Verse 2:  Mashed po-ta-toes.  Mashed po-ta-toes. (Repeat as in verse 1)
 Verse 3:  Pie and ice-cream.
 Verse 4:  Home-made bis-cuits
 Verse 5:  Tur-key dress-ing 

Song for Thanksgiving
(tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

Thank you, thank you, very much
For everything that I can touch.
Thanks a lot for nature's food.
And for when I'm feeling good.
Thank you, thank you very much.
For moms and dads and friends and such.

Thank You
 (tune: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Thank you, thank you
Let's all sing.
Thank you, thank you
For everything.

Thanks for the flowers,
Thanks for the trees,
Thanks for the sun
That shines on me.

Thank you, thank you
Let's all sing.
Thank you, thank you
For everything.

The Turkey Ran Away
(tune: Farmer in the Dell)

 The turkey ran away
Before Thanksgiving Day
He said,"They'll make a roast of me
If I decide to stay!"

The pumpkin ran away
Before Thanksgiving Day
He said, "They'll make a pie of me
If I decide to stay!"

The cranberry ran away
Before Thanksgiving Day
He said, "They'll make a sauce of me
If I decide to stay!"

 Extension idea: Make stick puppets of a turkey, pumpkin and cranberry.  Student use stick puppets as they sing the song.

Thanksgiving Chant

Turkey and dressing;
Potatoes piled high;
Gravy and salad,
And three kinds of pie;
Who could be grumpy
Or troublesome when
Thanksgiving dinner
Is ready again?

Turkey Dinner
(tune: Frere Jaques)

Turkey Dinner, Turkey Dinner
Gather round, gather round
Who will eat the drumstick
Yummy, yummy drumstick
All sit down, all sit down

Cornbread muffins, Chestnut stuffing
Puddin' pie, one foot high
All of us were thinner
Until we came to dinner
Me-o-my, me-o-my

Thank You,Thank You,
This We Say
(tune: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Thank you for the earth and sky.
(Form circle with fingertips; then point to sky)
Thank you for the bids that fly.
(Flap arms)
Thank you for the food we grow.
(Cup hands together; then slide one arm upward as if to grow)
Thank you for the streams that flow
(Flutter fingers as hands move to side)
Thanks you, thank you; this we say:
(Point to lips.)
Thanks for all we have today!
(Spread arms out wide.)

The First Thanksgiving
by Jean George

The Pilgrim's First Thanksgiving
by Ann McGovern

Thanksgiving Day
by Gail Gibbons

Thanksgiving Day
by Ann Rockwell

Arthur's Thanksgiving
by Marc Brown

Three Young Pilgrims
by Cheryl Harness

Samuel Eaton's Day : A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy
by Kate Waters

Sarah Morton's Day : A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl
by Kate Waters

Tapenum's Day : A Wampanoag Indian Boy in Pilgrim Times
by Kate Waters

On the Mayflower : Voyage of the Ship's Apprentice & A Passenger Girl
by Kate Waters

Materials: Thanksgiving book, Thanksgiving pictures, velcro, binder and clear inserts. Also laminating supplies.

Find a cute Thanksgiving book that you don't mind tearing out the pages. Buy a binder (any size) and a package of clear insert pages. On the top of the inserts, put a strip of velcro. Tear out the pages of the book and put them in the inserts. Using key words, laminate pictures and velcro them to the top of the corresponding page.

As you read the story, have the kids take the pictures off the page and put them on a flannel board. After the story is over, you can retell the story using only the pictures. Use the pictures as vocabulary work, make them into a memory game, or go-fish. Let children try to sequence the pictures to make the story. Make them into a Bingo board.

Read Oh, What a Thanksgiving by Steven Kroll
Have students share things/people they're thankful for. Using interactive writing technique, list responses.  Students complete a layered booklet, titled
I am Thankful For
Students illustrate each layer:
my family
my friends
my home
my food

Graphing
Favorite Thanksgiving Foods

This lesson deals mainly with graphing for math, and actually starts the day before with the teacher asking students what their favorite Thanksgiving foods are.
There is a considerable amount of prep time. The teacher has to make a turkey with a big body and feathers with two small feet. The body is enlarged so all of the students' pictures can fit on the body.

The next day (the day of the lesson), the teacher builds on this by first reviewing what we talked about the previous day.
The children are handed out foods that were talked about the previous day as Thanksgiving Day foods (turkey, corn, pumpkin pie, cookies, mashed potatoes and gravy). The students are first told of the choices they have and they vote for their favorite food.
The teacher then hands out a picture of each food to whomever raised their hand as it being their favorite (the pictures are drawn by the teacher and dashes are made along it so they have to cut it out and paste it onto a piece of construction paper). The students then cut out their picture along the dotted lines, and then paste it onto a piece of construction paper.
From there the students are then asked who has what foods and they place them on the turkey graph which was created by the teacher and the class finds out which was the favorite food in the class.
Questions you might ask to culminate activity include:
What can we tell by looking at our graph?
What food was the most favorite?
What food was 2nd, 3rd, and 4th or 5th?
Have students verify the results by counting all of the foods.

Thanksgiving Shopping

The students will brainstorm about their favorite foods to eat during the Thanksgiving meal. A list will be made on the board.

Materials: Grocery Circulars (from many different stores)
Paper and pencils
play money
calculators

The children look through the circulars to find out how much the food on their shopping list will cost. They will record each price next to the food item.As an enrichment activity, students can will add the prices up using a calculator and "play store" to but their groceries.

