First, write a short paragraph on the board or overhead such as this one: Michael had fun at the school carnival with his friends.  They ate pizza and then played a lot of games.  They had their faces painted.  They ate popcorn.  Then it was time to go home.

Explain that main idea tells what the whole story is about.  Explain how the first sentence tells the main idea in this story, Michael had fun at the carnival.  Then proceed with the following sentences to show how they support the main idea.

• “Is eating pizza and playing a lot of games fun?”  “Yes.”
• “Do most kids think getting their faces painted is fun?”  “Yes.”
• “Is it fun to eat popcorn?”  “Yes.”

Now show how the supporting sentences would not be the main idea:

• “Is the main idea (the whole story) about eating pizza?”  “No, because they played games, had their faces painted, and ate popcorn, too.”
• “Is the main idea about playing games?”  “No, because they ate pizza and popcorn, and they had their faces painted, too.”
• “Is the main idea about having their faces painted?”  “No, because they played games, and they ate pizza and popcorn, too.”

• Reinforce how the main idea, the whole story, is about Michael having fun at the school carnival with his friends.  And all of these things (eating pizza, playing games, having faces painted, and eating popcorn) are ways to have fun.

Next, give the students a worksheet with no more than four short stories on it.  Make sure the stories are separated with lines so it will not cause any student to be confused.  Make sure the stories are numbered so you can easily refer to a certain story.

• Read the first story together orally with the class and also all of the choices for main idea.  Work through the process in the same way as the above story.  Have the students underline the main idea in the story with a crayon or colored marker.  Then have them mark the answer.
• Read the second story and answers orally with the class, but this time have them choose the answer by themselves.  After they have marked their answers, talk about the correct answer and why it is correct.  Allow students to change their answer, if necessary.  Make sure they underline the main idea in the story.
• Have students complete the third story independently.  Again, after they have marked their answer, talk about the correct answer and why it is correct.  Let them correct their answer.  Make sure they underline the main idea in the story.
• Complete the fourth story in the same manner as the third one.

Give students a similar worksheet in the same format and have them complete the worksheet independently.  Then you can assess how well each student understood the concept of main idea.

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• 1 cup of your favorite ice cream (not ice milk)
• 1 cup self rising flour

Let the ice cream sit out at room temperature until completely melted but still cold.  Stir in the flour.  Do not overstir.   Spoon into greased muffin tin.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.  Makes 6 muffins.

ORIGIN:

The colonists celebrated their first Thanksgiving in 1621 to give thanks to God for their harvest, and the Wampanoag tribe were the native Americans who celebrated with the colonists.  This took place at Plymouth Plantation.

Abraham Lincoln is the president who decided that Thanksgiving would fall on the last Thursday of November.

ACTIVITIES:

• Have student work with their family to decorate a turkey picture such as the one pictured above.  Glue the turkey onto poster board and cut out the turkey shape, or better yet, print the turkey out on card stock.  Color and decorate with ribbon, buttons, cereal, etc.  Make sure every family member adds something to the turkey. This turkey will probably be used by the family for many years to decorate for Thanksgiving.    A great addition to this family fun project would be to write what each family member is thankful for along the feathers of the turkey.
• Have student trace their hand to make a turkey.  The thumb is the head of the turkey.  The four fingers are the feathers.  Draw turkey legs on the bottom and finish adding the details of the turkey.  In the middle of the palm, write “I am thankful for…” and then on each finger name something the student is thankful for.
• Trace students hands on red, orange, and yellow pieces of construction paper.  Cut them out.  Curl the fingers just a little bit on the ends.  Overlap the hands to form the body of a turkey and glue onto cardboard.  Draw a turkey head and turkey feet to go with the body.  This can be a small turkey to fit onto a piece of construction paper, a medium size turkey to fit onto a piece of poster board, or a very large turkey to fit onto a long sheet of bulletin board paper.

• Have students decorate Pillsbury Turkey Sugar Cookies for a fun turkey project.  Use icing for the “glue.”  Glue 6-8 pieces of Candy Corn along the top edge of the cookie with the candy pointing downward.  Glue 2 M&Ms in the middle of the cookie for the eyes.  Use a small tube of icing to form the beak underneath the eyes (a small v-shape).  Use the icing to make turkey feet at the bottom of the cookie.

INTERESTING TURKEY FACTS:

• The turkey was first domesticated in Mexico and Central America.
• A female turkey is called a hen.
• The sound a female turkey makes is called a cluck.
• A male turkey is called a tom.
• The sound a male turkey makes is called a gobble.
• The skin that hangs from a turkey’s neck is called a wattle.
• A mature turkey has 3,500 feathers.
• Wild turkeys can run 25 miles per hour.
• Wild turkeys can fly up to 55 miles per hour.
• Minnesota produces the most turkeys annually.
• Benjamin Franklin lobbied to make the turkey the national symbol.
• Approximately 90% of American homes eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
• The best way to defrost a frozen turkey is in the refrigerator.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS:

• Thanksgiving by Miriam Nerlove.  Good for ages 3-6.  Has not only a brief overview of the first Thanksgiving feast but also a modern-day family’s visit to Grandma’s house for a celebration.
• Thanksgiving Is For Giving Thanks (Reading Railroad Book Series) by Margaret Sutherland.  Good for ages 3-6.   A child tells everything he is thankful for.
  
• Dora’s Thanksgiving (Dora the Explorer Series) by Sarah Willson.  Good for ages 3-7.  Find out what Dora is thankful for.
• Just So Thankful (Little Critter Series)  by Mercer Mayer.  Good for ages 3-7.  Little Critter is jealous of things his rich friend has but then learns what to truly be thankful for.
• Thanksgiving:  A Harvest Celebration by Julie Stiegemeyer.  Good for ages 4-10.  This is a book with beautiful illustrations.  It emphasizes the faith of the characters.
• Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes.   Good for ages 4-7.   Children tell about the people and things they are thankful for.  Beautiful illustrations.
• The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing.  Good for ages 4-8.   “Twas the night before Thanksgiving when…”
• Thanksgiving on Thursday (Magic Tree House Series #27) by Mary Pope Osborne.  Good for ages 6-9.  Jack and Annie experience the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims and Indians.

• Isolating phonemes – Student can identify the individual sounds of letters.  Example: Teacher says, “What is the first sound in man?” or “What sound do you hear at the end of man?”  Student answers, “/m/” or “/n/” accordingly.
• Matching phonemes – Student identifies the words with the same beginning sound in a short list of words.   Example: Teacher says, “Listen to these words and tell me which ones begin with the same sound: ball, bell, cat, book.”  Student answers, “ball, bell, book.”
• Blending phonemes – Student listens to individual sounds and blends them together to form a word.  Example:  Teacher says, “Listen to these sounds and tell me the word, /m/-/a-/-/n/.”  Student answers, “Man.”
• Segmenting phonemes – Student hears a word and makes the individual sounds for that word.  Example:  Teacher says, “Tell me the sounds you hear in man.”  Student answers, “/m/-/a/-/n/.”
• Deleting phonemes – Teacher removes the beginning phoneme and student tells the new word.  Example:  Teacher says, “Listen to ‘grow,’ then take away the /g/ sound at the beginning.  What is the new word?”  Student answers, “Row.”
• Adding phonemes – Teacher adds a phoneme to a word.  Example:  Teacher says, ” Listen to ‘row.’   Now add /g/ to the beginning of row.  What is the new word?”  Student answers, “Grow.”