With Thanksgiving right around the corner, now is a great time for all of us to pause and think about what we are thankful for.
To help out with this I have created a Google Slides activity for your students. With this template your students will build a turkey where each of the feathers will display things that the student is thankful for.
Optionally the students can also use the Mote Chrome extension to record themselves explaining what they are thankful for, and adding that audio to their digital turkey.
▶️ Tutorial video (4 minutes)
You can also view this video on YouTube at:
📄 Get a copy of the template
- "What I Am Thankful For" Turkey template - Google Slides link
Your students can click this link to get their own copy, or you can use Google Classroom to push out a copy of the template to each of your students.
❓ What’s in the template
The Google Slide template has multiple parts for the activity. These include:
- Slide 1 - The title slide
- Slide 2 - My contact information
- Slides 3-6 - A brief set of directions
- Slide 7 - The blank turkey. This is where you will build your "What I Am Thankful For" turkey.
- Slide 8 - The "feathers". This slide has the feathers that you will copy and paste onto your turkey, which you can then type on to list the things you are thankful for.
✅ Directions
Let's take a look at the step-by-step directions for this activity.
Step #1 - Select any shape on the "Feathers" slide, and then copy and paste that shape onto the slide with your turkey.
Step #2 - Double-click in the shape to edit the text and type in what you are thankful for.
Step #3 - Rotate the feather as needed by selecting the shape, then pressing the "Alt" key along with the left or right arrow key on your keyboard.
Step #4 - Drag and drop the shape to position the feather where you would like it on your turkey.
Step #5 - Move the feather behind your turkey by selecting the shape, then clicking "Arrange" then "Order" then "Send to back".
Step #6 - Repeat until you have added all the feathers you want. Be sure to add your name to the bottom.
You can now share your slideshow as normal, or download your completed turkey by clicking "File" then "Download" then "PNG image".
Optional - You can use the Mote Chrome extension to record yourself explaining everything you are thankful for, and inserting that audio into the slide.
Optional - You can change the colors of your feathers by selecting a shape, then clicking the "Fill color" button and the "Text color" button.
💡 Helpful Tip
If your students are working on a smaller screen, and need a little more space when doing this activity, thankfully there are options in Slides to help with that. Google Slides has four built-in settings that can be used to clear away all the extra panels and menus and such and give you and your students all the space you need for your activity.
For all the details, see my earlier blog post and short tutorial video on "How to Maximize Space in Google Slides for Manipulative Drag and Drop Activities".
🏁 Conclusion
This "What Am I Thankful For" Google Slides activity is a great way for kids to be creative, improve their tech skills, and express their gratitude. Feel free to share images of your students’ creations, as I would love to see what they make!
For more Thanksgiving-themed activities, take a look at my post from a few years back on "Turkey Templates for Thanksgiving Creativity and Writing" where you will find a "Build a Turkey" template from Beth Kingsley and a "Disguise a Turkey" template from Kelley Costa.
And for more projects using Google tools be sure to check out my "Control Alt Achieve" book which contains many more ready-to-use, creative activities for your students.
Post by Eric Curts
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