Theme: Thanksgiving



Focus of the Week: Our theme series focuses on one letter, one shape and one color each week. I put together and printed this printable mostly for my two. I hung it in our craft room and would often point to the letter, shape and color for him to identify throughout the week.


November Themes: My boys (ages 2, 4) go to preschool twice a week, so I planned our activities for the off days - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I printed a monthly chart (link to come) as a way to keep organized and stay on track. However, some weeks we just do activities as we go. Here's the first week at a glance:



MONDAY:

Sorting (Then & Now): We did this activity while my boys were eating breakfast. I held out two cards (ie. pilgrim clothes, our clothes) and we talked about the difference. I pointed out a lot of details and we talked about how different our lives are from the pilgrims. You can print Then & Now Cards from The Teacher Bag.


Letter ("C" Corn Kernel & Popcorn): We started putting corn kernels on the big Letter C, and then started our popcorn science experiment below. After we popped popcorn, we glued the popcorn onto our little c.


Science (Popcorn Observations): My boys had so much fun experimenting with popcorn! You can print the Popcorn Observations worksheet from A Little Pinch of Perfect.



Observe
Weight
Sink or Float
Treat (Popcorn): We ate A LOT of popcorn today during our science experiment! Yum!


WEDNESDAY:

Art (Indian Vests & Headband):



Fine Motor (Dream Catchers): The boys strung yarn (wrap a piece of tape around the end, so it will go through the holes easily) through hole punches on a paper plate. We talked about how the Indians believe these made bad dreams go away. 


Numbers (Planting Corn Kernels): We didn't get to this activity this week!

Sensory (Pilgrims & Indians): We had corn kernels from our Turkey Sensory bin, so we re-used them this week. I found this Thanksgiving Set on Ebay.




FRIDAY: 

Rhyme & Craft (Mayflower): We made the craft below while learning this Mayflower Song.


Shape (Feather or Pen?): I reminded my boys about the "then and now" activity we did on Monday - how the Pilgrims wrote with feathers. We dipped feathers in paint and drew shapes. 


Gross Motor (Shooting Arrows): I used a window marker to draw a turkey and antelope on our window. My boys took turns shooting the animals with bow and arrows.


Outing (Thanksgiving Dinner): With the busy holiday, we counted Thanksgiving dinner as our outing this week! We met together with a group of friends at a community room and ate our hearts full. 



Thanksgiving Booklist: And of course, we read often throughout the week. We mostly read before our quiet times each day, but we occasionally read during a meal or random time during the day. I placed these books on hold at our local library a week in advance and we enjoyed reading them this week as we learned about turkeys:
  • 10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston
  • Gracias The Thanksgiving Turkey by Joy Cowley and Joe Cepeda
  • I'm a Turkey! by Jim Arnasky
  • A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman
  • This is the Turkey by Abby Levine
  • The Thanksgiving Surprise by Peggy Archer
  • Turk and Runt: A Thanksgiving Comedy by Lisa Wheeler
  • A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting
  • Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano and Lee Harper
  • Who Will Carve the Turkey This Thanksgiving? By Jerry Pallotta

Note: We FINALLY started week one of our beginning reading program for my four. We learned a new sight word ("the") and worked on handwriting, rhyming, beginning sounds, and teen numbers this week. This program is very outlined and takes 15 minutes or so per day. We plan to do it right as my two goes down for a nap. 

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