Thanksgiving Games and Activities

There are times I missing being in the classroom.  Holidays mainly--I mean, I always did something fun in the classroom.  I always tied it back to a standard--MAYBE sometimes I stretched the standard to my way of thinking JUST a bit, but I wanted time in the classroom to be memorable.  I wanted school to be fun--not just data, testing, and practice books.....

Here are some of the things that I've done with my students in the past that I've enjoyed and they enjoyed!

Squanto's Snack

I wrote about Squanto's Snack a few years ago.

You can read that by clicking HERE. 

I noticed that this old post was getting some hits and pins, so I thought I'd update it just a bit.

It was written as a rebus story in the above link.  I created into a story book.

You can see that HERE. 

What about the stories the Great Turkey Race and  A Turkey for Thanksgiving?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE those stories.  

HERE are some activities I made to go with them a couple years ago.

I even tried my hand at making a craft.

I am definitely not an artist, but my students had fun with him! :)

Then there's the center pack that my students used to play with.

They enjoyed the activities in this as well.

But one of my FAVORITE activities for Thanksgiving was using the stories Samuel Eaton and Sarah Morton.

I LOVE teaching about the pilgrim holiday, the friendship, the hard work they did--comparing and contrasting their lives and ours---comparing/contrasting pilgrim boys and pilgrim girls.

This pack was so fun with my kiddos and they enjoyed it.

You can see about it and read what others think about this product HERE. 

This year, I'm also not working with students in math. 

Last year, I did both reading and math, so I used a few former FREE products. 

You can see them by clicking the images below. 

AND on the post above, I apparently thought it would be a good idea to try to get crafty yet again!

Here's my attempt at a pilgrim turkey. ;)

I did include the template HERE if you are interested.

Last year, when I was working with third grade, our students were struggling with verbs.

I made a verb packet, but forgot about it until just last week.

I like the activities in it, and it ties well into the upcoming holiday.

I also worked with The Old Lady who Swallowed a Pie with my younger learners.

You can see the images of this activity pack HERE.

And then that brings me to where I'm at today.

A Reading Resource Teacher.  

I love my job--I truly do!  

HOWEVER, some days I feel as if I'm really not much of anything.

I see my groups for MAYBE a total of 17 minutes, on a good day.

I see 16 different groups throughout my day.

Some groups are 1-1, and some groups have 6 students. 

Some students are attendance issues, sometimes they have assessments to make up, and 

sometimes other things get in the way and I just don't always get to see my students.

A teacher's motto--Be flexible.  So I am.  

But then, I have to have things on hand and plans on hand.

We usually try to do a game or two throughout the week.

I have to admit though, I've slacked in the game department lately.

I just feel that sometimes there just isn't enough time..and my kiddos NEED a lot of reinforcement.

But then Monday--one of my littles said

Can we play a game?  

UGH!  It stabbed me right in the heart.  

I, unfortunately didn't have one that was at their skill level.

SOOO---Allow me to introduce this freebie!

This is a sight word game that should work perfectly for all of my groups.

You can grab your own copy by clicking the image above. :) 

I have color coded the Dolch words so that each set has its own unique color.

I've included directions in the download on how I play this game.

The cards made for this game will fit perfectly into the Target Dollar pocket charts. 

I have mine on a stand, and I prop it up on our guided reading table when we are playing these games.

You can read about that HERE.