Sharing Salad

From: Pre-K Pages

Ingredients: brown sugar cones or waffle cones, raisins, Cheerios, grapes, apples, bananas, Chex cereal *optional* strawberry yogurt*.

Directions: Cut the apples and bananas into bite size pieces. Mix the Cheerios, Chex, raisins, and fruit in bowl. Have the children come to you in small groups and help you stir the “Sharing Salad”. Put a scoop of the salad into each “cornucopia” (cone) and place on a plate. If you think your students won’t eat the salad you might want to try mixing it with strawberry yogurt first. I have found that most of my students will eat it if the fruit is covered in strawberry yogurt. If your students are able to bring the ingredients for the salad it is even more meaningful. We use this activity in place of the more traditional and controversial Thanksgiving Feast.

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

From: Pre-K Pages

Setting: Small Group, Literacy Centers

Objective: Oral language, storytelling, sequencing

Book: I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

Materials: blackline master of Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, construction paper, blackline master of foods the Old Lady eats in the story, crayons or markers, X-acto knife, tape, Pringles can.

Directions: Tape a piece of construction around a Pringles can. Copy, color, and cut out a blackline master of the Old Lady from the story. Attach the old lady to the can with tape. Use the X-acto knife to cut a hole through the blackline and the can where the Old Lady’s mouth is. Next, copy and color the pictures of the food the Old Lady eats in the story. Cut the pictures out and have students re-tell the story by “feeding” the old lady the pictures through the hole in her mouth.

Feed the Turkey

From: Pre-K Pages

Setting: Small Group, Math Centers

Objective: Number Sense

Materials: empty Pringles cans, tape, brown construction paper, Sharpie marker, X-acto knife, colored construction paper for feathers, scissors, glue stick, unpopped popcorn kernels.

Directions: Cover each Pringles can with brown paper and secure with tape. Cut turkey bodies from the brown paper and attach to the front of each Pringles can with tape. Cut feathers from the colored construction paper and attach to the back of each turkey with glue stick or tape. Cut through the turkey’s mouth and can using the X-acto knife. Write one number on each turkey with a Sharpie. Place the un-popped popcorn in a pie pan or bowl. Place the Pringles can turkeys and the pan of popcorn at a table and have students count the correct number of kernels into each turkey’s mouth.

Feed the Turkey

From: Pre-K Pages

Setting: Small Group, Literacy Centers

Objective: Alphabet Recognition

Materials: Turkey Beanie, magnet, glue (hot or E6000), magnet, magnetic letters, recording sheet (not pictured), Do-A-Dot markers.

Directions: Glue a magnet to the turkey’s nose using a glue gun, E6000, or similar. Give each child a recording sheet with the alphabet on it. Next, place the magnetic letters in the middle of the table, you could use a bowl or plastic container to hold them. Students will take turns holding the turkey and helping him “eat” the magnetic letters as pictured at left. When the turkey “eats” a letter the students may locate it on their recording sheet and mark it with a Do-A-Dot marker. You can find the upper and lowercase turkey alphabet recording sheets in the Thanksgiving Literacy Packet located in the printables section below.

Comparing Numbers

From: Kindergarten Crayons

For comparing numbers to 10 I give kids individual number cards and they build their number with unifix cubes and compare their tower to the partner next to them. They have to say something like "I have 6 cubes and David has 2. My tower is bigger. My number is more." David might say, "My number is less." This builds their academic vocabulary and is great "math talk."

Number Knowledge

From: Kindergarten Crayons