seasonal activities

1-2-3 Come Do Some "I'm Thankful" Writing With Me!

If you're looking for an alternative to the "I'm Thankful" writing prompt activity, where students write what they are thankful for, on turkey feathers, (I did that for years) you may want to try the Thankful Tree. 

thanksgiving crafts, alternative to thankful turkeys and thankful feathers, november writing prompts, thanksgiving writing prompts, i'm thankful writing prompts, november crafts, daily 5 activitie for november, writing activities for november, writing activities for thanksgiving This craftivity offers a twist, as students write the things that they are thankful for in each season.  The tree-top writing prompt pages are larger, so students can write a bit more than on the typical feather. 

It's an interesting and fun way to review the 4 seasons, and a chance to showcase students descriptive writing, by encouraging the use of adjectives.

Here's what to do:

thanksgiving crafts, alternative to thankful turkeys and thankful feathers, november writing prompts, thanksgiving writing prompts, i'm thankful writing prompts, november crafts, daily 5 activitie for november, writing activities for november, writing activities for thanksgivingPrint off the tops of the trees on appropriate colors of construction paper.  i.e. a green cover page, an orange one for fall, white or powder blue for the winter page, pink for the spring page, yellow for the summer page, and finally, ending with another shade of green, for the last "I'm most thankful for..." page, where students can include things like family, friends, etc.

thanksgiving crafts, alternative to thankful turkeys and thankful feathers, november writing prompts, thanksgiving writing prompts, i'm thankful writing prompts, november crafts, daily 5 activitie for november, writing activities for november, writing activities for thanksgivingVia a discussion, review the various seasons and what kinds of things children see and like to do in them. 

To help students with spelling and recall, write a list on the board.

thanksgiving crafts, alternative to thankful turkeys and thankful feathers, november writing prompts, thanksgiving writing prompts, i'm thankful writing prompts, november crafts, daily 5 activitie for november, writing activities for november, writing activities for thanksgivingLook at the list and ask students to think of descriptive words that would make those things and activities "come alive". 

List those as well.  This will help jump-start your students' brains, and ensure that they incorporate lots of adjectives in their writing.

thanksgiving crafts, alternative to thankful turkeys and thankful feathers, november writing prompts, thanksgiving writing prompts, i'm thankful writing prompts, november crafts, daily 5 activitie for november, writing activities for november, writing activities for thanksgivingStudents should compose their rough draft on scratch paper. 

You may want to have them underline the adjectives, so that they can see at a glance, if they have included at least two per sentence. 

thanksgiving crafts, alternative to thankful turkeys and thankful feathers, november writing prompts, thanksgiving writing prompts, i'm thankful writing prompts, november crafts, daily 5 activitie for november, writing activities for november, writing activities for thanksgivingIf they haven’t, they need to go back and add some. 

Children can work on a page a day, as part of their writing block, or for the writing portion of your Daily 5 activities. 

Remind students to use proper spacing and end punctuation, as well as trace the beginning words of each sentence, underlining the adjectives as they go.

thanksgiving crafts, alternative to thankful turkeys and thankful feathers, november writing prompts, thanksgiving writing prompts, i'm thankful writing prompts, november crafts, daily 5 activitie for november, writing activities for november, writing activities for thanksgivingOnce they have written their sentences, students cut out their tree trunk and tops for the tree.  They need to make sure the pages are in order.  

Children start with the last page and glue it to the top of the tree, and then staple the rest of the tree-top pages together onto that last page, so that the staple acts as a hinge and the tree-top pages flip up.

To add that finishing touch, students glue their school photo to the hollow of the tree.  Children can also draw seasonally appropriate things to each of the tree tops, like leaves, apples, snowflakes, flowers etc.  They could also use stickers, clip art or paper punch-cut shapes. 

thanksgiving crafts, alternative to thankful turkeys and thankful feathers, november writing prompts, thanksgiving writing prompts, i'm thankful writing prompts, november crafts, daily 5 activitie for november, writing activities for november, writing activities for thanksgivingThe Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gibbons, as well as Sutherland's, Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks are great read-aloud books, to go along with this craftivity.

thanksgiving crafts, alternative to thankful turkeys and thankful feathers, november writing prompts, thanksgiving writing prompts, i'm thankful writing prompts, november crafts, daily 5 activitie for november, writing activities for november, writing activities for thanksgivingClick on the link to view/download The Thankful Tree.

Thanks for visiting today.  I  design daily and try to blog about the newest items, so I hope you can stop by again tomorrow.  It's time for me to do a little grocery shopping,or my sweetie won't be very thankful for a loving wife, because of a non-existant dinner. 

"I read; I travel; I become." -Derek Walcott