Giving Thanks, Turkey Art, Choice Time, Food, Native Americans and Pilgrims, and a Thanksgiving Dinner Surprise!

Happy Thanksgiving!

• At Large Group: 
• We have been studying Thanksgiving, food, and family this week.  We read books about Thanksgiving traditions and feeling thankful. 

We used our "Granny" puppet to tell this story. The kiddos always enjoy feeding Granny all the things in the story.

• We worked on color identification using feathers, a turkey cutout, and this song (tune of "Where is Thumbkin"):

•  We did several songs and fingerplays about turkeys. 

 Albuquerque Turkey

• At Small Group:·  
• We worked on our fine motor skills by creating several types of turkeys: pinecone, tape, coffee filter, and play dough. 

Many children chose to make Native Americans also.

 

• We used clothespins and numbered turkey cutouts to work on 1-to-1 correspondence & number identification. 

 

 

 

 

• We each drew a picture and wrote a page for our November classroom book: We are thankful.
• We created place mats with pictures of all our favorite Thanksgiving foods.

• At Choice Time:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•  Discovery: We played with our Pilgrim and Native American tube people and tepee.

 

• Library: We added books about Thanksgiving and being thankful.
• Art Area: We used our imagination to create all kinds of turkey crafts. We also made a few keepsakes for our end of the year portfolios.
• Music Area: We listened to Native American music and songs about Thanksgiving.
• Cooking: We made apple & pumpkin pie in a cup. 

• At Planning & Recall:
• We did a Pilgrim & Native American picture sort and talked about the differences in clothing, houses, boats, hats, and shoes.

• We used Pilgrim & Native American number puzzles and matching games.

• We traced and cut out our hands to add feathers to our big classroom turkey on the refrigerator. We named him Tom. 

Rhyme Time!

• Several times a week we write out a rhyme on the dry erase board and read it together. This was their favorite because we got to act it out: 
• The brave little Pilgrim
  Went out in the wood
  Looking for a meal
  That would taste really good.
  First they picked cranberries
  Out in the bog.
  Then they saw a turkey
  Hiding in a log.
  Run fast little turkey.
  Run fast as you may.
  Or you will come to dinner
  On Thanksgiving Day!

Letter of the Day

• Each day we learn a different letter. Our letters for these two weeks were: G, H, I, J, K, & L. We identify the letter, the sound it makes, see who has the letter in their name, and brainstorm other words that start with the letter. The kiddos also enjoy trying to see what their names would sound like if they started with the letter.

 Thanksgiving Dinner

We had a delicious lunch of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, apples and cranberries, bread, stuffing, and milk. We went around the table and said what we were thankful for. Miss Katelynn gave them a big shock when she said she was thankful for the baby growing in her belly. The kiddos are really excited to watch her belly grow. :)

• We talked about what it means to be thankful this week. Here are a few ideas to inspire an attitude of  gratitude in your little ones:
• Say "Thank you." When "thank you’s" are a part of our vocabulary at home, a lifelong habit begins, even if it doesn't always stick at first. Writing thank you notes to people who help us are always appreciated.
• Create daily or weekly routines with the question: "What are you most thankful for today?" This can serve as a comforting routine at bedtime or at dinner. 
• Live it. Set an example and show appreciation by conveying you paid attention to real effort: "I can see you really tried to clean up your toys." or “You worked hard to draw that picture”.