What Turkeys Have For Thanksgiving

by John Riggio

We all know what we have for Thanksgiving, but what about the turkeys? In this lighthearted song, we delve into the realm of a turkey's diet - on Thanksgiving Day or any other time of year for that matter. We researched turkeys in earnest, so it's definitely cross curricular!

The song is very singable with straight ahead rhythms. On top of that, your students get to gobble. (Cue the entrances and cut-offs yourself.) The most difficult part of the song will be keeping a straight face during the turkey commentaries. The turkey on our CD is definitely from the East Coast, which puts a different twist on the song. We envision a kid in a turkey costume pretending to "say" the comments with the CD. (Odds are, her 'beak" will obscure her mouth.) She should use grand gestures to punctuate the words.

However, for those of you who have a turkey, er, ham, among your students, we've put an MP3 of this song's tracks minus the turkey voice-over online, so you can use your own turkey with our tracks. You will also find our version of the turkey commentary script there, though ad libbing is encouraged.

If you decide to play the song live or use our online tracks, you can use whatever turkey you like, but remember that he should be a CHARACTER! It's much funnier than just sounding normal. In fact, in addition to our East Coast turkey, our talented voice artist, Abby Wey, recorded a clueless turkey and a hillbilly turkey. But you can use any personality you choose - British, valley-turkey, game show host turkey, whatever.

Online extras - You will find the extras mentioned here under the "Graphics and Extras" for Volume 16, No. 2 at MusicK8.com

Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.