Incorporating Writing into Thanksgiving Activities

As a second grade teacher I think it'd be a crime not to include some sort of Thanksgiving art activity into my lessons, but I know my administrators wouldn't approve of a solely art based project taking up instructional time either. This is how "Turkeys in Disguise" was born!

This resource incorporates creative writing into an art project in the most fun and engaging way. The goal is to save the turkey's from all the hungry people on Thanksgiving by giving them a clever disguise. They must first complete a variety of brainstorming, organizing, and writing activities to plan exactly what they will do before creating their fun turkey costumes. 

Step 1: Brainstorming

Students will come up with  8 ideas of people, animals, or things they can disguise their turkey as. 

Step 2: Organizing Ideas

Students map out exactly what clothing they will create for their turkey. Encourage students to include accessories, jewelry, or props that could go with their turkey friend!

Step 3: My Turkey's Turkey Day Plan

Students create plans for what their turkeys will do with all his/her time off on Thanksgiving while he is under cover. It's so entertaining to read things like "My Firefighter Turkey went to the forrest to eat his sandwich between fires."

Step 4: Paragraph Time

Students get to transform their graphic organizers into paragraphs that they can present to the class with their finished turkeys! Have students write one paragraph about what it's disguise will look like and another about what the turkeys will do on their day off. There are 3 paragraph options for the different levels of readers/writers you may have in your class. The first is a blank page for higher level learners, the second has some sentence starters for students who need a little push, and the third has several fill in the blank sentences for students who struggle with creating their own. These leveled paragraphs are great for differentiating instruction! 

Step 5: Time for your Turkey Disguise!

Students finally get to put all that planning into action! Using their description of how their disguise will look, they can cut out their turkey and get decorating! I had my students use construction paper to create clothes for their turkeys, kind of like clothes for a paper doll, but you can always just have them color the costume on the turkey as well. 

This is an activity they will never forget, and you'll definitely get a kick out of what they create too! Just check out "Nelly the Turkey Nurse!" :) 

BONUS: Black and White Versions of EVERY PAGE included!

Ink is no longer an issue!

When you use this engaging and educational product in your class, please snap a picture and tag me in it on Instagram {link in the sidebar}. I love seeing these turkeys come to life! Have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your time off from school, God knows you deserve it! 

Can You Hear Me Now? YES!

This week was groundbreaking in my 2nd grade class, and I just had to share why with you! My donors choose project was funded and part of the goodies I ordered was a portable PA system with 2 wireless mics!

Now I know many of you are wondering why anyone would need a PA system for a single classroom?! God knows my voice is loud enough to be heard light years away, so why bother? The answer is in this picture below:

These are two of my students finally sharing their creative writing assignments with the class!! I couldn't believe how the simple change of presentation method made every student want to share their work. I'm talking everyone! Of course those kids who always want to share every single detail of their lives with anyone who'll listen were thrilled, but my shy students who barely speak above a whisper were excited too! And the best part, no more "What'd she say? I can't hear him! Speak up! Use your big voice!" With this little gem the whole class can hear whoever is presenting from the front to the back of the class with ease! 

I've seen such a change in my class in just the week we've had this system, and it couldn't have been easier to set up. The speaker is lightweight and comes already assembled, so all you have to do is put 2 AA batteries in the microphones and turn it on. This is a Pure Acoustics Wireless Portable PA System and it's on sale for $99! The sound quality is fantastic, and it connects to bluetooth too! Also, check out Donors Choose to get donations for this and other classroom supplies you need! Happy teaching! 

Mega Giveaway Part 2!

It's time for the 2nd round of giveaways on Teachers Pay Teachers Social Marketplace! Quick recap: after reaching 1000 followers, several collaborators on this awesome Facebook page are giving away 6 $25 TPT gift cards.  You know you want one :) This giveaway will only be open through November 5, so enter now!

The 3rd, and final, round of giveaways will be open November 5-7, so check back here for links then! CLICK THIS LINK to enter these giveaways, and be sure to follow Food For Taught on Instagram :)

MEGA GIVEAWAY!

As some of you may already know, I am a the featured teacher moderator on a the Teachers Pay Teachers Social Marketplace Facebook group. Well as of this week, this group has reached 1000 followers! With news like that we need to celebrate, so some amazing teachers and myself have collaborated to bring y'all 6 different giveaways! That's right, 6 chances to win a 25$ TPT gift card!

Click THIS LINK to enter giveaway 1 and THIS LINK to enter giveaway 2. These giveaways will run from November 1-3, so enter now and stay tuned for the next 2 giveaways November 3-5! Don't forget to follow Food for Taught on Instagram when you enter, and GOOD LUCK! ;)

Double Freebies for Columbus Day!

Today was a great day! I'd love to say it was great because I taught a fantastic, inspiring, life-changing lesson on Columbus, but alas, that would be a lie. Today was great because my school is one of the the lucky ones that has OFF on Columbus Day! Thanks Chris ;) So instead of sailing the ocean blue I sailed the wine aisle of the grocery store and worked on lesson plans binge watched Gilmore Girls.

What made the day even better is that we're starting to see a glimpse of fall weather down here in Louisiana! This combination of glorious happenings has put me in a great mood, so I've decided to have TWO flash freebies this week! Both avaliable until October 15th!

