5.+Picture+Book+Program+2

Picture Book Program 2: Thanksgiving This picture book program has a Thanksgiving theme. The books that I selected for this program are //Thanksgiving at the Tappletons'// by Eileen Spinelli, //The Perfect Thanksgiving// by Eileen Spinelli, and //Gus, the Pilgrim Turkey// by Teresa Bateman, but a number of others could be used instead. Some other Thanksgiving-related pictures books that I'm partial to are //'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving// by Dav Pilkey, //A Plump and Perky Turkey// by Teresa Bateman, and //A Turkey for Thanksgiving// by Eve Bunting. Begin by reading //Thanksgiving at the Tappletons'// by Eileen Spinelli. As I read, I will ask the children for their predictions of what they think will happen throughout the story. After the story, I will encourage the children to suggest what they would have done to solve the problem of not having any of the Thanksgiving foods that they had been counting on for their Thanksgiving dinner. The transition activity is a movement game about how the listeners celebrate Thanksgiving. Include things like: If you like to eat turkey for Thanksgiving, gobble like a turkey. If you like to eat pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, pat your tummy. If you like to eat mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving, hold your hands up and wiggle your fingers. If you like to eat stuffing at Thanksgiving, (gently) pull your earlobes. If you like to play (or watch) football on Thanksgiving Day, stretch your arms high above your head. If your family sometimes travels to visit other relatives at Thanksgiving, pretend to drive a car. If family members or friends come to YOUR house to visit at Thanksgiving, motion your hand toward you (as if saying "come in"). If you like to watch Thanksgiving Day parades on TV, tap your fingers on your nose. Ask the children for other ideas of things they like to do at Thanksgiving and give actions or movements for those ideas as well. (The actions don't have to have anything to do with the statement. I'm just trying to give them the chance to move a little bit--hopefully in unpredictable and fun ways that will help them get the wiggles out and listen to the next story.) Read //The Perfect Thanksgiving// by Eileen Spinelli. Let the children make sound effects with the story or move with the story as the opportunity arises. For example, "our smoke alarm is wailing"--what does a smoke alarm sound like? "My grandpa chews the gizzards"--let the children pretend to chew loudly. "My brother chomps the wings"--chomp, chomp, chomp. "My sister slurps"--ssssssslurrrpp! "Her Jell-O mold, a-quivering"--quiver like Jell-O. And so on. I will ask the children to name some of the things they are thankful for and try to incorporate the things into the following song to the tune of //Mary Had a Little Lamb//. We will sing each verse together as each child suggests something. In other words, stop after each verse to let another child volunteer an idea. Some of the lines will have to be squeezed due to syllabication, but the challenge just makes it fun! "We are thankful for our friends" works fine, but "We are thankful for nice sisters" will have to be said pretty fast. We may have to take some poetic license with the number of beats in each line. We are thankful for _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, <span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">for _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, for _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. <span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">We are thankful for _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ <span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">on Thanksgiving Day. <span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Finish the story time by reading //Gus, the Pilgrim Turkey// by Teresa Bateman. In this story, Gus can be very thankful for his friends, who help him avoid becoming Thanksgiving dinner! This story also gives some information about the Pilgrims. <span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">If there is time for a craft, let the children make potpourri turkeys. Give each child a square of fall-patterned fabric. Help the child put some potpourri in the middle of the square, gather up the edges of the fabric, and tie it into a sachet with a pipe cleaner. The excess fabric will be the tail feathers. Let the child use brown craft foam or construction paper to cut out and decorate a long oval to be the turkey's head and neck. Help the child glue the turkey's head to the sachet. Or instead of using potpourri, you might let the children put M&M's or some other type of edible treat inside the turkey. (The children would probably like that better! And Gus would definitely prefer that the children eat THAT kind of turkey.)