It's almost time for one of my favorite holidays of the year – Thanksgiving. I can almost smell the turkey cooking in the oven and the sounds of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on the television! How can you take this excitement and turn it into a meaningful project in your first-grade classroom? Read on to see how you can bring the Thanksgiving parade to life in your November lesson plans.
Balloons Over Broadway Read Aloud
One of my all-time favorite November read-alouds is Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet. This nonfiction book is the true story of Tony Sarg, the creator of the giant balloons in the Macy's parade.
In the book, we learn that as a young child, Tony loved puppets. He began his career as a puppeteer and then moved to New York City where he was hired by Macy's Department store to create a special parade with his puppets. Over time, Tony worked to perfect the parade so that everyone could enjoy it, even the people in the back row of the parade route. The book, Balloons Over Broadway, has beautiful illustrations that show the parade floats and how Tony developed the huge helium balloons and upside-down puppets that we see today floating through the sky every year during Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
ELA Activities With Balloons Over Broadway
Melissa Sweet's book, Balloons Over Broadway, is a great nonfiction mentor text and lends itself to many ELA activities in the first-grade classroom. This picture book biography is great for teaching students about nonfiction texts and biographies. After reading the story, review with students that a biography is a book that teaches about the life of a famous person. Have students discuss the character traits of Tony Sarg and the kind of person he was growing up. Compare and contrast Tony as a child and as an adult.
Balloons Over Broadway is also a great book for discussing text connections. Ask students if this book reminds them of anything in their own life. Many children will have the connection of watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in their own homes. This may bring up good memories of Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends. Other children may be reminded of a puppet show that they've seen in person or on TV. Have students draw and write about any text connections that they have with the story.
In the story, Balloons Over Broadway, Tony ran into a lot of problems as he was trying to develop his giant balloon animals. This is a good opportunity to review some of the different problems in the book and how Tony solved the problems. Have students complete a problem and solution worksheet like this one.
Vocabulary Activities With Balloons Over Broadway
This story is rich with new vocabulary words for students to learn and ponder. From big words like marionette to small words like the “EL” (elevated train), Balloons Over Broadway is the perfect resource for introducing students to lots of new vocabulary words.
Writing Prompts
Whenever you introduce students to a new read aloud it's a good idea to find a way to include some writing in your lesson ideas. In the story, one of Tony's first jobs was to design Macy's window displays with animated puppets. A great writing prompt is to have your students design and write about their own window display. Brainstorm some of the different windows that they could design. You can even show them actual window displays to spark their imagination and then have them draw and write about what they would design. You can find several YouTube videos that show some of the actual displays here.
A famous quote from Tony Sarg is “Every little moment has a meaning of its own.” Discuss the meaning of this quote with your students and then have them draw and write about a special moment in their life. They might choose to write about a special birthday party, a holiday celebration, or when they got a new pet. Brainstorm with your students some different ideas and then have them write about their own special moment.
Finally, this nonfiction biography is perfect for teaching students how to write a report about a famous person. Give students a simple writing template that they can complete with information about Tony Sarg like where he lived, what he was like as a child, and a few simple facts they learned about Tony in the book.
STEM Challenge with Balloons Over Broadway
Finally, take advantage of this story and have your students do some critical thinking with a fun project-based learning activity of building their own balloons. Even first grade students can create their own simple balloon designs with a little encouragement from you. In the story of the puppeteer, Tony Sarg, you'll find brilliant collage illustrations that show how he would design his new Thanksgiving Day parade balloon on paper. Show students this YouTube video of some of the different balloons they might see in the parade. Then have them create their own balloon design workbook.
Begin by having students draw a picture of their idea and label the different parts of their balloon. Planning it out on paper first will help students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills as they figure out the best ways of building their balloons.
Next, have students make a list of materials they will need for their project such as a balloon, construction paper, and craft sticks. Have them glue samples of their different materials to their planning notebook, just like Tony did when he was planning a new balloon.
Finally, have students build their own parade balloon. Send home a parent letter requesting donations for some of the different supplies you'll need for this classroom project. Put all of the materials in baskets or trays and let students choose whatever they will need to build their balloons.
When they are finished, have students practice procedural writing as they write the steps for how to build a Thanksgiving parade balloon. This is a great way to increase student engagement during the holiday season while still covering lots of standards-based skills in first grade. A really fun culmination to this unit would be to put on your own balloon parade in the hallway for all to see!
Ready to add some fun Balloons Over Broadway activities to your November lesson plans? This resource includes everything you need and is the perfect way to introduce your students to Tony Sarg, the puppeteer extraordinaire who developed the famous balloons that we all love in the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Get your students excited about learning this November with these fun activities! Click here to view this resource.
Looking for more November read-alouds and activities? Check out these posts:
Take a minute to save these ideas to your favorite November Pinterest board so you can remember them later!
