If you’re looking to do something festive around Thanksgiving, but don’t want to derail your reading workshop with a giant interruption, you have some options. Here’s a look at my Thanksgiving mini-unit which aims to squeeeeeeze in some skills-based activities right before Thanksgiving break.
5 Thanksgiving Read Alouds for Elementary
- Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet, I LOVE this book. It’s beautifully crafted and it tells the origin story of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I highly recommend this book. If you miss it in November, incorporate it into one of your nonfiction units later in the year.
- Turk and Runt by Lisa Wheeler, This one is a Thanksgiving Day comedy–so much fun.
- A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman
- This Is the Turkey by Abby Levine
- Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey
10 Thanksgiving Themed Reading Activities
The goal here is to touch on some broad reading concepts so that wherever you are in your reading curriculum, you have a Thanksgiving-themed activity to match. In my unit I’ve focused on:
- Main Ideas & Supporting Details
- Plot
- Perspective
- Comparing Characters
- Mood & Tone
- Poetic Form
- Vocabulary (esp. Synonyms)
- Analyzing Poetic Structure
Here’s a look at some of the activities (each corresponds to one of the above read alouds):
If you’d like to have a Thanksgiving unit on hand, you can purchase the one I created here.
Do you have any go-to picture books for Thanksgiving? If so, will you let me know in the comments? I’d love to add some to my list!
