This post shares a turkey vocabulary and labeling activity to use in the kindergarten, first grade, or second grade classroom.

With the Thanksgiving holiday nearing, it’s time to incorporate some turkey fun into your classroom! There are many wonderful Thanksgiving texts you can include into your daily read-aloud time.

Why learn about turkeys?

The material is relevant. Students are seeing Thanksgiving preparation in their homes, at the store, and on TV. Typically, your students will already have some background knowledge about turkeys – eating turkey at Thanksgiving dinner, seeing them on a farm or in the woods, and their symbolism associated with Thanksgiving. Use that to your advantage in the classroom!

Non-fiction texts are engaging. It has been my experience that children LOVE to learn factual information. Learning about turkeys this time of year is a natural way to learn about life cycles, parts of a turkey, habitats, and how they behave in the wild. Kids will eat it up! (No pun intended!)

Recommended turkey resources

Turkey texts. Unfortunately, turkey books are hard to find! I’ve linked a few below that you can check out from your local library or order on Amazon. Use the scroll buttons to check them out.

Turkey video. Youtube also has a variety of resources for learning about turkeys.

Follow-up turkey activities

I’ve created a few resources that you can pair with your study of turkeys! This will extend your students’ learning and

Turkey Poster. If you haven’t already, this is a good opportunity to teach your kiddos about labeling! This poster will help you show your students how labeling works and teach them the most prominent parts of a turkey’s body.

Turkey vocabulary cards. This set of twelve vocabulary cards shares some of the most common terms associated with these festive birds. You can print a set in color to put into a pocket chart during your study or even add them to a writing center for easy reference. (There’s a black and white set, too, that you can give to your students to color and keep!)

Turkey vocabulary matching. This is an easy activity for your learners to do. They simply match the vocabulary word to the picture – a simple follow up activity.

Download a copy of the activities

These activities are a free download. You can grab them HERE.

I hope you find this turkey vocabulary and labeling activity fun and useful! If you use it in your classroom, snap a pic and share it with me on Instagram!