Comprehension | Math | Organization | Phonics | Science | Sight Words | Writing
Turkey Trot Freebie Appetizer and Main Dish Idea
Thanksgiving is almost here! I thought it would be fun to offer you a little Thanksgiving feast today! We’ll start off with an appetizer freebie! For the main dish, I have a fun sight word game that you can play at the small group table. Finally, if you’re hungry for more, I’ve shared some additional resources that I think you will love to use when you return from Thanksgiving break. Let’s get started!
For an appetizer, I have an interactive and engaging Thanksgiving passage to share with you! It comes from my Fall Text Evidence Reading Passages pack! My students LOVE these passages and they are a popular staple in our small reading groups. The ability to go back and confirm answers by finding evidence within the text is SO important to our students’ reading habits and behaviors.Â
Grab a Thanksgiving reading passage for free by clicking HERE.
The passages were designed for first and second grade. However, 3rd and 4th-grade teachers have found these passages to be AWESOME warm-ups, morning work, and independent practice for struggling and at-risk readers! Parents of all grades love them because the text is short, but the comprehension packs a powerful punch! They are great for review and keep kids cycling through all of the various reading strategies and skills they need.  (Great for intervention specialists, too!) Each topic contains a fiction and informational passage, so students can make connections across the texts.
Did you know my Fall Text Evidence Passages pack includes passages that will take you all the way up until winter break?
 If you like this freebie, you may want to check out my Winter, Spring, and Summer Editions for even more text evidence passages!
Ready for the Main Dish?! Here’s a little game we enjoyed playing last week to practice our 2nd quarter sight words.
Okay I have to be honest with you.
This is not a game.
It’s not even CLOSE to being a game.
I.don’t.even.know.why.they.loved.this.so.much.
But they did.
Because they are seven.
And that’s why I like teaching first grade.
I can get away with being “cool” by making up a game that’s not really a game.
Here’s how we “played.”
I gave each student 6 cubes of the same color. I told them that when I said, “GO!” they would have TEN seconds to put FIVE of their cubes on top of any cards they would like.
Since I knew this activity would obviously go towards to the top of my “Top 10 Ridiculously Lame Activities I’ve Made Up for My Kids That They Loved” list, I made my voice sound super dramatic.
(Enter: Dramatic Teacher Voice) “On your marks…..get set….get ready….get really ready….GO!”
The kids scrambled around the table to place their cubes on the cards of their choice. Then, I told the students to switch their remaining cube with a friend at the table. Â Whatever color they were holding now, those were the cards they had to collect off the table and read aloud!
Yep. That was it. End of “game.” We get pretty wild in first grade, lemme tell you. 😉
We repeated this little activity about three times, and it only took us around 3-4 minutes of total playing time. Surprisingly, they had a blast and it is now one of our little “Friday small group games” that we play when we need a break from routine! If you try it out, let me know if your kiddos are as easy to entertain as mine are!
If you’re looking for some sight word passages to coordinate with your game, you can find a free Sight Word Fluency Passage in the preview file of my Sight Word Fluency Passages for Reading Intervention pack! These are so effective and work perfectly as a small group resource after you play the sight word game above!
For me, November means that my students and my classroom is in FULL SWING. We deeply know our routines and expectations and *INTERVENTIONS* are fully being implemented. If you’re looking for reading intervention packs, you might want to check out my store to find what you need to get your kiddos’ on track. Â Below, are some of my reading intervention binders that will make a BIG difference in your small group and intervention routine! Click the photos below to check out the resources in my store.
 Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you enjoy your appetizer freebie and main idea sight word game! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family!
That recipe looks amazing, I absolutely love French toast! Your text evidence passages are amazing!!
That cube game is a super cute idea!! I have to remember it when I'm back in the classroom!
Isn't it so funny how the little things can be total favorites? Sometimes we practice adding by simply rolling dice and making up numbers and the students think it's the best thing ever!
Thank you for the cube game idea. I will try it as a last day of school game.
I love it and cannot wait to try it with my kindergartener kiddos.
My students loved this cube game. Any other ideas for tactile/ kinesthetic ways to practice sight words or spelling words?
I think you’ll love this word work blog post I wrote here: http://www.missdecarbo.com/wordworkideas/
I think this idea is awesome and want to try it, but how would you organize playing with a class of 20 – 25 students? Thank you for your creative ideas.
Hello! 🙂 We play this game in a small group of 5-6 students.