Thanksgiving Story Bracelets – A FREE Resource

November 12, 2018 by Ashley Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving Story Bracelets

It’s difficult for my students to really connect with the Thanksgiving story, so today we made Thanksgiving Story Bracelets and each bead represented a part of the Thanksgiving story. After making our bracelets, we made mini books about the Thanksgiving story. The bracelets were not only helpful for students retelling the story, but they also provided excellent fine motor practice!

Have your students make Thanksgiving Story Bracelets with this FREE File!

Materials

You probably already have most (if not all) of the materials needed for this low prep project. I always purchase a multi-box of pony beads at the beginning of each school year. It has all of the colors you’ll need for the bracelets. You may use twine, yarn, or elastic thread for your bracelets, but I find that pipe cleaners are the easiest for young students to grasp and slide beads down.

You can find this pack of beads at Walmart by clicking HERE.

Completing the Project

We read the mini booklet and students follow along as they add their beads. We don’t take time to color at that time because students color at such different rates and I want those who wish to take their time and color carefully to have ample time to do so! After making the bracelets, I set out baskets of crayons and let students color and assemble their booklets. These make a great story for parents to read with their students so they have an understanding of the bracelet their little one brings home.

This FREE Thanksgiving Story Bracelet booklet is the perfect project for little learners in November.

Do you think your students would enjoy this low-prep, fun project for Thanksgiving? Grab your FREE Thanksgiving Story Bracelet packet by clicking the image below!

Be sure to PIN this post on your November or Thanksgiving board.

This FREE Thanksgiving Story Bracelet booklet is the perfect project for little learners in November.

I am THANKFUL for YOU!

November 20, 2016 by Ashley Leave a Comment

Hey friends. I am so THANKFUL for each of you! The collaboration we share, your support of my Teachers Pay Teachers business, and the friendship we’ve built are some of the greatest blessings in my life. To show my gratitude, I’d like to offer you a Thanksgiving Decor FREEBIE!

These nameplates can be printed on card stock, cut apart, and folded like a tent. Simply write each guest’s name on a card and they’ll feel so special!

These printables are totally adorable in frames or clipped to a chicken wire display with clothespins.

Grab your FREEBIES {HERE}!

For more Thanksgiving ideas, check out this blog post by clicking the picture below:

Tuesday Ten: Thanksgiving Celebrations

November 15, 2016 by Ashley Leave a Comment

I can’t believe we’re just a little over a week away from Thanksgiving! What a special and meaningful time of the year. We have so much to be grateful for. I’ve rounded up ten ways to make your Thanksgiving celebration fun, meaningful, and crafty for the kiddos! I hope you enjoy these ideas!

Popcorn Corn on the Cob Treat Bags from Smart School House

Teepee Dirt Cups from I Can Teach my Child

Thankful Alphabet FREEBIE from Written Reality

Thankful Paper Bag Book from The Creative Classroom

Crayon Turkeys from Paging Supermom. Pair these with a table cloth or place mat that can be colored on!

And here you go! FREE Thanksgiving placemats the kids can color! These are from 1+1+1=1.

Turkey Treats from Clean and Scentsible!

Stuff the Turkey game from Kid Friendly Things to Do

FREE Thanksgiving Mad Lib from How Does She

Thankful Tree from Simply Vintage Girl

Be sure to pin the next image so you can find these fabulous Thanksgiving ideas again!

Pilgrim Fun with a FREEBIE

November 10, 2016 by Ashley Leave a Comment

Our Thanksgiving lessons are in full swing! And boy are we having fun while learning a lot!

We read our latest Scholastic News magazine which included diary entries for life on the Mayflower from the perspective of a child. We discussed what that must have been like…the same food over and over, the seasickness, the boredom, and OH THE SMELLS!! 😉

Then we made a Mayflower book craft that I have on TPT. The outside of the booklet looks like a ship and each page inside includes nonfiction text and some kind of opportunity to respond by drawing a picture, answering a question, or writing from the point of view of a Pilgrim child. The kids LOVED this and they turned out so cute!

You can grab this print and go craft {HERE}!

We also read The Littlest Pilgrim and completed a written response showing that we are too little to do some things but big enough to do other things.

Grab this FREEBIE by clicking {HERE}!

Turkeys in Disguise

October 30, 2016 by Ashley Leave a Comment

I like to send home occasional family projects in my classroom. I love the collaboration among parents, students, and siblings! In fact, just a few days ago a mysterious letter fell from the sky prompting us to get ready for our November family project! So that afternoon, I sent home a blank turkey template and a letter to parents. I instructed students to bring their disguised turkeys back by November 15th so we could display and enjoy them the last week before Thanksgiving break!

The students were sooooooooooo excited! Here are some past projects students have turned in:

Of course my personal favorite of all time was this one:

We read some fabulous stories during our Turkey in Disguise project. Here are some of my favorites:

And we integrate some reading response and opinion writing into our unit!

Grab my Turkey in Disguise project pack on TPT on SALE this week only!

Be sure to grab this FREEBIE while you’re there:

Five for Friday with a FREEBIE!

November 20, 2015 by Ashley Reed 4 Comments

I’m linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday!

Holy Moly! WHAT.A.WEEK.

My poor class has been OFF THE CHAIN this week. Or should I say this poor teacher has a class that has been off the chain. It’s felt like a full moon ALL WEEK LONG!

My kiddos had a family project to complete…Turkeys in Disguise! I always love seeing what everyone comes up with and they never fail to amaze me! Check out what these families came up with:

Aren’t they precious? And y’all, apparently I look *just* like Daisy Ridley, one of the stars of the new Star Wars Movie. Never mind that she’s 40 pounds lighter and she was 3 years old when I graduated high school. But she was my Doppelganger for the turkey that was disguised as me. If you squint your left eye and close your right eye you can probably see it, too!

