Get ready for a full day of fun activities for the book Turkey Trouble! We’ve put together engaging reading, writing, math, and science activities that pair perfectly with the story. Plus, we’ve included a turkey craft and some creative snack ideas that your kinders will gobble up!
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Summary of the Book Turkey Trouble
Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano is a hilarious Thanksgiving tale about a clever turkey determined to avoid being the main course at dinner. As Thanksgiving approaches, Turkey hatches a plan to disguise himself as different animals on the farm. While his costumes are creative and funny, they don’t quite fool everyone, leading to a surprising and delightful twist at the end, when Turkey shows up in his best costume delivering pizza to the farmer’s family. Everyone is happy and nobody gets eaten. Lee Harper’s illustrations bring Turkey’s escapades to life with vibrant, expressive artwork that captures every silly costume and the reactions of the farm animals. The illustrations are full of humor and charm, making this book a visual treat that keeps kids giggling from start to finish!
Reading Activities for the Book Turkey Trouble
Reading to young children should be an enjoyable and interactive experience. To make the most of it, consider reading the story multiple times over a few days. Always begin with a brief introduction to build excitement. During the reading, pause occasionally to ask questions, to deepen comprehension. Encourage students to think carefully and share their thoughts with a partner.
Comprehension Questions for the Book Turkey Trouble
Before reading the book to your class, take some time to read it yourself first. As you go through it, look for those perfect spots to pause and ask good comprehension questions. Write those questions down on sticky notes and tuck them right into the book. Don’t forget to include text-dependent questions during your read-alouds. They’re a powerful tool for boosting comprehension and fostering meaningful book discussions. These questions guide students to focus on the text, encouraging them to listen carefully and think critically about what they hear.
Here are some examples of text dependent questions:
- What kind of trouble does Turkey have?
- Why is Turkey disguising himself like other farm animals?
- Which costume did you like the best?
- Why was Turkey’s last disguise his best?
For more ideas on using text-dependent questions and making your read-alouds more engaging, take a look at 3 Steps to Create Meaningful Experiences Through Read Aloud. Short on time to write your own questions? We’ve created an amazing interactive Read Aloud resource for Turkey Trouble that can save you time and boost student engagement! Read on to see how it can transform your read-aloud experience!
Interactive Read Aloud for the Book Turkey Trouble
Bring your read-aloud to life with this engaging 3-day Interactive Read Aloud for Turkey Trouble.
This resource comes complete with:
- 3 days of detailed lesson plans with book introductions, text dependent questions, vocabulary, and common core standards
- 14 differentiated writing pages
- Story elements anchor charts
- Cute and fun craft to decorate your classroom or send home to showcase student work
This resource aligns with the science of reading. It is research based, easy to implement and aligned with the common core standards.
Writing Activities for the Book Turkey Trouble
After reading and discussing Turkey Trouble, have your students write about the story. Model the process and provide word banks to support them. This is also a perfect time to incorporate Interactive Writing!
Here are some writing prompts you can use:
- What is your favorite part of the story?
- What is your favorite Turkey Costume?
- What is your opinion of the book and why?
Here are some FREE writing templates for you to use.
Science Activities for the Book Turkey Trouble
Here’s a fun way to add a little science to your Turkey Trouble themed day! Share this fun and educational video from SciShow Kids where Jessi and Squeaks learn some amazing turkey facts. Your students will love learning about everything from the sounds turkeys make to some surprising details about their poop—because let’s face it, what child wouldn’t be fascinated by that?
After the video, create a cute “Turkey Facts” bulletin board. Have your students share their favorite facts, write them down, and add them to the board with some cute turkey-themed decorations. It’s a great way to combine science, writing, and creativity in one engaging activity!
Fun Facts About Turkeys! | Fall Science | Holiday Science | SciShow Kids
This video is only 3:43 minutes long. SciShow Kids make great videos that are perfect for kindergarten.
Math Activities for the Book Turkey Trouble
These two Thanksgiving Math Games are perfect for your Turkey Trouble theme. Spin and Build a Turkey helps students practice number sense as they create their own turkeys, while Guess My Number Turkey Squeeze is a fun partner game where students compare numbers to figure out their partner’s secret number. Both games are super engaging and keep your little learners having fun while building important math skills!
Cute and Easy Crafts for the Book Turkey Trouble
Here are two simple and fun crafts your kids will love! The turkey template is included in our Interactive Read Aloud for Turkey Trouble, while the turkey puppet can be found in our blog post: Thanksgiving Activities for Kindergarten: Fun and Easy Activities.
Disguise a Turkey
The Disguise a Turkey activity is a favorite Thanksgiving tradition and a great way to bring Turkey Trouble to life! The idea is for students to create a clever disguise for a turkey, so it won’t get caught for Thanksgiving dinner. From superheroes to farm animals, there are so many possibilities.
Simply provide your children with a turkey template and let their imaginations run wild as they dress it up in a clever disguise. This activity works great as an in-class art project or as an enjoyable take-home assignment to involve families. Either way your students will have fun!
Turkey Puppet
This activity is simple, fun, and a great way to practice fine motor skills while making an adorable turkey puppet! All you need is construction paper, a brown paper bag, scissors and glue.
Here’s how to make the turkey puppet.
- Preparation (Teacher or Parent): The size of the shapes will depend on the size of your brown paper bags.
- Cut colorful rectangles out of construction paper for the feathers.
- Cut white and black squares for the eyes.
- Cut orange squares for the beaks.
- Cut a red rectangle for the wattle.
- Student Steps:
- Students snip off the corners of the rectangles to round them into feather shapes.
- For the eyes and wattle, they can snip the corners to round them as well.
- Students cut the orange square into a triangle for the beak. (If this is tricky, you can pre-cut the beaks for them.)
- Assembly:
- Students glue the feathers onto the back of the brown paper bag, creating the turkey’s tail.
- Students glue the eyes, beak, and wattle onto the front of the bag. Make sure the beak is glued to the flap of the bag so the puppet’s “mouth” can open and close!
Easy Snack for the Book Turkey Trouble
A pizza party would be a perfect fit for your Turkey Trouble day! But if you’d prefer a hands-on snack activity, here’s a fun and easy option your students love.
Popcorn Turkey Snack
What You Need:
- Food service gloves
- Popcorn
- Rainbow-colored goldfish crackers
- Sharpies
Steps:
- Use the Sharpie to draw a turkey face (eyes, beak, and waddle) on the thumb of the glove.
- Fill each finger of the glove with rainbow goldfish.
- Fill the rest of the glove with popcorn.
- Secure the glove closed at the bottom with a twist tie. Enjoy!
Turkey Trouble Read Aloud by Storyline Online
At some point you are going to have to show your students the Storyline Online reading of Turkey Trouble. I suggest during their snack time.
More Fun Friday Activities
We hope you enjoy these activities for the book Turkey Trouble. We absolutely love using picture books—wonderful, captivating picture books—to create meaningful learning experiences for children. If you’re looking to plan a full day of fun centered around a fantastic story, explore some of our other Fun Friday book ideas!
Let us know if you use any of these fun resources with your kids. We love seeing pictures and hearing about how other classes enjoy these activities.
