Thanksgiving Storytime Ideas / Ideas para el Día de Acción de Gracias

November is here and I enjoy presenting storytimes that celebrate family and gratitude in the lead up to Thanksgiving.  I thought I would share some of my favorite materials for such bilingual or Spanish program.

Rhymes and Flannelboard

I previously posted my translation of "Five Little Turkeys/Cinco pavos," but I am re-sharing it today with a flannel for this week's Flannel Friday roundup.

Five Little Turkeys
Five little turkeys standing at the door,
one waddled off, and then there were four.
Four little turkeys sitting near a tree,
one waddled off, and then there were three.
Three little turkeys with nothing to do,
one waddled off, and then there were two.
Two little turkeys in the morning sun,
one waddled off, and then there was one.
One little turkey better run away,
For soon it will be Thanksgiving Day.

Cinco pavos
Acerca de la puerta son cinco pavos
Uno se salió, y ahora son cuatro.
Cuatro pavos gordos huelen a los postres
Uno se salió y ahora son tres.
Tres pequeños pavos saltan unos saltos
Uno se salió y ahora son dos.
Dos pavos nerviosos esperan su oportuno
Uno se salió y ahora solo hay uno.
Un pavo queda este día importuno.                                      
Cuando el se sale, ¡no hay ninguno!

Find a PDF of the flannel pieces which you can use as a pattern to create your own on Slideshare.

Books

Movement Song - "Al pavo pavito"

This movement song is also a fun game that is sort of similar to musical chairs.  As explained on Mama Lisa's World:  "This game needs an odd number of children. They dance in a circle. At the end of the song, they count '1, 2, 3' and they gather two by two. The one remaining alone is shouted at with 'Pavo, pavo'. In Spanish, 'pavo' means 'turkey', but it also means 'silly', 'idiotic'."  Though that description may sound a little extreme, the game is actually quite fun, especially with school-age children or mixed-age family audiences in which the parents are participating. This song is from Spain, and I honestly don't know how popular it is in Latin America.  If someone could shed some light on this in the comments, that would be great!  Check out the video below for a video demonstration and the lyrics to the song. 

Extra Activities

Check out this great post from Spanglish Baby with ideas on crafts and games for Thanksgiving, as well as linked printables.

I hope this gives you some ideas for a November bilingual/Spanish storytime!  If you have more suggestions, please share them with us in the comments!

Flannel Friday GIVEAWAY! - Picky Paul (Bilingual)

*NOTE: Please read this entire post to find the details on how to enter a drawing for a version of this flannel set which I a giving away!*

Picky Paul, which I now tell in Spanish and bilingually as Pedro, el mal comedor, is the flannel story that made me first fall in love with using the flannelboard as a storytelling tool.  I learned it when I was working at the Columbus Metropolitan Library as a Spanish Language Program Specialist.  There are several really amazing things about working in youth services for that specific organization.  One is that they have a circulating flannel collection which is housed in the Main Library's Center for Discover (the children's department).  There are hundreds of flannelboard versions of stories and rhymes already made by the talented staff which any YS staff person can request and "check-out" for his or her programming.  That's where I first discovered "Picky Paul," and I'm sharing my version of it with you here today. Unfortunately, I have no idea what book or collection it originally comes from, so if someone does and can share, that would be great!

The story basically goes that a little boy named Paul (Pedro) is a picky eater (un mal comedor).  His dad is always trying to introduce him to new foods, but when he asks Paul if he will try them, his response is, "No I won't!" (¡No lo probaré!)  So Paul's dad takes Paul into the kitchen and introduces him to a variety of foods, including a tomato (un tomate), a green pepper (un pimiento verde), some mushrooms (unas setas), an onion (una cebolla) and some cheese (el queso).  Each time Paul's dad asks if he will try the ingredients and each time comes Paul's response: "No I won't!" (¡No lo probaré! - change the grammar as appropriate in Spanish).  Paul's dad gets out a big bowl (una tazón grande) and stirs, stirs, stirs (la mezcla, mezcla, mezcla).  Then he gets out a rolling pin (un rodillo de amasar) and rolls, rolls, rolls (la estira, estira, estira).  Finally he puts something in the oven and they wait, while a yummy smell fills the kitchen.  The oven timer dings, and out comes a pizza!  This time when Paul's dad asks if he will try the new food his response is "Yes, I will!" (¡Si la probaré!).

I know that this story doesn't have the best message about food behavior, but I love it anyway!  It is super fun to tell and the visual component of the ingredients helps to reinforce new vocabulary that is introduced.  It is also a story that works extremely well in bilingual storytime.  Last month I presented a bilingual storytime on food with one of my previous "Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca" students (new session starts August 5 - register today!).  She had designed the program as part of her final project in the class.  We used this story in addition to What Can You Do with a Paleta / ¿Qué puedes hacer con una paleta? by Carmen Tafolla and No More, Por Favor by Susan Middleton Elya.  It was a blast!  We had a mixed-age audience of wee ones up through school age and they all stayed very engaged throughout.  She surprised the kids at the end with real paletas too, which was a huge success!

Here, as always, is a PDF of the flannel pieces which you can feel free to print and use as a pattern to make your own "Picky Paul / Pedro, el mal comedor."  However, this time around I have a special surprise for all of you Flannel Friday folks - I'm giving this flannel set away to one lucky reader!  Just leave a comment by Tuesday, July 23, 5 PM EST and I will put the names of everyone who commented into a random drawing.  I will announce the winner in the comments, so be sure to select to receive follow-up comments or check back frequently.  I will need the winner to correspond with me via email ASAP so that I can have a valid address to send the flannel.  If I cannot get in touch with the person selected in a timely manner as per my discretion, then I select another name until I do.  Happy flanneling everyone!

Picky Paul / Pedro, el mal comedor from Katie Scherrer