Monday, November 2, 2009

Thanksgiving Bibliography Activity: Feather Up Your Turkey

Hi All,

My older students still love doing seasonal activities. They get all smiley, when they get to use a glue stick. Around Thanksgiving, my 6th graders start reviewing bibliography skills. For years, I have tried to think of ways to make bibliography more fun---I know---it is the mismatch of the century.
I have made up a game, where the children pick a Thanksgiving related topic (turkies, pilgrims, Mayflower, Squanto, Abraham Lincoln, etc.) They have to locate an encyclopedia article, book, specialized encyclopedia, database article, and website for their topic. Then they have to get the matching bibliography template and fill it out for each source. Each time they correctly fill out a bibliography template, I give them a colored paper feather. The first team to have all 5 colored feathers glued onto a blackline master of a turkey wins the game. To spice things up though, any time they have left over, they can decorate their turkey. 6th graders love to glitter things and use markers! We then end the class by voting for the most creatively decorated turkey. They love it, and they actually have told me they thought that a bibliography lesson was so much fun. That is something I thought I would never, EVER hear.

1 comment:

  1. This is a great idea for keeping interest in a not so exciting topic. My students groan whenever the word bibliography comes up. It is amazing how much 5th and 6th graders love artsy/craftsy and creative ideas--although why wouldn't they? They are still ten and eleven years old. I know I have a hard time remembering that!

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