How to Catch a Turkey Thanksgiving Read Aloud Recommendation

New to the Thanksgiving read aloud scene this year is How to Catch a Turkey by Adam Wallace and Andy Ellerton. What a FUN book- your students are going to love it! 

There are several books in the How to Catch a... series and this is one of the newest ones. (Look for the How to Catch a Snowman blog post after the first of the year!).

There are several skills you could touch on with this How to Catch a Turkey Thanksgiving read aloud...

I created an anchor chart that you could use for any of the word choice lessons- let your students lead the discussion with what jumps out at them with the authors' word choice. 

1. Word Choice (Vocabulary):

The book is written in rhyme. The authors choice of writing in rhyme really sets the upbeat, fun mood for this story. 

The vocabulary and the phrases are also spot on and a great teaching point for this read aloud. 

After reading the story through once, you could go back and read page by page discussing the author's word choice. You could write the vocabulary words or rhyming pairs on the feathers of the anchor chart. I have included a free printable that you can use to create the anchor chart... you can grab it HERE! 

2. Word Choice (Show Don't Tell):

The authors Adam Wallace and Andy Ellerton also provide great mentor text for teaching students about "showing, not telling" in this story. A few examples that really jumped out at me were when the turkey runs through the cafeteria, through the library, the classroom, and the page where the turkey appears on stage and is very nervous. Be sure to point out to students that the authors never directly tell you any of these things, but instead vividly describe and lead the reader to understanding by showing with their word choice.

You could also choose to use this for the anchor chart if this is what you want to focus your lesson on.

3. Setting:

The story takes place in an elementary school and the action is fast-paced and exciting. Obviously this is a setting the students are familiar with and this aids in their comprehension and understanding. 

You could ask your students what it would be like if the turkey from the story was trying to escape their school- where would he go and what would he do? You could easily have the students do a quick write or create a map describing the turkey's escape route from their school!

 4. Illustrations and Mood:

The illustrations are so vivid and bright and the cartoon style characters really add to the mood of the story (which is upbeat and fun) and the illustrations emphasize the aspects of the setting! 

(This is a specific CCSS: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7 Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)

If you are looking for additional resources for Thanksgiving- or to give your students extra practice showing, not telling, you might want to check these out...

        

Have a great week and I hope you and your students will really love this How to Catch a Turkey Thanksgiving read aloud!