Extension: The students will decide which foods appeared most often on everyone's list. Graph which foods were most popular.

Thanksgiving Math Fun

Graphing:  Where we will be for Thanksgiving (home or away)?
Sorting:  Sort foods for Thanksgiving Dinner
Patterning:  Make a pattern of turkey feathers
Counting:  Count candy corn for a patterned book (One candy corn, two candy corns, etc.)

Number Recognition

Color and cut out 10 turkey patterns.
Program each turkey with a different number on it's tummy.
Then cut out many construction paper feathers.  Place the turkeys and the feathers in a storage box.  A child will choose a turkey, read the number and arrange the corresponding number of feathers behind the body.
This could also be done in a large group activity where students take turns choosing a turkey and another student supplies the right number of feathers as the class counts in unison.

ABC Center

Discuss how colonial children used a horn book to learn/practice reading letters.  Students will use their version of a horn book to practice writing the alphabet.

Turkey Feather Match

Draw a turkey on a piece of sturdy paper. Cut several feathers out of various colors of construction paper. Program each turkey shape with a capital letter. Program several of the feathers with its matching lowercase letter. Make a turkey for each letter you want to review. Have your children find all the lowercase letter feathers that match the capital letter on the turkey.

Hand Painted Turkeys

Make hand-painted turkeys, by painting the child's hand.   Paint the palm and thumb brown, and the each finger a different color for feathers.   Press the painted hand to white paper.  After the paint dries, children can add feet, feathers, and waddles. Use these turkeys to create a class big book to the song "One little, two little, three little turkeys...etc."

Fine-Feathered Turkeys  
To make a turkey, cut a circle from brown card stock or poster board. Glue a wooden "ice cream spoon" to the circle for a turkey head. Paint each of six wooden clothespins a different color. When the paint is dry, clip the clothespins onto the turkey body to resemble feathers. Tape two craft sticks to the back of the turkey to represent legs. Add small wiggle eyes, a wattle, and a yellow beak to complete the turkeys.

Thanksgiving
Votive Candleholder

What You Need

• Baby food jar
• Thanksgiving or Fall stickers
• White glue, like Elmer's
• Paintbrush
• Glitter, optional
• Raffia or ribbon

How To Make It

1. Apply the stickers around the jar. Press firmly all around the stickers.
2. Using a paintbrush, completely cover the jar sides from right below the jar threads to the bottom of the sides.
3. Sprinkle with glitter if desired. Let dry.
4. Tie raffia or ribbon around the jar threads.
5. Insert a votive candle and display as part of a Thanksgiving center piece.
6. Make one for each guest and use as a place setting. Your guests could take home the candle holders as a gift.
7. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Card

Have the children dip their hands in the paint and place the hand prints on the right and left side of the construction paper. Let dry and then glue this poem in the middle. You could also include a picture of the child.

Dear Mommy and Daddy,
These aren't just
turkeys
As anyone can see,
I made them with my hands,
Which are a part of me,

This comes to you with lots of love,
Especially to say,
I hope you have a very Happy
Thanksgiving Day!
   Love,

Turkey Treats

1 vanilla wafer
1 Rollo candy, (unwrapped)
5 candy corn pieces
1 malted milk ball
1 red hot candy
chocolate frosting

Spread a layer of frosting on the top of the vanilla wafer.
Place a Rollo in the frosting   on the middle to bottom area of the cookie.  Then turn the cookie on its side.
Arrange the candy corn (feathers) in a semi-circle around the Rollo.
Use a bit of frosting to attach the malted milk ball to the Rollo (for the head), and the red hot to the malted milk ball (for the wattle).

Thanksgiving
Class Book

Use a binder or folder. Include both lined and plain paper. Include an instruction sheet for parents. Ask the parents to spend a few minutes listing what their family is thankful for. Send this home each night with one child. Share what the child and his/her family added to the book the next day at circle time. Because this can only be sent with one child at a time you will need to start at the end of October or first of November.

Maple-Nut-Berry Popcorn Balls
(Note: This recipe was written with young children in mind.
The amounts are not exact and results may vary.
Adult supervision is recommended)

Here's what you need:
Walnuts
Raspberries or blueberries
Maple syrup
Popped corn
Plate, large bowl, wooden spoon

Put enough popcorn to feed your guests into the big bowl. Add some chopped walnuts and the berries. Add in some melted butter. Stir the mixture with the wooden spoon. Pour maple syrup over the warm popcorn. Stir until all the corn, nuts and berries are coated. Shape the mixture into balls and place on a plate. Put the balls into the refrigerator until the syrup hardens. Eat and enjoy.

Thanksgiving Cookbook

Take the children aside one by one and ask them, "What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?"  Then ask them "How do you make that?"  Write down word for word their responses.   You may find it helpful to video tape the responses so you can get it all down.   Then compile all of the responses in your classroom recipe book.  You may make copies for the parents to take home or make one copy so that the parents may enjoy it.   If you do the video, you may want to just show the video at a Thanksgiving party for the parents.

Thanksgiving Day at Alphabet Soup

Thanksgiving Games

Mrs. Williamson's Pilgrim Unit

Billy Bear's Thanksgiving

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Sarah Morton's Day,
Samuel Eaton's Day,
and Tapenum's Day