Easy Thanksgiving Writing Activity for Kids
Every year, I try to add some holiday fun into our writing units! Adding in a Thanksgiving writing activity is a great way to get kids excited about the holidays and engaged in the writing process!
Typically, students are not big fans of writing which means it’s super important to get them excited right away with an engaging prompt.
Thanksgiving Writing Activity Prompt
The Thanksgiving writing activity we use starts off with a letter to the students that says…
Thanksgiving is coming! You are excited for a day of family and delicious food, but there is just one problem… You are the turkey! It is up to you to convince the farmer to change up the menu for Thanksgiving.
Write a letter to a farmer explaining your opinion on which Thanksgiving dinner should be served!
This turkey writing prompt is one of my all-time favorites because my students get so creative with this assignment. I watched my class erupt in giggles as I told everyone that they will be writing a story from the perspective of a Thanksgiving turkey. After we stopped laughing we were coming up with such great ideas to convince the farmer to change the Thanksgiving menu.
This turkey prompt is perfect for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders.
It is such a fun project and it is incredibly low prep. In order to make it happen in your classroom all you need to do is print the activity then pass it out! Easy peasy!
Teaching the Thanksgiving Writing Activity
To get started, I passed copies of the writing prompt to every student (this can also be uploaded for virtual lessons). Once everyone had their copy, I read the prompt aloud and had my students follow along. After we had read it we went over the “Questions to Think About” section on the prompt. This is when we brainstormed different ideas for what could be served instead.
You bet I picked ice cream as my example! Who wouldn’t want ice cream for dinner?!
After brainstorming, we used the outline section to organize our ideas.
You can choose the outline to fit your students’ age group. This section can be adapted to older students by selecting different versions.
After everyone finished their outline we reviewed how to structure a letter. This is a fantastic way to cover those 2nd-grade letter writing standards!
After we reviewed that, my class started writing the actual letter. This is a great time to walk around and point out all of the amazing work you are seeing.
For example, you can say things like, “I like the way Jorge remembered to use a comma when writing the date in his letter.”
This acts as a good reminder for other students too!
Teacher Tip: As students start to finish, I like to have them share their letters with their classmates. We’ve practiced this before and students know to give 3 stars and a wish.
For example, “I like that you remembered your spaces and punctuation. I also liked that you used the vocabulary word gobble! I wish you would have told me more about the toppings on the pizza!”
This is a great way to get kids talking about writing and really evaluating how they are doing!
Opinion Writing Action Step
If you want a copy of the Thanksgiving Opinion Writing Activity we used, you can grab it in the Sprinkle Topped Shop OR my TeachersPayTeachers Shop.
BONUS: As a little thank you for reading the blog, you can use the code:THANKYOU10 to get 10% off at The Sprinkle Topped Shop!
How do you review the writing process with your students? I would love to hear how your students get creative with this activity. Comment below!