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Overwhelmed planning Thanksgiving lessons? Delight your students with “Who Stole the Turkey?” – a captivating Thanksgiving Readers Theater! This engaging whodunnit transforms your classroom into a detective adventure, sharpening reading and critical thinking skills. Designed for grades 4-6, it requires minimal prep and fits perfectly into your ELA block. Watch your students eagerly engage and collaborate, making learning fun and memorable. Don’t miss out – read our rave reviews and see the magic unfold!
$6.95
Looking for Thanksgiving activities your students will love? This Thanksgiving Readers Theater, Who Stole the Turkey?, won’t disappoint! Check out the reviews!
This fun and engaging “Whodunnit” activity is the perfect Thanksgiving activity for your students! In this activity, students will learn to become detectives and then use their sleuthing skills to figure out who stole the Thanksgiving turkey! With lots of suspects and circumstantial evidence, the students will have to take good notes, make lots of inferences, and think like a real detective in order to solve the mystery! This product was created with 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in mind, but it can definitely be scaled to work with other grade levels as well. So how does it work?
Check out the preview to see the actual teacher’s guide.
The students will take part in a 4-act reader’s theater. There are 20 characters which can be shared or doubled up in order to give every student a part. As the story unfolds, so do the clues. After each act, the students will stop, take notes, and discuss any suspicious activities. The final act reveals whether each character was the thief or not.
How Long will this activity take?
Plan on at least an hour. Reading the script will take about 45 minutes or so depending on the fluency of your readers and how well they are paying attention for their lines. Using the additional resources that are included will lengthen the amount of time. The more discussion and detective work the students do, the more fun the activity will be. This activity was designed to take up an entire ELA block of time, however, it can be spread out over a week’s time by completing one act a day. It’s great for that last day (or week) before Thanksgiving break!
What’s Included?
About this Resource
I was inspired to create this product after hosting a murder mystery party for my own 16 year old daughter, who is very much into the theater.
You can read more about it here!
It was said to be the best party ever! I wondered how I could create something similar for students! I modified the format of the clue delivery system to ensure that every clue was revealed to every student, and voila, The Thanksgiving Turkey Theft was born. Having the Reader’s Theater is the perfect platform for integrating real academic skills. This activity will feel like a fun day, but not a moment of the day will be wasted!
This product is great because:
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SKU: 6199204
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Kassie Vela –
My students and I had SO MUCH FUN! When we circled back to drama after Christmas break, they were making connections with this activity. It was great!
Katie C. –
I use this with third grade every year. It is technically above some of their levels but they work together to read words and it has honestly helped them build confidence.
Kipp M. –
My students and I enjoyed this Whodunit Mystery Reader’s Theatre. We have used several of these throughout the year and look forward to using more.
Kristi S. –
My students absolutely LOVED this! They were so excited to work on it each day and wanted me to find one for Christmas.
Ashontea J. –
This was great, we had to rush through to get it finished in one class period, but my students loved it.
Anna Grzybowski –
We love a good readers theatre. We completed this before we got out for Thanksgiving break and it was so much fun!
Alyssa H. –
My students were so invested in the story. I loved how many characters there were that allowed for class wide participation. Such a fan of the powerpoint set up so I could project the script on my screen!
Bethany C. –
I used this resource on the day before we left for Thanksgiving Break. My students really enjoyed the process and it was a good community building experience. We also used it to reinforce the concept of inference verses evidence. I held off the solution until after recess and was told by the teacher on yard duty, the the discussion continued while the kids were outside. That’s always a good sign.
Jenny W. –
My students loved the readers theater for Thanksgiving! It got them reading and speaking in front of others without the nervousness of presentations and speeches!
Lexi Forsythe –
My students were engaged and interested the whole time we did this activity. It was a great and fun resource leading up the holiday.