Sunday, November 18, 2012

Sunday's Words and A Free Thanksgiving Download

A special loved one has been diagnosed with a serious form of cancer.
My heart is hurting.
These words seem appropriate

Be thankful for all you have, because you never know what will happen next.

This Thanksgiving I am especially grateful for the people in my life. 
For all my awesome teacher friends,  here are some Thanksgiving files I've posted free onto TPT.
The first one is a poetry follow up to the poem, I Ate Too Much.  This is a poem out of this fabulous collection of Thanksgiving poems by Jack Prelutsky.  You MUST seek out this book to read with your third graders.  My own personal copy is over 15 years old and is falling apart. Lucky for me we have a copy in our school library.  It will go in my poetry station of the week. Kids love this one.


After reading some poems, I like to have my students compose their own.
Here is what is running currently in my writing station.  Students think of all that they are grateful for.  This is a good opportunity to expand their vocabularies by teaching the synonyms: thankful - grateful - appreciative.  They compose an acrostic that shares with others what they are grateful for.
Dictionaries are a great tool to keep out at this station.
 

Each line must begin with a word starting with the given letter. I required a phrase for each line since
we are big, competent third grade writers.

 My students did not disappoint. Here are some golden lines they wrote:
Thankful for freedom
Houses in nice neighborhoods
A big fat turkey to eat
Not being bored at school
Kids having fun together
Songs that make us dance

Yes, there is much to be grateful for!
Click this link if you are interested in trying this in your classroom. 


 

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!