MaiStoryBook Library

MaiStoryBook: How to Catch a Turkey + *My Turkey Trap* Craft

by MaiStoryBook

Introducing the a STEAM-packed Thanksgiving read full of turkey trouble and fun~ featured in the MaiStoryBook Library Collection:

“How to Catch a Turkey” by Adam Wallace & Andy Elkerton

*~Click here to purchase your own copy of “How to Catch a Turkey” to start on your own reading adventure! (This is an affiliate link~ a small percentage of your purchase will go to MaiStoryBook to help create Reading Resources for your littles)

Book Synopsis/ Review

It’s the day of the Thanksgiving Play, but the star of the play is running loose around the school! Will the students be able to catch the turkey before curtain call? Follow along as they race through the library maze, trek through the cafeteria, and bombard the classrooms trying to track the turkey down. With a delightful twist at the ending that ensures *no turkeys were harmed*, the Thanksgiving Play may just be saved after all!

This book combines STEAM concepts and action-packed, silly illustrations to create a memorable Thanksgiving read aloud. Perfect for little learners age 4 and up, readers will giggle and guffaw over the fun illustrations, and the rhyming text makes a musical and entertaining read aloud.

Vocabulary

  • preparations (p. 3) everything you need to do to get ready for something
  • flasks and beakers (p. 7) small glass containers used for science
  • catapults (p. 9) a machine/ toy used to launch something into the air
  • jerseys (p. 19) shirts you wear for sports teams
  • mascot (p. 26) someone who brings good luck to a team and cheers for them

Themes / Main Idea

  • Work together to solve a problem. Teamwork helps generate grand ideas!
  • Creativity is key. Sometimes the solution isn’t always straightforward. Use your imagination and creativity to come up with out-of-the-box ideas!

Interactive Read Aloud Strategies

  • Ask little learners to narrate what is going on in the illustrations. What tools or contraptions are the students using to catch the turkey? In this book, with its zany illustrations, there are so many opportunities to engage learners in conversation just by asking them, “What’s going on on this page?”
  • Encourage littles to predict: How will they catch the turkey? Do you think they will catch it?
  • Have them share their own ideas: How would you catch the turkey? What tools would you use to catch the turkey?
  • Read Along: The book has a rhyming narrative. Encourage littles to predict the next word in the narrative by following the rhyming pattern as you read aloud.

Subscribe: MaiStoryBook Youtube Channel for Example *interactive* read aloud videos!

*My Turkey Trap* Craft

This book is busting with STEAM concepts and inspiration on every page! The students in the pictures create all sorts of contraptions using school tools around them to try and catch the turkey. This read aloud is the perfect gateway to encouraging students to engineer and design their own traps to catch a turkey. And if you are able to~ encourage littles to use actual tools and resources around the classroom or at home to actually build their trap! To get started planning your epic *Turkey Traps,* check out the bookish craft inspired by the story to draft your plans and trap ideas!

Materials

Directions

  • Choose a “Turkey Cover Label” template. There are colored and black and white versions. There are two different headings, one personalized and one not: “How _____ Catches a Turkey,” and “How to Catch a Turkey”
  • If you chose the black and white version, color it in •Write your name in the blank to personalize the craft. Ex) “How __Maya__ Catches a Turkey”
  • Cut out the Turkey Cover Label Template, and Cut in Half on the dotted line.
  • Next, choose a *Turkey Body Template*. There are colored versions, or black-and-white versions
  • There are also differentiated response templates for picture responses, written and picture responses, or just written responses.
  • Fill in the response template describing how you will catch a turkey either by drawing/ writing about your turkey trap, your plan to catch the turkey, or your step-by-step plan to catch the turkey.
  • If you chose black and white, color it in.
  • Cut out the Turkey Body template.
  • To connect the Cover Label and Body Template, Glue the Cover Label to the body where it is labeled “GLUE” on the response template.
  • The bottom of the turkey neck on the cover label should line up with the turkey neck on the body template.
  • Open the flaps to reveal your plan and/or trap to catch the turkey. Close the flaps to show off your turkey craft!

Enjoy Your *My Turkey Trap* Craft

  • Use your Turkey Craft plan to guide you as you build an actual trap with household items or items around the classroom
  • Share your Turkey Craft with Friends and Family members and explain your plan to catch a turkey.
  • Share your Turkey Trap Craft with Friends and Family and ask them to share their own ideas for how to catch a turkey. Brainstorm a new idea together!
  • Display your Turkey Trap Crafts for a festive STEAM Thanksgiving holiday bulletin board display, or display the Turkey Craft Plans alongside the actual turkey trap model you’ve built!

*~ I hope you are enjoying plenty of *inspiring* reading adventures this year, Mai Friends! Tag me on Instagram @MaiStoryBookLibrary or FaceBook , find me on TikTok, or contact me via email to share your own *Turkey Trap* Crafts and your own reading adventures! I’d love to hear how you are changing the world!~*

Enjoy More Fall Interactive Read Aloud Videos Here!

*~Until next time, Happy Reading