Number 1: As this first nine weeks comes to an and your students' desks are probably in need of a serious clean out-I know mine were! Just put a few of these Desk Fairy Labels and a treat in the desks that are tidy, and like magic, the rest of the desks will be spotless within the hour!

Number 2: This Changes Activity is a great way for students to assess how they have changed already throughout their lives. I love getting a glimpse into their minds to view how they see themselves now compared to how they saw themselves just a few short years ago. This activity goes great with any Social Studies unit on communities and changes, and is a part of my Communities Bundle.

I hope all you other lucky ducks who had today off had a fantastic day as well, and to the rest of my teacher friends who did not, don't worry only 29 teaching days till Thanksgiving break :)

Flash Freebie!

This week's Flash Freebie is a special one featuring a product from my last post. I decided to give away my Banana Fact Family Activity for free until October 7th! Watch your students take on fact families with ease with this engaging and educational activity. My seconds loved how they made our classroom tree look, and I loved how quickly they mastered this important skill. Grab it now!

Liven Up The Reading Corner

During my late night Pinterest sessions I'm always amazed by the size of the bulletin boards in some teachers' classrooms! My largest board is about 3 feet long, which is definitely not big enough to display very much student work. I decided to start displaying my assignments in more creative ways around the room to accommodate my spacing issue. Now my reading corner is bursting with color, and my 2nds love it! 

Instead of fact families on paper, I created these cute little banana fact families. I was shocked at how much more excited my students were to work on their math, and they look adorable hanging from my classroom palm tree. :)

After finishing their tests on Fridays, I usually have a writing or math activity for my students to work on while their classmates finish up. To give this week's assignment a little more pizazz I decided to make these creative writing fish. Students can write down all the things they would do if they were a fish, then cut them out and decorate them. My spelling word pirate ship is finally complete with these little guys jumping all around it!

Pirate cove is home to some more traditional work. Students created paragraphs about the story elements from our weekly text, and this dollar tree valence was the perfect border to add some extra flair! Now when the kiddos are reading in our library they can also enjoy perusing their classmates' work. I wonder what we'll add next week!

Flash Freebie!

Woohoo for more free products! This is the 3rd week of flash freebies, and I'm loving all of the positive feedback. Grab this awesome States of Matter Experiment while you can! It'll be available on my tpt store until September 30th :)

This experiment works two ways:

1. You can actually put out an ice cube and have your students watch and observe it throughout the day as it transforms from a solid, to a liquid, to a gas. They will record their observations in the chart and then complete the writing activity at the end of the day.

2. If you want the lesson to take place in one class period, or just don't have time to conduct the experiment yourself, I have included an alternative worksheet with pictures of the ice in all three states of matter. This way students can still observe the changes in state and complete the observation/results pages of the experiment.

If your students are anything like mine, they'll love this hands on experiment. Be sure to follow Food For Taught on all of my other social media to catch the next flash freebie!

Open House 101

Open House always brings me a mixture of excitement and overwhelming fear. Yes I said it, I get scared when I have to talk to parents.

"But how can you be nervous about talking in front of people? You do it all day every day!"

This is usually the reaction I get when I bring this up, but children and parents are NOT THE SAME! Kids think you're the bomb.com and don't notice if you make 1 (or 1,000) mistakes throughout the day. Parents on the other hand are judging you as soon as they pull in the parking lot, and can you blame them? You are the person who's going to be with their babies more than they will for the next 300 days. The person who's responsible for teaching them anything and everything they need to know to succeed in life and keeping them in one piece while doing it. That's a whole lot of pressure! Now you see why I'm a bundle of nerves this time of year. But fear not, I have some tips to make Open House a breeze.

1. Have two sign in sheets.

This cuts back on the line forming inside your class and lets you get onto your presentation sooner.

2. Have a presentation!

It's easy to get tongue tied, so having a PowerPoint of important information to go through always makes things easier. You can also print the slides out so late parents or no-shows don't miss anything. Don't know where to start? No worries. Here's a completely editable Open House Presentation that will leave those parents informed and impressed.

3. Student Activities!

Parents love to see things their children made for them, so be sure to have at least one on their desks waiting for them. This can be an activity from the first week of school, their all about me books, or an activity done just for this occasion. I like to have my students write their parents an open house letter. It's entertaining and a great way to practice writing throughout the week.

3. Donations!

This is the perfect opportunity to get some more supplies for your classroom without having to spend your whole first paycheck. Having a Donation Station gives parents the chance to choose what they want to contribute to the class while they're still in the back to school mode. Trust me, these extra supplies will come in handy later when you're out of pencils by Christmas!

4. Positivity First!

Children are a reflection of their parents, so when you start off a conversation with a negative like "Ben just can't seem to sit still." it doesn't usually sit well with the parents. Instead start with a positive! "Ben has such charisma in class. He's always there to help a friend and is great at math." Parents will be so tickled at this point that they'll be much more receptive when you tell them any issues you're having.

And just remember, it's only one day a year! In a few short hours it'll be over, so enjoy meeting the parents and showing off your classroom!

All of the resources mentioned above can be found in this Open House Super Bundle. Check it out! :)