Activity
Write a Thanksgiving Day Poem
Thanksgiving dinner can be filled with fun and memorable interactions between family members. This holiday, why not memorialize some of those details and events with a family poem? You can create a lasting memory in the form of a poem with contributions from all the creative minds at the celebration. As a group, write a poem where each guest adds a line of the poem to create an abecedarian poem. An abecedarian is a poem in which the first letter of each line follows the order of the alphabet. Each line of the poem should have details about Thanksgiving day.
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What You Need:
- Loose-leaf paper with one letter of the alphabet (A-Z) written on each page
- Cardstock pages for the front and back covers
- Supplies for drawing or coloring
- Tape
- Hole puncher
- Yarn or string
What You Do:
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Prepare the loose-leaf papers before Thanksgiving day with one letter of the alphabet so there are 26 letters. You can have your child paint or draw one letter on each page leaving enough room for one sentence of text.
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Tape or place the papers around the house, or on the wall of the dining room.
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Have your child help you explain the idea behind an abecedarian poem. Ask your guests to contribute a line to the Thanksgiving Day poem by the end of their visit that day.
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Tell everyone to choose their own paper with a letter. Have guests choose additional letters if necessary so all 26 pages will be a part of the poem.
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Explain that the poem can have a word that begins with their chosen letter, or their line can start with the phrase, “A is for ____…” replacing A with their chosen letter.
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Help your child write their sentences about the day as necessary. To support your young learner, have them write the word that starts with their assigned letter and then draw a picture about it. You can write down their sentence for them.
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After your meal, remind guests to finish up with their line of the poem if they have not done so yet.
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Once everyone is done writing, have each family member read their line of the poem in correct alphabetical order and even act out their line as they’re reading it.
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Collect each page and create a booklet. Have your child put the pages in alphabetical order, hole punch the pages, and then thread a piece of yarn through the holes to hold the book together.
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Have your child create a front and back cover for the poem. Encourage your child to include drawings or ideas on the cover from the group poem. They can look at picture books for examples of what covers include.
Continue your child’s learning with the A Poem with Details from your Thanksgiving worksheet. Your child can create their own poem about their Thanksgiving break. Who knows, they may be inspired by the family poem and include some quotes in their own poem!