turkey's point of view

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Home : 2002 : November : 17

turkey's point of view
By mlg

Funny you should mention that. I will be starting just such a mini-unit tomorrow with my fifth-graders. I've used it several times in the past and the kids always seem to have fun with it.

While I don't read a book about
turkeys and Thanksgiving, I do get the class thinking about different points of view by first reading "The Three Little Pigs" and then the wolf's side of the story (kind of like a fractured fairy tale thing). We get started by brainstorming why the two sides differ in the telling, then the students write a short essay explaining whose version is likely to be more valid based on the

"evidence" from the two stories.

After they have done that part then we discuss Thanksgiving dinner from the perspective of both the hungry participant and the turkey. Using a graphic organizer, they list reasons supporting both sides of the issue and then they write a persuasive argument from the turkey's point of view as to why turkey should not be on the menu.

As I said, the students usually have a good time with this and some of the results have been hysterical.