Thanksgiving - Day 1

Phonics

Preparation

Write the word "Thanks," then cut word into the individual letters.

Materials

Word "Thanks" cut up into individual letters

Teaching

1.  Set letters in front of child in random order.

2.  Ask child to create words with letters in following order (see video of my teaching this here):

Say:

"Make the word 'at.'

Add a letter to make the word 'sat'

Change a letter and make the word 'hat'

Take off a letter and make the word 'at'

Change a letter to make the word 'as'

Add a letter to make the word 'has'

Change it to make the word 'an'

Add a letter to make 'ant'

Move the 't' and make the word 'tan'

Write the word 't-h-a-n-k"

This is "thank"

Add the 's' and you have thank...(let them add the 's' sound for thanks.

When do we say 'thanks' to someone? This week we'll learn about Thanksgiving."

Let your child struggle a little.  Sound out the word slowly to help them find the correct letter. Use plenty of praise. 

Writing

Preparation

 Using dotted line paper (for a copy of dotted line paper I've made email me @ amyiswrite@gmail.com) write a capital "T" on the top line, a lower case 't' on second line, then creating a space foe the letter "t" write the following on the remainder of page: ack, ag, an, ap, ed, ell, en, est, ick, ill, in, ip, op, ot, ub, ug

Materials

"T" page created above

Marker

Teaching

1. Teach your child how to form upper and lower case letter "T." For how I teach this watch video for upper case "T" here and lower case "t" here.

2. Read "ack." Have your child add the "t" and sound out the word "tack."

3.  Repeat for each group of letters creating the words tag, tan, tap, etc.

Reading

Preparation

Borrow or buy the book Over the River and Through the Woods. There are several versions as this is based on a poem over 100 years old.  I used the book illustrated by Christopher Manson.

Write our a poster using at least the first verse of the poem.

Create a "jail" by drawing gray bars on a piece of paper and labeling it "Jail"

Materials

Poem

Book

Marker (or sparkly glitter glue which is what my child wanted to use)

Small stips of paper or 3x5 cards or sticky notes

Teaching

1.  Read the book to your child

2.  Read the poster to your child, using a pointer to point out the words.

4.  Write the rhyming words on small strips of paper (or 3x5 cards, etc)

5.  Have your child look at the endings of the words.   If the endings do not have the same spelling ("match") they pair go to jail, or in the event of go-snow-blow, just go goes to jail.

Math

Preparation

Divide a piece of paper into 6 sections.  Label the sections 10-15. Stamp, draw, or place ten turkeys in each section.

Materials

Divided paper

turkey stamp & stamp pad (or stickers, or pictures)

Teaching

1.  Have your child count the turkeys in the section labeled "10."  Show that there are ten turkeys in each section. 

2.  Have your child read the numbr in the next section (11). Have your child add the number of turkeys to the ten already in teh section to create 11.  Ask, "How many turkeys are there now?"  Your child will do one of two things a) say "11" without thinking or b) Start counting every turkey. 

3.  Repeat for each number through 15.

To watch the video of me teaching this go here.

Exploration

Preparation

Put together several pictures of your family celebrating Thanksgiving over the years

Materials

Pictures

Teaching

1.  Show pictures of your family celebrating Thanksgiving over the years. Point out the people, talk about who they are and why you are Thankful for them. 

2. Share with your child some of your family's Thanksgiving traditions, and things you are grateful for.

My Family Thanksgiving:

Art

Preparation

Make a book of the first verse of Over the River and Through the Wood. 

Materials

Book

Markers or crayons

Teaching

1.  Have your child illustrate the book.