And here Daisy and I are as a turkey:

Notice my chalkboard says, “BAM! WHAT??” If you have kids who watch Liv and Maddie on The Disney Channel then you get the Bam! What? I say that to my kids a lot when I’m being silly! If you haven’t heard of this, check this out:

My students also wrote some opinion pieces this week. They had to write a letter from a turkey persuading us to eat something other than turkey for Thanksgiving.

Today the students filled out top secret ballots and chose the winners of our Turkey in Disguise contest. Uncle Si won Best Disguise. The Girl Scout won Most Unique. And The Easter Bunny won Most Creative!

Everyone got some Turkey Toes (candy corn) and a certificate for saving a turkey’s life!

You can check out my Turkey in Disguise Unit {HERE}:

Finally, enjoy this FREEBIE as my gift to you. I am THANKFUL for your support in this blogging and TPT’ing adventure! {Click HERE}

I’m off for a FULL WEEK for Thanksgiving. It’s gonna take that long to recover from this hectic week!

November Pinterest Pick 3

November 3, 2015 by Ashley Reed 7 Comments

Are there any fellow Pinterest addicts out there? I simply get lost in time when scrolling through Pinterest.

I find so many amazing ideas for the home and for my classroom on Pinterest, so I’m THRILLED to be joining forces as a cohost with Lisa at Pawsitively Teaching and Marissa at Inspired Owl’s Corner for their Monthly “Pick 3 Pinterest Party!” You can link up with us on the third of each month with your top 3 favorite Pins for that month!

Welcome to the November edition!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/147070744058353122/

For The Love Of Art has the most adorable projects. And these scarecrow mixed media collages are PRECIOUS! In fact, I think they’re frame-worthy. When you get a moment, be sure to explore her website. I’ve shared so many of her ideas with our art teacher, because everything she posts is amazing!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/147070744058493868/

These Gratitude Turkeys from Little Family Fun truly help students realize the MEANING behind the season. And aren’t they scrappy and fun?? To complete this project, I’d provide a card stock leaf tracer and tons of scrapbook bits. Have students trace the leaves and cut them out of colorful paper. These would be beautiful on a bulletin board with the heading “Stuffed with Gratitude” or “Thankful Turkeys!”

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/147070744058493870/

Holy Cuteness! These crayon cups (and a printable placemat) are a perfect diversion at the kids’ Thanksgiving table! Have students complete this craft at school, then take home their crayon cup and placemat to use on Thanksgiving Day! This gem comes from Lil’ Luna!
And here’s a FREE Thanksgiving placemat you could print out for the kiddos to color from Kids’ Activities Blog:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/147070744058493873/

Follow me on Pinterest for more great ideas!

Visit Ashley’s profile on Pinterest.

Here’s how to join in on the fun and link up with your top 3 November Pins!!!

1. Save the Pick 3 images to your desktop.

2. Create a blog post using these images to share you 3 Pinterest Picks for the month.

3. Share a link to your full Pinterest page if you would like.

4. Link up by clicking the add your link button below.

5. Be sure to check out the other Pinterest finds that have been shared and leave a comments on the ones you love!

Creative teachers from across the country link up to share some great Pinterest finds for the month of November.

An InLinkz Link-up

Better late than never: Turkeys in Disguise

December 6, 2014 by Ashley Reed 1 Comment

I was so excited about my students’ Turkey in disguise project. My kinder-cuties and their families came up with several turkeys I’d never seen created before! Check out these adorable projects inspired by my “Eat More Ham” product!

Guess what? The disguises worked! Mr. Turkey was safe! 🙂

And my little peanut Morgan’s turkey (for First Grade) was a Las Vegas Showgirl! LOL! We may or may not have gotten in trouble by hubby for all the glitter in the house!

Thanksgiving Fun! (with a few freebies)

November 21, 2013 by Ashley Reed 2 Comments

Thanks to all those who pinned an image from my Santa Loves Teachers Sneak Peek. The winner of my 12 Days of Christmas Literature Packet is Teacher Gone Digital….I am emailing you soon! In case you wonder what Santa Loves Teachers is all about, check out my previous post!!

We’ve been learning about fractions this week, so I whipped up a couple of Thanksgiving fraction activities that the kids loved. I’ve included a description, some pictures, and a few templates in this freebie:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/185896982/Thanksgiving-Fraction-Ideas

We made fat fraction turkeys and thanksgiving fraction pies:

We also made our Thanksgiving Story Bracelets and colored our booklets to correspond with them:

You can grab that freebie here:

Today we made edible teepees! Just use food color pens and burrito shells with bamboo skewers. The kids LOVED this!

Thursday and Friday we’ll work on our Stained Glass Turkeys. You can snag that freebie here:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-Story-Bracelet-Freebie-972384

Stained Glass Turkeys {A Free Template}

November 16, 2013 by Ashley Reed 8 Comments

I’ve seen some cute stained glass turkey ideas floating around on Pinterest but wanted to create my own template with the look I liked. So I started by tracing and cutting a feather pattern on brown cardstock.

Then, I gathered lots of bright beautiful tissue paper squares.

I placed the feather template on clear contact paper and began randomly placing the colored squares everywhere, making sure they stuck well.

Halfway through, it looks like this:

This is what it looks like when it’s covered in colored squares. The next step is to add another layer of clear contact paper on top, seal it down well, and then cut around it.

Next, print the head, body, beak, waddle, and leg/foot templates on colored cardstock, cut out and place on your turkey as shown below:

Pretty stinkin’ cute, huh? I plan to make these with my kiddos next week. I think these look beautiful in the window. You can snag the templates I created here: