Today on the blog we are spotlighting a hilarious Thanksgiving read, Turk and Runt. Students will be so engaged with this book and it is sure to keep them laughing. We love this book because it is a great mentor text for teaching compare and contrast skills as well discussing the concept of advocation. Turk and Runt could easily be stretched out into a read aloud with activities over the course of a week, or be used for one meaningful and specific lesson. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
Turk and Runt tells the story of two turkeys that are brothers. Turk’s parents are so proud of him because he is big and strong. They imagine that he will be a dancer or football player. Runt however, is much smaller and no one in the family ever listens to him. As Thanksgiving approaches, people visit the farm to pick out their turkey. The parents think the visitors admiring Turk want him to perform in a ballet or join a football team. No one listens to Runt’s warnings about Turk becoming someone’s dinner. He acts widely and sickly to scare the visitors away and protect his brother. When an older woman arrives and decides Runt is the perfect size for her, Runt and Turk must work together to stop the old lady from taking him home.
Students will laugh at this silly Thanksgiving story about two very different brothers.
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
The great thing about read alouds is that they can be used to teach so much more than reading comprehension! Teachers can integrate the book into writing, grammar, vocabulary, and social emotional learning. No matter what skills you are hoping to teach, Turk and Runt can be a great resource for you!
- Practice making inferences during and after the read aloud.
- Encourage students to practice their visualizing skills to help with their understanding of the story.
- Help students to write about their opinions and back it up with reasoning.
- Engage students in descriptive writing activities.
- Introduce the -est suffix and practice adding it to words.
- Explore pronouns and adverbs.
- Discuss problem solving strategies.
- Teach students the importance of advocation.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
Thanksgiving is such a busy time of year! Thanks to our Starts With a Story Book Companion you save cut down your read aloud planning time. Teachers love using the student activity pages we have created to go with Turk and Runt.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- A Plump and Perky Turkey by Teresa Bateman
- Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano
- A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting
- Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
