Link Time: Turkeys, Turkeys, and More Turkeys

One student's departure, a new student's arrival, meetings galore and Open House make for a busy week... and hey, it's only Wednesday!

We're getting *awfully* close to Thanksgiving however, so just in case you aren't completely turkeyed-out yet, here are some links that will push you dangerously close to the gobble-gobble-gobble ledge.

Obviously I'm already over it.

Sweetly Edible Turkeys:

~Keebler Fudge Striped Turkeys by Cakespy at Serious Eats

~Oreo Turkey Cookies at Make and Takes

~Rice Krispie Turkeys at Alpha Mom

~... and thanks to D., a.k.a. "The Candy Corn Fairy," our family will be making these turkey cookies this weekend

Turkey Centerpieces:

~An updated version of the paper bag turkey at WomansDay.com:

~eHow's paper turkey (this one includes the ever-popular t.p. roll for the body!)

~...and a cute turkey made from a styrofoam egg over at All Kids Network...

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Here's my favorite Thanksgiving song, "I'm Gonna Eat on Thanksgiving Day" by Laurie Berkner.

Giveaway Winner: Katie from Katie's Literature Lounge!

Congratulations Katie from Katie's Literature Lounge!  You're the winner of my 600th blog post giveaway- shoot me an email with your mailing address so that I can get your goodies in the mail to you a.s.a.p!

And thanks to **you**, Dear Readers, new and old friends, for stopping by, following, and tweaking my ideas to work for you and your students.  You make BlogLand a wonderful place!

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Quick teacher's tip:

Use black lettering as shadows when you want to make words in a display or bulletin board assemblage *POP*:

I cut two sets of  matching letters using our die cut press at school out of black and tan construction paper.  Carefully placing the black letters down first, I then off-set the tan letters on top of them, and glued them down to the back of a sentence strip.  Not liking the blue line that was peeking out from between the letters, I used a white-out pen to erase it... the black "shadow" letters really make the words stand out, don't they?

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I'm working on a little pre-Christmas giveaway as well, so stay tuned!

Giveaway Teaser

A teacher-themed hanging basket (which certainly *won't* be empty!), a wreath form and kindergarten-print fabric...



I'm thinking a ~finished wreath~, gift basket of teacher goodies and possibly a bitty banner will be ready for tomorrow's drawing!

Which means you still have time to enter (remember, becoming a follower of my blog puts your name in the hat twice!) and to send your friends over to leave a comment on the Terrific Textured Turkeys post.  Dear Daughter will draw a name on Monday and I'll contact the winner shortly after.

If you don't have a blog but would still like a chance to win, just leave your e-mail address in your comment at the end of the textured turkey post!

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Then again, teasing isn't nice, is it?  And certainly nothing we encourage in kindergarten...

So here you go:







You'll win the wreath and the hanging basket containing a bitty banner, composition-style memo pads, a mini calculator, and a package of "Winter in Narnia" bulletin board trimmer!  Thank you Dear Readers- you're awesome!

Thank You Veterans

... and gratitude to you, Dear Husband, as you spend this day so far away.

We miss and love you.  Stay safe.

Terrific Texture Turkeys; Giveaway Time!

Parents donated rice, fabric, faux fur, sunflower seeds, aluminum foil, cotton balls and dry pasta so that the Super Stars could add texture to their colored turkey feathers!

We painted wet glue onto the colored tag board and added bumpy, smooth, fluffy, bristley, crunchy and pokey details:

We used a hole punch at the back of each turkey's head, ran a pipe cleaner through the holes and then tied them through a small hole made into the center of each tag board sheet (click here for directions on how to make the turkey body):

Gobble gobble gobble!

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It's easy to make a turkey-riffic display for Veterans Day too:

I found a cute turkey stamp, blew it up using an overhead projector, and traced and colored it on plain white paper.  I used a hand-shaped die cut to make red, white, and blue paper "feathers" for the turkey, but it would be fun for students to trace their hands instead.  Laminate the turkey for future use, and then add a small flag, securing it with clear tape.  

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*This* is my 600th blog post! 

 I'll be hosting a giveaway later this week, and all you have to do to be entered is comment on THIS post!  Each comment will count as one entry, but if you are (or *become*) a follower of my blog, your name will be tossed into the hat one more time!

November is for the Birds...Turkeys!

After the ghosts, witches and jack-o-lanterns make their way to my Super Stars' homes for Halloween, the room looks a bit bare.  I'm always thankful that my students enjoy taking ownership of their surroundings, decorating the room to follow our monthly or seasonal themes, but November is always one for the birds... turkeys!

From the traditional construction paper variety:



...to reminders of sight words (color words in this case):



...to a work in progress:  an open-bodied turkey form that will be fastened to the front of a textural background later this week (students have colored a turkey feather outline on heavier cardstock and will be gluing various materials representing several different textures onto it before adding the construction paper body):



He looks pretty bare without his insides and his tail feathers, but I'll photograph the finished project by this weekend!

If you'd like to make an open-bodied turkey so that the background art can show through, here's what you'll need (and NO, this project is NOT the friendliest for kindergartners, so have a parent volunteer, classroom aide, or upper-grade buddy class standing by to help you and your students assemble the body if it's one that you think will work with fancy tail feather art) :

Light brown construction paper cut:

2 pieces 2 inches by 18 inches
2 pieces 2 inches by 15 and 1/2 inches
2 pieces 2 inches by 13 and 1/2 inches
1 piece 2 inches by 9 inches

Dark brown construction paper cut:

1 piece 4 inches by 6 inches (head), folded in half

Orange construction paper cut:

1 inch by 6 inches, folded accordion-style (legs)

Small triangles cut for the beak

Black construction paper cut:

2 inch by 2 inch squares from which students may cut triangles for the feet

Eyes can be drawn onto the face, but the google eyes are a bit more fun!

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Here's the head, (dark brown construction paper) folded in half and stapled then *smooshed* so that the stapled end is in the back (eyes and beak will be glued onto the flat front):



See the *smoosh?*



Arrange the pieces in the following order: (1) 2X18, (1) 2X15, (1) 2X13, (1) 2X9, (1) 2X13, (1) 2X15, and (1) 2X18.   Make sure all the ends meet/match up on one end, and staple it (I'm holding the stapled end in the photo):




Then match up all of the opposite ends so they meet up. Staple. There's the turkey body!



Have students accordion-fold the legs and glue black triangles on for the feet. Add google eyes and beak to the head piece and slide over the top of one end of the turkey's body.



I can't wait to see how our gobblers look with their textured tail feathers!

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(What will all of these turkeys eat?  How about some corn?)

In Case You Wondered...

...*yes*... I do live with a teenage witch, Optimus Prime Jr., and a furry chicken:




(...when it's Halloween!)

I hope you had a spooktacular and boo-riffic time trick or treating!