The students in teacher Wendy Todd’s kindergarten class at Paul Banks Elementary School have, as in years past, generously donated their tips for making the perfect Thanksgiving turkey.

Todd sparked the youngsters’ creativity with the lead sentence, “Let’s cook a turkey!” Details provided by the youngsters reflect a sense of food preparation order, valued family traditions and delight in the holiday.

In order to preserve the “flavor” of the recipes, they are reproduced as the students wrote them. If a word looks unfamiliar, saying it aloud can help.

“It is exciting to see these kindergarteners using the letters and sounds they know to try to put their ideas and thoughts onto paper,” said Todd. “Using phonetic spelling is the beginning stage of writing and really helps build their self-confidence that they can be writers.”

First we go to pops str and bi a turkey and vn we cuc it. We eet the turkey!

– Michael Benjamin

First go to the stor. Next cook the turkey. Then eet the turkey with the spisis. The turkey will be sdoobr doopr. Yumee!

– Gabe Bradshaw

First, you get a turkey. Next you cut opin the top and you put the butr in the hol and ven you eet it with euore cuzins and euore gomus and grompros and euore faleem. The turkey will be usom!

– Gracey Bradshaw

He shot the turkey. He brot it hom. He coocs it on a fir. Evrebode ez it. Tha like the trce.

– Timmy Cissney

First, cach a turkey. Next, put the turkey in the pot. Last, corv the turkey and kok it. It was good.

– Alivia Craddock

FUBI (first you buy) u trci Then cooc the turkey with solt and pepr. Et it up.

– Margo Curtis

First, get a trcee. First by it. Nexft put the trcee in the uvin. The turkey wil bee dlishis.

– Jack Faber

First, by a turkoy. at the stir. Next, cook the turkey. Last cut the turkey. Thin et it. The turkey was good.

– David Hrenchir

First cesh the tarkey and pluk the feths. Next cut the hed of. Make the stufing. Put the turkey in the uvin. When it is dun crov it and put it on the tabl and et the turkey. Its dlish.

– Madi Illg

First, by a turkey. Next, put the spises in the turkey and cook the turkey. Last, et it. It tasts god.

– Carson Lauters

First, to the stor. Next bi a trkey. Last put it in the pan and put spicid on it. Put it in the uvin for two awrs. Cut it and etit. The trce is dlishis.

– Berend Pearson

Fierst bi a turkey. Next pud spis on the turkey. Louse cook the turkey then corv the turkey and gobl it up.

– Addy Pederson

First, he cot a turkey. He pluct the fefrs and pet it in a pot to cook fir 50 minits. It wuz dlishus.

– Brady Shealy

First, bi a turkey. Next, smer it on top with butr. Then pout it in the ovin four 69 hours. And then the turkey will be good.

– Allie Smircich

(Dictated) I got it from a net. I go home and cook it and cut a hole and make rectangles and cut it like an X. Then I eat it. It tastes good.

– Gabe Stanislaw

First by a turkeey. Then we put the turkeey in the uvin. Then we et the turkeey and et it up. The turkeey is yumee!

– Britta Velsko

He cot a turkey bar handed. Then he put it in the pot and cooct it. He at it.

– Calvin Wedvik