Reminder: November is Family Blogging Month!
Mrs. Yollis' class has been preparing for Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. This year, Thanksgiving will be on November 22, 2012.
We've been making candle turkeys, baking delicious pumpkin bread, decorating the pumpkin bread to look like a turkey, and reading a funny fable about a slow-thinking turkey named Thomas T. Turkey.
The story is about how Thomas T. Turkey gets three invitations for Thanksgiving. He is ignorant about traditional Thanksgiving feasts. He wonders what people eat at Thanksgiving. The invitations use word play, so Thomas has no idea that he will become the main course if he accepts any of the invitations. (Word play is when a writer uses a word or phrase that has two meanings.)
Here is a funny example that we wrote in class. Can you spot the word play?
Dear Thomas T. Turkey,We would love to have you for Thanksgiving dinner this year! Come early, the chef has promised a special recipe just for you! You'll be stuffed at our house! Just wait until you see what we're having! Bring your family along too! You will be the guest of honor, and we'll have a special place for you at the dinner table.
Thomas, Thanksgiving will not be the same without you!
Your comrade,
Bobby Bobcat
Enjoy some photos from our class projects over the last two weeks!
Happy Thanksgiving ~ 2012 on PhotoPeach
What are you doing this Thanksgiving?
Make up an invitation for Thomas T. Turkey. Use word play!
What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
Dear Mrs. Yollis and Thomas T. Turkey,
ReplyDeletePumpkin bread was delicious! I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!
Here is my one invitation signed by three predators:
Dear Thomas T. Turkey,
Happy Thanksgiving! We are wondering if you would have dinner with us. You'll be stuffed at our house! The chef has promised to serve a special feast! Thanksgiving would not be the same without you!
Thomas, EVERYBODY likes to have you on Thanksgiving!
Your friends,
Wolfe Wolf, Bob the Bobcat, and Fred the Fox
Sincerely,
Heather
@ Heather,
DeleteWhat a funny Thomas T. Turkey letter! I like how you signed it Your friends.
What will you be doing with your week off?
Your happy teacher,
Mrs. Y♥llis
@ Mrs. Yollis,
DeleteWe don't have a plan for the week of Thanksgiving, but on Saturday, I got to meet my grandparents. I am going to Chloe's birthday party on the twenty-third. It is right after Thanksgiving! What will you be doing with your week off?
What is your other invitation? Mine is:
Dear Thomas T. Turkey,
Thanksgiving is coming! We are wondering if we can have you over for dinner. The chefs has promised to make it extra special! Thanksgiving would not be the same without you. :-(
Thomas, nobody likes Thanksgiving without you.
Your comrades,
Whitey Wolf, Bobble the Bobcat, and Spot the Cheetah
As you can see, I used some of the same word play more than one time.
My favorite dish is the turkey and the mashed potato with gravy of both of them. What is yours?
Your Thanksgiving-loving student,
Heather
Dear Mrs. Yollis's class,
ReplyDeleteI love the video you put together with all the kids projects, and I also love the cute little turkey candles. I remember that tree in front of the classroom and taking pictures of it everyday.
From,
Amitai
@ Amitai,
DeleteI'm glad that you enjoyed the video slide show! We made the pumpkin bread again and wrote a Thomas T. Turkey letter just like we did when you were in my class.
I so love that tree. Once the weather cools, that tree changes each and every day.
What are you doing to celebrate Thanksgiving?
Your proud former teacher,
Mrs. Y♥llis
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI remember doing Thomas T. Turkey when I was in your third grade class, now I am in 6th grade! Keep up the great blogging, I hope I will get to visit you we get back from break. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Your former student,
Sydney Vizvary
@ Sydney,
DeleteHello! I miss you and your family so much!
Is Ben coming back from college? How does he like it? Are you and Sam at the same school, or is he at the high school now?
Here is a photo from when your brother came back to say hi last year! My Former Students!
What will you be doing for Thanksgiving?
Your proud former teacher,
Mrs. Y♥llis
@ Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteYes, Ben is coming back from college, he comes home on Wednesday. He loves it there. Sam is at the high school, so unfortunately, we are not at the same school. For Thanksgiving, we are going to Palm Springs with family.
What are you doing for Thanksgiving?
Sincerely,
Sydney Vizvary
Dear Mrs Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanks giving day to you all. I really loved all the turkeys you all made, as well as the pumpkin bread talk about yummy!
Here in Australia we don't celebrate Thanksgiving but I sure wish we did as we have a lot to be thankful for.
Is that the main reason why you celebrate Thanksgiving?
Here is my invitation from Thomas T Turkey.
Hello I was wondering if I could travel down under to Australia to help you learn all about Thanksgiving and then help you celebrate.
I promise you will love all the festive food which we will get to eat.
Happy thanksgiving to you all I promise it will be a gaggle of a good time!
Cheers,
AA :)
Dear Mrs. Yollis and Class,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the opportunity to learn along with you.I will now attempt to learn how to add pictures.The visual aspect is definitly going to be a challenge. Bennett, may I call on you as a tutor?
The picture of the stuffed animal collection made me smile,and the turkey project came to life. All your lessons seem to inspire participation with graphics added to the text.
Sincerely,
Grandma G
Dear Mrs Yollis and Class,
ReplyDeleteI was given the fun task of quizzing Bennett on geography,to prepare for his test.My flight back to Charlotte, North Carolina took me over all the landforms you studied,except for the Atlantic Coastal Plains.I could not take my eyes away from the magnificent earth surface.
The erosion and climate in each region was quite visible from the air.
Have any of you taken this flight path?
