Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and what better way to build excitement and engage your students than by planning a “Turkey Day”? From Morning Meeting to math and science, read on for 9 fun and educational activities to cover every part of your day!
Turkey Day Activities for the Entire Day
To plan the PERFECT Turkey Day, you want to be in turkey-mode all day long! Don’t stress though, we’ve got you covered with these Turkey Day Plans.
Grab your own copy of these FREE Turkey Day lesson plans with everything you’ll read below included in one easy place!
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1. Morning Meeting
Kick off your the day with an exciting morning meeting! Engage your class with this Turkey Fact or Fiction Prediction Activity.
Students sort fact and fiction cards with a pocket or anchor chart while making predictions about what they know to be true or false about turkeys.
A turkey’s head can change colors. Turkeys sleep in trees. Turkeys have a snood…
Teacher secret— ALL 16 of these surprising facts are TRUE!
2. Reading
Use turkey books to introduce new vocabulary and reinforce previous knowledge while keeping your kids engaged in learning!
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Favorite Books for Turkey Day
Turkeys! An Incredible Picture Book for Children by Hope Aicher
This picture book contains over 20 real-life images of turkeys while sharing lots of interesting facts too.
Turkeys by Wendy Strobel Dieker
This book is a great choice for emergent readers! The vibrant pictures and simple text help students fully comprehend the information presented.
Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano
In this book, Turkey tries to disguise himself so that he won’t have to be the main course at Thanksgiving. This book will have little ones rolling in laughter!
10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston
Kids learn how to count backward from 10 while reading or listening to this fiction book full of rhyming and silliness!
Depending on the reading levels of your students, they can read independently or with a buddy. You can also read them aloud to small groups or the entire class!
After reading, you will choose a comprehension skill to address. Differentiate this for students based on their skill levels! You’ll find 3 themed options for comprehension worksheets in the FREE lesson plans.
3. Science
Bring the wonders of turkeys to life for your students by showing them videos about turkey facts. After watching, encourage them to update the predictions they made during Morning Meeting.
Turkey Fact Videos*
5 Turkey Facts You Can Gobble Up
What’s That Red Thing On a Turkey?
*These links are included in the free lesson plans for easy access!
This interactive approach to science encourages students to stay engaged in learning!
4. Snack
We all know kids love snacks, so including one in your special day is a no-brainer! This snack is called “Turkey Fact Trail Mix”.
Review the facts together, and mix in different ingredients.
What You Need:
- Mixing bowl
- Large spoon
- Pretzel sticks
- Popcorn
- M&Ms
- Marshmallows
Facts to Review:
- Turkeys can fly into tall trees. (add pretzel sticks)
- Turkeys eat seeds. (add popcorn)
- Turkey heads can change color. (add M&Ms)
- Turkeys lay white eggs (add marshmallows)
This part of the day is not only tasty but a memorable way for kids to learn interesting facts about this seasonal bird!
5. Writing
Using this Turkey Facts Writing Resource, kids will write facts they know about turkeys. They can choose one of the writing pages or use the themed craft to display their known facts.
If you choose to complete the craft, students will write one fact per feather and then attach the feathers to the body.
This activity is great to display in your classroom or on your hallway bulletin board!
6. Movement
Your Turkey Day won’t be nearly as fun if your little turkeys have to sit down all day. Take a short period during your day to get your students moving!
These 3 videos are perfect and will take less than 15 minutes in total:
1. Turkey Run
3. Turkey Time
For the extra squirmy classrooms, play one video at a time and split movement time into three parts for even more movement!
(Flexible seating is another great way to make sure your little favorite turkeys get lots of movement!)
7. Math
Use these Thanksgiving Math Activities to model parts and whole numbers while completing a craft. Depending on your students’ needs, choose to practice addition, subtraction, or fact families too with fill-in-the-blank printables.
Use feathers from your local arts & crafts store, plastic sleeves, and dry-erase markers for an extra fun effect with these math activities!
You can find this resource in the Thanksgiving Favorites Bundle too!
8. Word Study
There’s no prep needed for this word study lesson! Practice 50 different sight words or phonics skills with your students using this digital Turkey Hide and Seek activity.
Because this game is editable, the options are endless! Target numbers, equations, and more to accommodate the needs of your students as a whole or in small groups.
9. Social Studies
Finally, encourage students to write complete sentences or paragraphs as they answer the different creative writing prompts found in this FREE Social Studies Turkey Journal.
Each page comes with a word bank with matching pictures to help support students as they learn new vocabulary.
Did you love these turkey ideas? Simplify your lesson planning by grabbing all of these and more in the Thanksgiving Favorites Bundle!
Planning a Turkey Day before Thanksgiving is a great way to have lots of fun with your students while still delivering valuable learning opportunities. These turkey-themed lessons will give you everything you need for an EASY and memorable day with your students!
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