Thankful Turkeys

So my district takes the entire week of Thanksgiving off which is great! Except, with all the stuff that happened in November, there was no time to really incorporate a Veteran's day and Thanksgiving lesson. The best I could do for Veteran's day was quickly talk about veterans with the class and incorporate some reading comprehension and writing in the homework. Thanksgiving is even harder to stick in with the entire week off. So we did a quick craft and writing. My students are always asking if they could take the crafts or artwork we make in class home. Of course, I always say no because 1) I want to hang them in the classroom for display and 2) Don't want the artwork to get ruined in backpacks. But this was the perfect craft for the kids to take home just in time for Thanksgiving!

May I present you the thankful turkey!

My example. Why skittles? Read to the end to find out!

Got the turkey patterns from First Grade Fanatics. Of course, I always like to add some sort of writing to our crafts so before making the craft, I had the kids write in their journals a list of five things they are thankful for. After they made their turkeys, they were told to do their writing in pencil first. After they finished writing in pencil, they got a sharpie (oh MY were they excited) to trace over it. 

Now here are some student samples! They turned out very cute!

I took individual pictures of the kids with their turkeys to add to our memory book for the end of the year (my gift to the class at the end of the year). I also added some yarn to the back of the turkeys so that the kids could hang on the wall at home.

Another turkey activity we did was with our fifth grade buddy class (classroom next door neighbors). Roll a Turkey! Got the game from Adventures in Room 5. The kids really love the "Roll a _____" games. This resulted in the use of a bulletin board between our classrooms that has been neglected for years!

And finally, the skittles story. I am not a big chocolate fan. I can probably have two pieces of chocolate and then be done with it. Last year I discovered that chocolates are like one of the default gifts to give to teachers so I would get tons of chocolates for the gift-giving holidays and just give them to my mom to eat. So this year I decided to tell my kids and really emphasize with them that I don't like chocolate but prefer fruity candy. So I chose skittles. And now everything is about skittles. If a kid keeps forgetting something, I jokingly tell them that they owe me a bag of skittles (which I sometimes get!). The day after Halloween, around half of my kids came to school with a bag of skittles for me from their trick-or-treating stash (my desk drawer is now full!). Even during Art, when we were making collages from magazine clips, my kids thought they saw a snippet of a skittle bag and got super excited about it. So I thought I would add that on my turkey as something I'm thankful for just for fun. :)

Thanks for reading to the end! My next post will be about the different art lessons we have done in class so far. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful parent as an art docent. She comes up with the best lessons! So don't forget to stay tune for next time's post! :)

Thankful for My Teacher

Linking up with another linky party!

The Resource(ful) Room's "I am Thankful for My Teacher" linky party!

There are some teachers in the past that I still have clear memories of who have all taught me something about being a teacher. I am thankful for...

My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Miles, had me completing workbooks on vocabulary in addition to regular classwork. Of course, I hated doing those as a student. But after becoming a teacher, I realized what she was doing to help me grow as a student.

My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Krishnamurthy, showed me that teachers can be friends with their students.   I saw her as my teacher. But I also saw her as a friend. I remember planning a secret surprise birthday party for her with a Star Wars cake (she was a big fan) and everything.

My tenth grade math teacher, Ms. Renazco, showed me that she believed in me. She would always spend time with me after school and help me with my math. Even though I was struggling, she always believed in me and was patient with me as we worked through the various challenging math problems.

And finally, my 2nd grade master teacher, Ms. Stienstra, who helped prepare me for this teaching career. The time I spent in her classroom was much more valuable than my graduate courses. She showed me how to connect with the students, teach for the students rather than to the tests, and just provide a well-rounded education to all my students. I would've never been so prepared for my first year of teaching last year if I had not been paired up with her. I am so very thankful for her!

What teachers are YOU thankful for?