See you soon,
Grandma Grace
Dear Mrs. Yollis and Students,
ReplyDeleteThis Thanksgiving I will be in Greer, South Carolina,and it will take 1 1/2 hours to drive there.I will be close to the Appalachian Mountains.My son Adam will be hosting the dinner.
I personally wish desserts were served first,pies are my most favorite part of the meal.I usually make sure I leave plenty of room in my stomach.Yes,I eat my vegetables.
One Thanksgiving our kids thought they should not be at a kids table. I had to join four tables together in order to accommodate 30 family members.What is the most number of people squeezed in at your table?
The Thanksgiving tradition enjoyed by all is the cousin football game before the dinner.Even if we are not all together,there will be games played at each separate gathering,the cousins now 22 to 38 years old.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Grandma G
Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteI see you and Mrs. Ranney’s class have both posted about Thanksgiving so I’ll share some of what I sent to them in the comment I leave for you.
Sent also to Mrs. Ranney and class…
We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia but I do know a little about the holiday.
Some British students I have contacted through their blogs have talked about harvest festival celebrations. I know there were traditional days of fasting and days of thanksgiving in England. It seems some of these celebrations were carried to America with them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving
What seems a little strange to me is thanksgiving celebrations didn't seem to take hold here in Australia. I have never been to a harvest festival or thanksgiving celebration.
The fable of Thomas T. Turkey was fun. It seems he avoided accepting offers to Thanksgiving dinner. I wonder if he knew what they meant when they invited him to dinner? Perhaps it was Thomas's wish not to hurt feelings that saved him.
I see in the end Thomas had Thanksgiving alone. I don't think turkey would be on his menu. :)
Turkeys are available here in Australia but we are more likely to see them at Christmas. It has always seemed a little strange to prepare a hot meal for Christmas here in Australia. I can remember Christmas Days when we sat down to a hot meal when the temperature was over 100F outside. I have never seen a white Christmas. We are more likely to go to the beach or for a swim in the river.
In some places in Australia, they celebrate Yulefest, mostly in the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney. It’s a special Christmas-like celebration taking place in the middle of the year. I was at a teaching conference many years back in the Blue Mountains a week before Yulefest. Christmas decorations and a Christmas tree were set up. Because the middle of year is winter in Australia, I have heard they sometimes have snow. While I have never seen a white Christmas in Australia, I might be able to see a white Yulefest.
… and now just for you…
Your post shared a little more about Thomas T. Turkey but I know that is only because you are older. I had wondered whether Thomas knew why he had been invited but your post tells he was ignorant about Thanksgiving feasts. I now know it was his good manners and wish not to hurt feelings that saved his life. This does show good manners can be their own reward.
Your invitation for Thomas T. is as well written as Mrs. Ranney’s class invitation. It makes me wonder if his manners will save him again. Seeing both invitations, will he again decline rather than hurt feelings? Would a chicken be as polite if invited instead?
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. :)
@RossMannell
Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in California.
ReplyDeleteWe also worked on learning about Thanksgiving.
With the help of Mr. Mannell we had been studying the Aboriginal cultures in Australia, the Maori culture in New Zealand and our own Native Americans in the USA. This in turn lead to learning about the Pilgrims and Indians and Thanksgiving this week.
Our plans were to travel to the mountains, beach and grandma and grandpa's house or stay at home. Most were going to eat Turkey but perhaps not Thomas T. We also talked about ham , sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, and of course pumpkin pie.
We watched the brain pop movies and went on a virtual field trip through Scholastic to Plymouth Plantation.
Is is a warm Thanksgiving Day here and it's suppose to be in the 60's again today. It is suppose to turn colder this weekend in the low 50's.
Do you watch parades or play football on Thanksgiving in California?
Do most people cook at home or go out to eat? We are starting to have more restaurants open serving Thanksgiving meals. We will have a big shopping day tomorrow called Black Friday. Mrs. Todd is not planning on going into the crowds but is planning on traveling to see family in Virginia.
Would you eat deer (vension) or fish like the pilgrims did? What do you think the best Thanksgiving feast is?
We think Thomas T. is like Amelia Bedelia. She gets confused with words too.
Your invitation makes it sound inviting to come but if Thomas comes we think he will get stuffed and be on a plate in front of everyone. He would be better off to decline the invitation.
Did Thomas become more familiar with Thanksgiving? Will he have more adventures at Christmas? You could write a whole book about him.
Dear Mrs Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteWow, what a great post.
Hi my name is Hannah, I am from 4KM and 4KJ.
If I was Thomas T Turkey I would think that I was getting invited to have tea with them. When I arive at the persons house I would be expecting somthing to eat. But when they grub me to cook. I would run as fast as I could like the gingar bread men.
Who brang the suppplies to cook?
Who cut up the pumpkin?
From,
your blogging buddie,
Hannah
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteHere is my word play:
You will be the guest of honor! You'll be stuffed at my house!
We will have a special place for you! We will like to have you for dinner!
Sincerely, Hally Halk
Sincerely,
Chloe
Dear Grandma G,
ReplyDeleteWe missed you this Thanksgiving. It would have been so nice to have you and Grandpa G out for the boys' long week off from school. I'm sure there are so many things you could have done with them. Your grandsons always enjoy playing games and cards, drawing and investigating outside with you. Hopefully, you can make it here for Christmas (fingers' crossed).
Our Thanksgiving was a busy one as well. We had 13 family members over. It was loud and cheery. You'll be happy to know that the football tradition continues. After eating dinner, Tucker Sr. took all the children outside to play a rousing game of football. They could not have been more excited to run around and compete, and I could not have been happier either. The boys released some of their pent-up energies while running outside. Good times all around. Hope to see you soon!
Warmly,
Catherine
(Bennett's mom)