Turkey Hand

Kindergarten

Art 207-03, Group 5

Coral Gaul, Wendy Nixon, Sadie Sutherland, Taryn Vinyard

Objectives:

1. Students will learn a brief history of Thanksgiving, and the turkey.

2. Students will learn how body parts can be used in art projects.

3. Students will learn how to trace properly.

4. Students will learn how to cut paper without much waste.

5. Students will learn how to use glue properly.

6. Students will learn how to decorate using a wide variety of materials.

Student’s Materials:

1. Construction paper 9”x12” assorted colors

2. Markers

3. Glue

4. Scissors

5. Various decorative materials including: feathers, leaves, and tissue paper.

Teacher’s Materials:

1. History of Thanksgiving book

2. Pictures of turkeys

3. Previous student’s artwork

Vocabulary:

Thanksgiving turkey tracing

Procedure:

1. Introduce Thanksgiving by reading a children’s book, discuss history and

importance/tradition of the turkey dinner.

2. Have a demonstration of the art project.

3. Have student’s carefully trace their hand, provide assistance if needed.

4. Carefully cut out the hand, assist students if necessary.

5. Have the students pick out a piece of construction paper and glue their paper hand to

it. Use the dot method when applying glue.

6. Use various materials to decorate the turkey.

7. Draw in the features and the legs of the turkey.

8. Have student’s write their name on the artwork and turn in.

9. Comment on Thanksgiving and the project.

10. Hang up the student’s artwork and allow them to critique it.

Suggestions:

Use paper grocery bags instead of brown construction paper.

Historical Background of Thanksgiving:

For thousands of years people have set aside a day to celebrate the autumn harvest, giving thanks for the plentiful growing season. The date and customs of this day differ around the world but here in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. On this day, friends and family usually get together to relax and enjoy one another’s company while eating a large dinner.

Most people relate Thanksgiving to the Pilgrims sharing a huge dinner with the Native Americans. The initial feast was in 1621, and the Pilgrims did share the food with the Native Americans because they are the ones who taught them how to grow the crops properly in order to insure their survival. Without the aid of the Native Americans, the Pilgrims may have not survived through the winter. The original feast lasted for three days and was not celebrated again the following year by the pilgrims. Since the harvest season occurred between late September and middle of October, the colonist celebrated Thanksgiving at an early date then when we now celebrate it. Varieties of foods are served at Thanksgiving such as cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, vegetables and stuffing. Turkey is usually the main course for Thanksgiving dinner and is a good representation of the holiday. The colonist did not eat the traditional foods that most people eat during the holiday except for the Turkey.

President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November as a Thanksgiving Day but each state had the right to decide when they would celebrate it because he did not establish it a national holiday. In 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

 
Kindergartners Artistic Development:
 
The kindergarten years of artistic development are characterized by symbol making. For this reason, the period is often referred to 
as the symbolic or schematic stage of development. This stage ranges from four years old to eight years old, so it clearly 
encompasses kindergarteners. In this stage, children develop the ability to develop line and shape making skills. Additionally, their
muscular development is sophisticated enough to use materials like scissors, glue, clay, drawing tools, etc. Children in this stage are
quite capable of developing symbolic drawing to represent parts of their environment, beginning with basic stick figure-like drawings.
They rely heavily on geometric shapes, color, texture, and size and/or depth of objects, though depth usually results toward the end 
of this stage. It is important to facilitate this developmental growth in art by providing materials appropriate to the kindergarteners.

Resources:

www.birthdayexpress.com/bexpress/planning/Thanksgiving.asp

Herboerholz, B,D. Art Work for Elementary Teachers, 2002. pg. 104-106

Discussion/Modifications of lesson plan:

There was some concern about kindergartners using scissors make sure there are safety scissors available.

Use a pen or pencil to trace your hand as to avoid getting marker on it.

The plan was easy to follow, reading the book was a great idea.

Instead of cutting out the hand, paint your hand brown and stamp it on the paper, allow it dry and then decorate it.