Gobble, Gobble, Wild Turkey Lesson Plan

What We Are Learning

animal behavior

prefer, stem, leaf, flesh, skin, seeds

flock, hatch, tom, wattle, wings

gross motor skills

phonological awareness/beginning sounds

Kick off your lesson by watching “Turkey Time”! Not only will children see these fi ne feathered friends in action, but you’ll get to preview some vocabulary from the issue. Then, after giving children a brief break to strut their wiggles out, sit back down and read the issue together. background knowledge

Science: Explore Feathers

Materials: turkey feathers or other natural feathers, magnifying glasses, trays, markers, white paper

This feather exploration will allow children to look closely and record their observations by drawing.
Set out feathers in the center of a table. Put. individual trays at seats around the table, each with a magnifying glass, markers, and a piece of paper for drawing.
Invite children to select a feather to explore. Ask questions: “What does it feel like?” “Where do you think this comes from?” “What do you notice when you look with just your eyes?” “What do you notice when you look through the magnifying glass?” Write down their words, and encourage them to draw what they see.
Display feathers along with children’s words and drawings. science observation

Materials: none

This gross motor activity combines movement with vocabulary.
Find a wide-open space. Explain that during Turkey Tag, everyone will be an insect or a turkey. Have children practice two ways of moving: Insects hop and turkeys trot. Model doing these motions safely.
Choose a child to be the first “turkey.” The turkey is the tagger and runs, saying “Gobble, gobble.” All other children are insects. They must hop from one side of the space to the other. If they get tagged, they turn into a turkey and join the gobblers until there is a whole flock of turkeys!
Reinforce that it’s OK to get tagged. It’s fun because you get to join the flock! gross motor