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. (Check out the How to Catch a Snowman blog post here!)
There are several skills you could touch on with this How to Catch a Turkey Thanksgiving read aloud…
1. Word Choice (Vocabulary:
The book is written in rhyme. The author’s choice of writing in rhyme really sets the upbeat, fun mood for the 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 a great mentor text for teaching students about “showing, not telling” in this story. A few examples that really jumped out to me were when the turkey runs through the cafeteria, library, and classroom. Also, when the turkey appears on stage and is very nervous.
Be sure to point out the 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.
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 the 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)
