Pete the Perky “Pattern” Turkey

Pin It Wow!!  What a couple of  weeks… My fifth grader’s football team won the league championship.  Then my husband and I cooked a dutch oven dinner for 150 people to celebrate their very successful football season.  I had professional development day on Monday, and parent teacher conferences Wednesday and Thursday night.  To add to the fun, my youngest daughter turned nine, and my oldest son turned nineteen!!   Busy, busy, busy…  
My favorite Thanksgiving read is this cute little book about Pete “A Plump and Perky Turkey”.

The people of Squawk Valley are hungry and Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  All the turkeys have fled town except for one bird named Pete.  Pete’s ego gets him in trouble when he answers an ad to be a model for the town art fair.  Pete poses for local artists who sculpt him out spuds, soap, rope, and oatmeal. The town’s plan for a turkey dinner end when Pete escapes with a turkey made from oatmeal and joins his pals on the beach.  The townspeople are left with only shredded wheat to eat for Thanksgiving.   My students loved cheering for Pete as he outwits the hungry townspeople.

Unfortunately, I discovered this book is out of print.  But, It is definitely worth a trip to the library to find a copy to share with your students.

When we finished reading the story we made our own Pete the Turkey.

 

I used a small amount of rubbing alcohol and food coloring to color a variety pasta shapes.  Using rubbing alcohol instead of water keeps the pasta from going mushy. 

Then we made patterns on construction paper feathers using the pasta. 

Tamara is having a Linky Party over at TBA.  Head over and check out more fun Thanksgiving reads.