Thanksgiving day is fast approaching, so check out this fun build-a-turkey worksheet set and interactive activity that will help your students with categories and describing.

Generally speaking, Thanksgiving is a great time for gathering with loved ones and expressing gratitude. In fact, it's also a perfect time to engage students in fun and educational activities that celebrate the big day. This fun digital and printable activity set is one of the best ways to target so many skills in your speech room this year. This will soon be your favorite Thanksgiving activity!

The “Build a Turkey” Google Slides

Specifically, this product in my Teachers Pay Teachers store targets describing skills while building a turkey in Google Slides. Firstly, the digital turkey comes with four different backgrounds and 25 moveable images, allowing students to customize their turkeys.

After students create their turkey tail feathers, they will describe it using either the digital or printable Build a Turkey worksheet set. What’s great about these worksheets is that you don’t even have to worry about getting out a glue stick for this fun turkey craft template.

Canva Educator Freebie Library

If you want access to the exclusive freebie library for Canva educators, check out this vault that includes 100s of free turkey templates you can use in your speech room. Click here to get access today!

Build a Turkey Template

To begin with, your students will create a turkey by copying and pasting images in Google Slides.

Students will see a sentence prompt that says: “Thanksgiving is coming soon and the turkey needs a disguise.” (just like in the book Turkey Trouble! Keep reading to the bottom of the post to learn more!). To illustrate what’s included with this template:

• The first thing the students do is choose a background.
• There are four backgrounds that have different colors and includes the turkey's feathers and the body of the turkey.
• Then, they have to copy and paste the googly eyes and accessories on the turkey before Thanksgiving arrives.
• If you would rather make this easy craft in person, just use some construction paper and gather all your favorite supplies.

Interactive Activities for Google Slides

After your students build their turkeys, they can use these digital and printable differentiated worksheets.

Specifically, these activities are broken up into 3 levels, which will help both younger kids and older students! All the worksheets come in a color version, as well as in black and white.

To list some of the interactive activities included with these turkey worksheets:

Turkey Attributes:

These turkey worksheets will target describing turkeys by using different attributes. First, they will draw a turkey in the space provided using Google Draw. After that, students will describe the turkey using different attributes, such as:

• Category
• Function (”What does a turkey do?”)
• Location (”Where do you find a turkey?” and “Where does a turkey come from?”)
• Appearance (”What does the turkey look like?”)
• Parts (“What are a turkey’s parts?”)

Describe a Turkey:

This reading passage describes a turkey and has some missing words. There are 2 levels included:

• Level 1: This drag and drop describing turkey worksheet includes a word bank. Students drag the correct turkey describing word into one of the 8 sentences provided.

• Level 2: The students will fill in the blanks to describe a turkey, for instance, “A turkey can be found ______.”

Turkey Categories:

To target categories, there are 3 leveled and differentiated worksheets.

• With level 1, there are items listed that all belong in the same category. The students have to drag the corresponding word into the category box.
• Secondly, in level 2, students will fill in the group's name under each category.
• Thirdly, in level 3, there are 10 different categories listed, and students have to type all the items they can think of that belong in that category.

Which One Does Not Belong?

Students identify the item that does not belong in a given category. Again, this includes 3 leveled activities.

• Level 1: Students must drag and drop a circle over the items not in the category.
• In contrast, the level 2 worksheet requires a student to name the pictured category and then drag a circle over the picture that doesn’t belong.
• Lastly, in level 3, students type in a response to the question: “The _________ does not belong in this category because ________.” Here, they must explain why the item doesn't belong in the category.

Sorting Categories:

Early Learners sort items into categories so they can practice their categorization skills at different levels.

• For example, in level 1, students have to drag the items under the correct category headings.
• Level 2 increases the difficulty. The students have to write the category name before they can drag the items.

Turkey Word Search:

After completing the activities, students can search for Thanksgiving words in a word search puzzle. This great Thanksgiving-themed activity adds so much fun to the learning process.

Printable Activities

In addition to the interactive activities on Google Slides, this Build a Turkey Google Slides fun activity also includes printable pages. Use these color or black and white printables pages in the speech room to reinforce the skills practiced digitally. By providing both options, this product ensures flexibility for different learning environments.

Benefits of the Printable Build a Turkey Worksheet

Read below to find out how these can target your students’ goals:

• It encourages creativity and imagination as students design their unique turkeys by adding different eyes and accessories.
• One of the great things about this activity is how it helps you develop and improve your students’ describing skills. Using the included worksheets, your students can learn to describe turkeys using different attributes (i.e., parts, location, function, what it looks like, etc.). They will love that the activities are turkey or Thanksgiving themed.
• It helps with categorization, providing worksheets to improve the ability to categorize effectively.

What are others saying about this Build a Turkey Worksheet set?

Cathy A. says: “I absolutely love the story, Twas the night before Thanksgiving written by Dav Pilkey. I have used this book for many years at different grade levels. When I saw this activity, I thought it would be a perfect activity to go along with this book. And I was right. My students were very excited to disguise a turkey so they could not become dinner. Thank you so much!”

Joyce A. says: “Thank you so much! It was a great activity for my student.”

Melissa L. says: “Great and fun resource. My students love it.”

Make sure you download and use this Build a Turkey Worksheet Set today!

Free Thanksgiving Printables

Every free template listed below is available for free in Canva. These activities develop descriptive skills with real photos of turkeys and are customizable to specific learning goals. Use these in the speech room or send them home during Thanksgiving break. This is a great way to target understanding and describing “parts” (even for younger children).

If you want more free and editable resources, then check them out in my blog post: Free Thanksgiving Worksheet Activities for Speech Therapy!

These activities include a Thanksgiving bingo and Thanksgiving flashcards to help you target vocabulary related to Thanksgiving.

Free Printable Templates

Every turkey template listed below is free and editable in Canva, with activities to develop descriptive skills with real photos of turkeys. Use these in the speech room or send them home during Thanksgiving break. This is the perfect way to target understanding and describing “parts.” If you want more free and editable resources, check them out in my blog post: Free Thanksgiving Worksheet Activities for Speech Therapy!

Turkey Body Parts Poster

• The resource begins with a turkey parts poster, which can be the introduction to the lesson.
• Print this turkey poster at a local print shop or at home on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.

Parts of a Turkey Worksheet

• It provides two differentiated versions of the Parts of a Turkey worksheet, allowing students to label turkey parts, practice descriptive skills, and expand vocabulary.
• With two versions, educators can accommodate different skill levels for lots of Thanksgiving fun.

Parts of a Turkey Flashcards

• It includes eight turkey parts flashcards, each representing a different body part, in both a color version and black-and-white.
• You can customize these flashcards to personalize them for your students.

**Terms of Use: Please note these editable and free templates are for personal use and classroom use only**

Conclusion

The printable Build a Turkey worksheet for Thanksgiving is an interactive, fun activity for students, improving their describing skills while designing unique turkeys.

Additionally, the free and editable “Parts of a Turkey” Canva templates aid students in describing turkey parts, enhancing the educational experience.

Grab this turkey activity to keep your students engaged while learning!

Looking for more activities for the fall or holiday season? Check out these blog posts:

• Gratitude Activities for Middle School Students
• Free Thanksgiving Worksheet Activities for Speech Therapy

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