Well somehow we made it through Halloween – and if you’re anything like me, you did it with the help of maaaaany snack sized chocolate bars (does it count as snack size if you eat 10 at a time? Asking for a friend).
We celebrate Thanksgiving in October here in Canada but I thought I’d post about some of the Thanksgiving activities and stations we did for inspiration to all our American friends! In the meantime, my brain will be full on Christmas for the next 2 months. Enjoy the post – I’ll be over here singing Christmas carols.
These mini writing books were a huge hit at our writing center! There are 10 pages with a Thanksgiving sight word. On each page students can trace the word, colour the word and write the word. There is also space for them to write a sentence using the sight word.
I create 2 mini books with 5 pages each and put both out at our writing center so that students have a bit of choice. Great for an independent activity that gets kids writing! Students were so proud of their work!
These cute little turkeys are super simple to make and totally adorable to send home. Students just colour, cut and put together their turkey with glue. There is space at the top of each feather to write a thing that you are thankful for. You’ll see that Lully is front and center on my thankful meter… followed of course by my family, McDonalds, Target and Netflix. Hey, priorities, am I right?
If you want space for more detailed writing, this is fun too. These make a fantastic bulletin board display that everyone will want to stop and read. This also comes in a version that says “This turkey is thankful for…” which is great to use along side almost any Thanksgiving book about a turkey trying to escape capture!
Roll and cover
Roll and cover is one of my absolute favourite math centers. I quite literally always have a center for this. I change the theme of the roll and covers each month, and I change the mats I put out each week. I love these because the students know exactly how to play each month. The concept doesn’t change, just the mats do!
Students can play independently or against friends. The goal of the game is to cover all the numbers on your mat. To do so you roll the number and if you have it you cover it. The mats come with numbers for just 1 die which is great for subitizing, or mats with numbers for 2 dice which is great for simple addition and counting.
Do you have Grapat loose parts in your class? They are AMAZING for sparking inspiration, creating mandalas and just fun loose parts play, but I’ve also started using them as pieces to cover in roll and cover. They’re the PERFECT size! If you haven’t heard of these, look them up. They will change your teacher life!
Another station that we always have on the go in our room is a playdough station. We change up what is out at the station frequently. We like to change the loose parts and the tools up regularly to keep interest. Playdough is so great for fine motor development!
We like to put out laminated 10 frame mats in our playdough center for students to work on counting and recognizing numbers. Sometimes we put these out with loose parts as a center of their own too. Students love to see what the pictures of the month are. Another center that students can do completely independently. I love these because it gives me uninterrupted time to work in small groups with students!
I fully own that I have a sweet tooth and I may or may not inadvertently pass it on to my students. This month students got turkey toes AKA candy corn. Perfect for those of you that have leftovers from Halloween. Plus, tell a kid they’re getting turkey toes and the reaction is worth it’s weight in gold. Enjoy! Gobble, gobble!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read through my blog post. I can’t tell you what it means to me to know that other people out there are following along my teaching journey. Lully appreciates it too – she just doesn’t know it :)! Have a wonderful November!!!
