Self Selected Time.
Circle Time. Today we read "Judge for a Day" about how a boy thought all Hispanic food was hot but found out how good it is. I asked the kids who would eat Hispanic food for Thanksgiving and they all raised their hands (they raise their hands with almost anything I ask:). They told me they were going to have candy and popcorn for Thanksgiving. We also read a story called Thesalonias Turkey about a turkey that didn't want to be eaten on Thanksgiving but instead used his feathers to decorate hats.
Art Time. We made Indian vests out of paper bags. I Googled how to make them. If the kids were a little older, I would have had them cut them out but instead, I cut them out and turned them inside out before they came to preschool. I cut the bottom of the vests off and used them for headbands. With more time, the kids would have cut the bottom of the vests to look like leather strings. The kids decorated their vests and headbands (to make it easier, we left the same brush in the same paint the whole time-no need for water or rinsing-when they wanted a new color, they passed the jar over). I showed the kids a YouTube video clip of an Indian Pow wow so they could see what they look like.
Carleton had the day off work so he played games outside with the kids while I took each kid individually to make a Thanksgiving card. Here's how: Paint the turkey and feathers like we did with Grant below and stamp.
Add an eye, feet, and the turkey's wattle (the red part hanging from the chin-I just looked it up).
Academic Time. L stands for leaf. The kids traced and colored this page (click on image below to print). They chose some foam and sparkly leaves to staple on to their paper.
We reviewed numbers 1-10. I stuck numbers and groups of things on the window with non matching pairs. The kids counted them and helped put them with their right match.
Snack and a Story. In lieu of our Thanksgiving theme, we had cornbread with honey butter. I got it from a mix from Trader Joe's.
Music Time. Sometimes the music time pictures are not so great because we are moving so much. The kids chose different leaves for each new song.
We played our "drums" (toilet paper rolls-the ones from Costco come individually packaged) and danced to 10 Little Indians and Indian Chant Music.
Here are some songs we sang:
Mr. Turkey
Mr. Turkey's tail is big and wide (spread fingers wide),
He swings it when he walks (move fingers around),
His neck is long (stand on tip toes and stretch neck and head up),
His chin is red (stroke chin),
And he gobbles when he talks(open and close hands while gobbling)
Ted the Turkey (Sung To: I'm A Little Teapot)
I'm a little turkey, my name is Ted.
Here are my feathers, here is my head.
Gobble, gobble, gobble, is what I say
Gobble, gobble, gobble, It's thanksgiving Day!
Five Pilgrims
Five Pilgrims fish in the morn (act like casting and reeling in fish)
Five Indians help them plant corn (bend down and plant corn)
The Indians bring the corn (hold up one hand)
The Pilgrims bring the meat. (hold up the other hand)
Ten new friends sit down to eat. (put hands together)
Science Experiment. I made this recipe for my high school students too because it is a good example to see signs of chemical reactions and to learn about molecules and heat. When the baking soda is added in this recipe, the caramel bubbles up (a sign that a chemical reaction took place). Other signs are smells, heat given off, and temperature changes. Molecules are breaking and rearranging forming a new substance. We talked about how heat makes molecules move fast so they all moved their hands fast...slow when I said fridge...fast when I said add fire etc. It's the best caramel popcorn I've had if you're not interested in the experiment part.
Ingredients:
3/4 brown sugar
1 cube butter
2 Tbs light Karo Syrup
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 C popcorn
Directions:
Mix sugar, butter, and syrup. Microwave for 2 min. Stir. Microwave again for 3 more min. Add soda until thick. Poor over and stir into popcorn until fully covered. Enjoy!! Warning: Highly Addictive.
Games. We played Duck, Duck, Turkey (like the Fish, Fish, Shark of last week). This week's game went a lot more smoothly.
I copied this activity out of an activity book for the kids and talked about the Mayflower and Thanksgiving.
Physical Fitness. Each child took turns doing a trick on the mini trampoline while I got the kids' outfits ready.
Ending Circle Time/Review. Every week we go on a horse race to gather everyone around the trampoline. Afterward, everyone puts their hand in the middle if they remember something we did from the day-it's so cute.
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