Thanksgiving Math Read-A-Loud

Counting books are a quick fun way to bring reading and math together.  This month’s Math Read-A-Loud is a quick read and can be done when you have a few spare minutes before your next activity.  Five Silly Turkeys counts down from five as the turkeys do silly things that make them disappear from the scene.  You can have the students count down along a Number Path as each turkey leaves the scene.  Or as you read the book, have the kids show the number of turkeys using the fingers on one hand.  The book tells the kids how many turkeys are left, as will the number of fingers they still have up on their hand, but have conversations as you go through the book about how many turkeys are gone from the original group.  If they have their fingers up on one hand, the fingers that are “down” on that hand show how many turkeys are gone.

Additional Activities:

• Build paper turkeys…have each child roll three dice, the sum of which determines how many paper feathers to add to their turkeys.
• Use these Turkey Subitizing Cards and have the kids find a card that shows how many turkeys are left in each scene.
• Build math into snack time!  Have the kids build these cute Cupcake Turkeys by having them count out the number of feathers, eyes, nose, and feet candies they will need for their cupcake (pre-ice them for the kiddos).
• Create paper turkeys and write a number on the breast of the turkey.  Then each feather is a fact that equals that amount.  For example, the 7 turkey would have feathers with 0+7, 1+6, 2+5, and 3+4 written on them.  For younger kiddos, have them stamp or attach dot stickers in different arrangements on each feather that total the number on the turkey.  Here is an example from Crazy for First Grade: