Mystery Turkeys

At the beginning of the month, my students were given a 'blank' turkey to decorate. Not all of them turned in a turkey, but the ones we got are very creative! The students were not to tell their classmates which turkey was theirs in order to keep up the mystery.

Before we left for Thanksgiving Break today, the students had to guess whose turkey was whose. They were so excited when they got one right! Such a fun activity to do and great classroom decorations!!

Turkey Cookies

Today, my students made turkey cookies. They were given materials and followed directions to make these cookies. I helped my students minimally, so that I was able to observe how well they read and followed the given directions on their paper. It was very interesting to see which students were able to problem solve and follow directions correctly.

Thanksgiving Books

Our district has help workshops on each of the 6 Writing Traits. One idea that was provided for Organization is a listing & categorizing graphic organizer. Our students researched Thanksgiving in books and webquests, they took notes in their journals. Some of these notes were transferred to the graphic organizer (the students chose which notes were "most important") and then categorized. We also created notes on current Thanksgiving traditions and categorized them as well.

 

From those notes, the students used half-sheet notebook paper to write rough drafts. The students wrote three pages about the first Thanksgiving and three pages about current Thanksgiving practices.

Then the rough drafts were turned into beautiful books! The students worked SO HARD on making their books and creating their illustrations. I am very proud of how they turned out!!

 

Character Sketch Descriptive Writing

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Leaf Sponge Art

I was inspired while on Pinterest (imagine that!) to make a fall art with my 3rd Graders. I found four leaf outlines through an internet search. I printed these and traced them onto posterboard. Each leaf was taped to a half-sheet of white construction paper. Brown, orange, red, and yellow paint was sponged onto the paper. After the sponging is complete, pull off the cardstock leaf and reveal your beautiful fall foliage art!