Thanksgiving Reading Activities & STEM Activity | A Turkey Thanksgiving, ELA

Engage your students with exciting Thanksgiving reading activities and a hands-on Thanksgiving STEM activity! This resource is designed to complement the beloved story, A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting (book not included), and is perfect for 1st grade ELA and STEM lessons. Through a variety of reading activities, comprehension tasks, and a creative STEM challenge, students will develop critical thinking and literacy skills while enjoying the fun of Thanksgiving.

Why You’ll Love This Resource

• Combines Literacy and STEM: This resource blends Thanksgiving ELA activities like retelling, story structure, and character analysis with a Thanksgiving STEM activity where students design and create their own turkey.

• Engages Students with Active Learning: Students will interact with the text by asking and answering questions, working with vocabulary, and analyzing characters, all while applying the engineering design process to build a turkey.

• Perfect for 1st Grade: Tailored to meet 1st-grade standards, this resource helps students build essential reading comprehension skills through a Thanksgiving-themed story, making it ideal for your Thanksgiving reading and STEM centers.

What's Included:

• Comprehension Questions: Encourage students to think critically about the story with text-based questions.

• Comprehension Bookmarks: Tools to support students as they read, focusing on key details.

• Vocabulary Cards: Play vocabulary games like Headbanz or Charades, or use these cards for classroom display.

• Retelling and Main Idea Activities: Two differentiated options for helping students summarize and understand the main idea of the story.

• Story Structure Activities: Focus on the beginning, middle, and end of the story, with two structured options.

• Character Analysis: Two options for analyzing character traits and responses in the story.

• STEM Maker Activity: A hands-on Thanksgiving STEM challenge where students design, build, and improve turkey creations.

• Planning Sheet for the Turkey Activity: Guides students through the STEM activity, encouraging them to plan and reflect.

• Writing Extensions: Activities like "All About My Turkey" and "Words About My Turkey" help students describe their creations.

• Turkey Presentation Points: Encourage students to share and explain their designs, promoting public speaking and communication skills.

• Compare and Contrast Activity: A fun think sheet to evaluate different turkey designs and problem-solving approaches.

How to Use This Resource:

• Thanksgiving Read Aloud: Begin with a read-aloud of A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting (available on YouTube or Amazon). Engage students in comprehension questions and vocabulary work.

• Thanksgiving ELA Centers: Set up a station for students to complete comprehension activities, vocabulary games, and story structure tasks, focusing on Thanksgiving ELA activities.

• STEM Challenge: Have students work independently or in small groups to complete the Thanksgiving STEM activity, where they plan, design, and improve their turkey models.

This Thanksgiving reading and STEM activity resource is a perfect addition to your Thanksgiving centers, helping students build comprehension skills while engaging in a creative and fun STEM challenge. With everything from vocabulary work to hands-on turkey crafting, your students will be fully immersed in learning this Thanksgiving season!