A Late Thanksgiving Idea and a Freebie

Happy Friday After Thanksgiving!

So what did you do today?  Eat leftovers, go shopping, put up Christmas decorations?  It is very cold and blustery here in southern Michigan.  And even though I don't want to admit it, I think I see some snow flurries outside.  Brrrrrr.....

I wanted to share something I did during my small group time with my students last week.  I didn't have my pictures downloaded until now to be able to share.

Who knew that students would love feathers so much?  I found the book, "When You Meet a Turkey" on Mrs. Meacham's Classroom Snapshot page.  The book talks about tickling a turkey and on the last page the turkey runs away.  I made a book for each student (or more accurately, my wonderful teacher's aide did).

Then when it came time for me to meet with my small groups, I called one group over at a time. I allowed each student to pick out a feather from a large box of  feathers (I have no idea how the box got into my classroom).  Then I took a piece of yarn and taped one side to the feather and the other side to the inside of the book.  Next, the students and I read the book together and the students used their feathers to point to the words in the book and to "tickle" their turkey.  They loved using the feathers to track print.  Now, some of my students were able to read the book, others could read a few of the words and still others were able to read it because of the repetitive text.  But it was exciting to see all of my students enjoying reading the book.  (Many of my students said, "Mrs. Lattea, can I really take the feather home?"  I love it when I can tell my students, "Yes, you can." and make them smile.)

Here is a picture of one of my students using his feather:

I have also decided to link up with Teaching Blog Addict for their freebie Friday:

My Freebie is a game that my students love to play.  We call it our hidden picture game.  The students play it during center time.  They put 8 to 10 pictures up on the magnetic board or felt board.  Then one student takes down a picture while the other students hide their eyes.  The other students take turns guessing what picture is gone.  The students who guesses correctly gets to hide a picture the next time.
Here is a link to my freebie:

Click here to visit my TPT store and download this game for free.

Enjoy your weekend!