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Turkey Music and Movement Activities

Turkey Music and Movement Activities

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Looking for some turkey music and movement activities you can use in your November music lessons? I’ve got some easy to use ideas in this blog post today for your preschool through sixth grade students.

TURKEY MUSIC AND MOVEMENT ACTIVITIES

Here are some music and movement ideas you can easily integrate into your current music lessons, or help to create new ones.

Keep reading to learn how to integrate IMPROVISATION, FORM, COMPOSITION, and LITERACY in music class.

After all, everyone loves turkey music and movement activities. And you can have both in your lessons.

Turkey Music and Movement Activities

 

IDEA #1 TURKEY MOVEMENT ACTIVITY

“The Turkey Lurkey” Music and Movement Activity

Sung to the tune of “The Hokey Pokey”!

This song can be used with any of your November and Thanksgiving music lessons.

It’s a favorite turkey music and movement activity with my Kinder and First Graders.

RESOURCE INCLUDES:

  • Song Presentation
  •   1 sheet full lyrics
  • 2 sheets full lyrics
  • 1 Lyric coloring sheet
  • 1 Rhythm worksheet
  • 1 Writing worksheet
  • There are 3 different presentations:
  • 1 page
  • 2 pages
  • Full song with each verse. 

LYRICS

You put your right wing in.

You put your right wing out.

You put your right wing in

and you shake it all about!

You do the Turkey Lurkey

and you turn yourself around.

That’s what it’s all about!

You put your left wing in…

Right Leg

Left Leg

Right Hip

Left Hip

Feathers

Gobble

Whole Turkey

Get the “Turkey Lurkey” Music and Movement Activity in our Web Shop HERE

Movement and Activity Song "The Turkey Lurkey"

“TURKEY LURKEY” in the TPT STORE

Movement and Activity Song "The Turkey Lurkey"

 ACTIVITY IDEA #2  TURKEY DRAMA

Younger students love to pretend to be turkeys. Turkey drama can be positive using turkey music and movement activities.

Begin with Turkey Vocalizations.

Turkey themed vocal explorations for your younger students. Let's the turkeys help students sing ""high"" and ""low"" in November.  Perfect for your Music class November activities. Now Animated! Smartboard Graphics too!

The children can use their scarves to show the path of the turkey.

Turkey themed vocal explorations for your younger students. Let's the turkeys help students sing ""high"" and ""low"" in November.  Perfect for your Music class November activities. Now Animated! Smartboard Graphics too!

Have the children use scarves to be their feathers.

Play some turkey music and have them pretend to be turkeys.

I like the children to take turns. So the outside of the circle is the farm yard and the inside of the circle is the turkey yard.

Have the children on the outside sprinkle some turkey feed as the “turkey’s” move around the inside of the circle and wave their scarves. Then they can switch places.

Some good music for this activity is “Turkey in the Straw” or music by Aaron Copeland.

They can use their scarves to do the actions in “The Turkey Lurkey” song too. It’s also available on

SPOTIFY!

Or, your students may enjoy doing a Turkey Scarf Movement activity like this one.

Another fun song is “FIVE FAT TURKEYS ARE WE”

Here’s the way I use this activity.

Create a big circle.

Tell the children that the middle of the circle is the barnyard.

Choose some of the students to be turkeys. About 5 if you have at least 20 students.

Play some folk music or teach the children “Five Fat Turkey’s Are We”.

As the circle of students sings, have the 5 children move in the circle like turkeys.

Stop the music. (Or at the end of the song.) The children choose 5 new students to be the turkeys.

Next, you can have students who have had a turn being a “turkey”, play instruments until everyone is playing and singing.

Ultimately, this activity could be used over several class times and really build on singing and playing skills!

I love these kinds of “turkey” music and movement activities!

Get the FREE “FIVE FAT TURKEY’S” RESOURCE HERE!

FIVE FAT TURKEYS MUSIC LESSON

ACTIVITY IDEA#3 TURKEY RHYTHM IMPROVISATION 

Let’s go to the farm and visit the turkeys!  Yay!

“Gobble, gobble, gobble!”

Let’s find some instruments that might sound like a bunch of turkeys.

Have some instruments chosen for students to use.

Choose instruments that work for your grade level.

GET THE TURKEY RHYTHM ACTIVITY

Thanksgiving Rhythm Activities LEVEL 1 : Quarter Note & Rest, Eighth Notes

UPPER ELEMENTARY IDEAS

Did I say 6th grade can do turkey music and movement activities?

Yes I did!

I believe that your 5th and 6th graders can use the recorder or the xylophone to compose a melodic phrase that resembles the sound of a turkey.

And- they’ll love creating stories and music to perform.

Do some experimentation.

Use this video as a starting point for your students to practice then create rhythmic and melodic patterns.

Play a nice bass steady beat for them and encourage them to improvise.

If your students know BAG, then you can play G steady beat.

Or, if the turkey is sad, play E for Em chord.

Next, have the students with smaller percussion instruments play their parts as solos.

Add the melodies as separate solos.

Then have everyone play together at the end of the song.

Be sure to experiment with dynamics.

Try beginning pianissimo and crescendo to fortissimo.

CREATE A RONDO!

Create a RONDO

Rondo FORM can be ABA, ABACA, or ABACABA, or A-B-A-C-A-D-A.

Try having each instrument group be a section of the RONDO.

A- Shaker part

B- Rhythm Sticks

C-Turkey Gobble on Xylophone

D-All instruments together

Keep it simple! 

Focus on giving students opportunities to experiment and create versus “perfect” music.

You may want to consider having students then write their parts and refine the RONDO during the next class period.

Use these Thanksgiving themed recorder songs as part of the Rondo.

Thanksgiving Recorder Songs from Sing Play Create

CREATE A STORY!

Older students will love creating a story about their turkey.

Have them create a short story using just 5-8 sentences.

Then have them create rhythmic and melodic phrases for each sentence in the story, or action.

Use all of these ideas for a turkey literature, music and movement activity.

If you’re looking for any music instruments you’ll want to go to the INSTRUMENT PAGE.

This is where I’ve listed my favorite classroom instruments and movement props for your turkey music and movement activities.

Not only are turkey movement activities a fun way to keep students motivated in November, but November music lessons can be a great time to refine skills introduced in the first quarter. 

Read this post to get the ideas for November Music Lessons “It’s Not Just About Turkeys”

Looking for some free and interactive November music class lesson ideas for your K-6 music classes? Looking for some new ways to teach your old materials? 

CLICK HERE to SUBSCRIBE to get FREE November MUSIC and MOVEMENT ACTIVITIES.

GET THESE FREEBIES!

Free Turkey Activities for music class.
Free music education lesson "Turkey Stew" for elementary music classes.
Free November music class activities.

 

 

 

 

MORE NOVEMBER MUSIC LESSON IDEAS

Here are some more November music lesson ideas you can use with these yummy November music lesson ideas.

“Terrific Tips for Your November Music Lessons”

“November Music Class Stations”

“How to Get Students to Gobble Up the Beat”

You’ll want to check out our November music and movement activities right here in the Sing Play Create Shop!

Let’s get students moving and learning with turkey music and movement activities!

Sandra from Sing Play Create

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Turkey Music and Movement Activities for preschool through 2nd grade. Activities for Elementary Music classes.

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Meet Sandra

Hi there!  I’m Sandra, one of the authors behind Sing Play Create.  My goal is to provide teachers with interactive resources and activities to improve the effectiveness of their teaching and enhance student learning.

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