Sharing my love of literacy

November 17, 2009

Thanksgiving Read Aloud

Thanksgiving Read Aloud

I have always loved Arthur and so did my first graders!
Story: Arthur's teacher makes him director of the school's Thanksgiving play, it seems like a fun job at first. But things start getting difficult when he must assign the roles, especially since no one wants to play the part of the turkey!
This is a great story to make into a Reader's Theater.
You could make a T-chart with your class about the pros and cons of being a director of a play.
As always, reading aloud this book for pure enjoyment always makes the kids happy!

Thanksgiving Read Aloud #2

I was working in the library the other day and came across this book that I just fell in love with while reading it! The story is so beautiful!

The Firefighters Thanksgiving
By: Maribeth Boelts
Illustrator: Terry Widener

Story: Station 1 is a busy place. When there aren't fires to put out there are plenty of chores. On Thanksgiving Day there's a big feast to prepare. Lou is in charge of dinner this year, but just as they finish preparing the meal, a call comes in. They drop everything to get to the fire. It looks like there may not be a Thanksgiving dinner after all.

Ideas: Theme of Thanksgiving and bravery. There are SO MANY teachable concepts here. Have students write their own Thanksgiving narrative. Have them pretend they are a character in the story and write a letter of thanks to Station 1. Go a step further and write a letter to your own local fire station!
Word Patterns: This text is filled with rhyme patterns. Give the students post it notes and have them write patterns as they listen to the read aloud.
Reader's Theater: Take this text and rewrite it with a narrator and Lou. Have students partner up and practice reading aloud for fluency!

Happy Thanksgiving!