher Conferences.   I updated my parent-teacher forms so that they are more helpful when leading my conferences.

 Feel free to grab a set for yourself by clicking here.  Let me know if they work for you too =)

Follow to be the first to know about FREEBIES!

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 FUN!

November is a great time to teach children about being thankful and grateful for all they have.  Children create these Thankful Turkeys and, depending on their writing level, they can add more or less information on each feather.  Other ideas can include writing a thank you letter to someone in their community who helps them (police officer, firefighter,teacher, babysitter, etc.) or you can show them how you donate your time/food/clothing to those in need.

Another all time favorite activity is Disguise A Turkey.  I have families work on the activity together and they love it. 

It also allows the family to work together to create somethig great.  This year, I wrote an emergent reader that is a great transition into the project for the Disguise a Turkey activity.  It includes everything you need for the Thankful Turkey above, many math printables, Tickle the Turkey emergent reader, sight word cards, a parent letter, turkey patterns, awards, and more.  You can grab it here!   Also, there's a FREEBIE to grab as well!

A fun idea is to use a popsicle stick and glue a feather to it to read the words and to tickle the turkey as well! 

Here are some cute creations from this year:

 Another great activity is to write what you are thankful for.   A great twist on this old favorite was this great idea from Sunny in Second Grade.  The kids enjoyed it a lot!  Feel free to grab the FREE turkey peekover from my store!

Popsicle sticks are also great to use as "Mr. Spacers."  Kids can decorate them and use them to remember spacing between words.  You could also stick a holiday sticker at the end of the popsicle stick and change it out seasonally!

If you like the writing paper below, grab it here! There's a FREEBIE  as well!

 

Here's a freebie.. Happy Turkey Day!

For Veterans Day:

You can create a flag with the children's handprints and cut a star shape out of a sponge to create the stars.

Another idea is to make some cards for the Veterans. We usually send them to a local organization, but this year I found this below in the Scholastic magazine. 

This is from the Scholastic News Lesson:

Operation Gratitude

This organization collects and sends letters, cards, artwork, and care packages to troops and veterans around the country. Their guidelines include:

• Bundle letters to deployed troops separately from those to veterans, and label accordingly. 

No envelopes are needed for individual letters.

• Start with a salutation such as “Dear Hero.” Do not use “Sailor” or “Soldier,” as the letter might go to a member of another branch.

• In addition to giving thanks, have students tell about themselves! (First names ONLY, please.)

• Include your school’s contact information (address or e-mail). Troops love to write back if time allows!

• Art projects are welcomed—but avoid glitter.

• Put all letters/art into an envelope or a box. 

Ship to:

Operation Gratitude

17330 Victory Boulevard

Van Nuys, CA 91406

 A big thank you to  Fern Smith for her  fabulous coloring pages and to Michelle Harper for the Veterans Day Timeline Activity.  
They go great together! 

My students highlighted the dates as we read the history of Veterans Day. Then, we went back to the text when completing the timeline.  

 (I did add Veterans Day on top of the coloring page since we already had our name on the project)

Huge thanks to:
Fern Smith's Coloring Pages... so many to choose from!

 Michelle Harper's  Veterans Timeline!

 

Other fun ideas: Have a sharing feast with your children where each child brings in a small amount of food and you share as a class.  Another idea is to have your own Thanksgiving Feast in your class. Sliced deli turkey works as an quick and easy substitute for the real thing.

We created some easy Native American hats to wear during our feast.  All you do is color in a feather outline, cut them out, and glue them to a sentence strip.

 The kids drew pictures to represent words.

Create Indian Corn:

  Give children thin strips of colored paper and have them rip it into small pieces to use as kernels and glue them onto paper. Add the husk on top and you're done! 

This is a great activity to practice fine motor skills.