Mrs. Dingman!! Please!!
How About Something ELSE
for Thanksgiving This Year?? 
November 2009
    We continued our exploration of different types of creative writing by reviewing friendly letters, using a persuasive format. Children created two paragraphs, written from a turkey's point of view. They included vivid descriptions and persuasive arguments for me to choose something else for my Thanksgiving dinner menu. 

Pennsylvania State Academic Standards continued to be met with this writing project:
1.2.5 Reading Critically in All Content Areas
1.3.5 Reading, Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
1.4.5 Types of Writing
1.5.5 Quality of Writing
3.2.5 Inquiry and Design
3.7.5 Technological Devices
Not ME!!
Not ME!!
October 30, 2009

Dear Mrs. Dingman,
My name is Shorty and I'm a cool turkey. On the farm that I live on I see my turkey friends, the great big scary trees, and the grass, which isn't so scary. Also on my farm I smell my delicious dinner, the air, and myself. On the great big farm I live on I hear my friends talking to me like this gobble, gobble. I also hear the cars moving and most of all the leaves crunching. In my favorite farm I taste the best food ever like corn, steak, and even pork! The best thing on my favorite farm is I feel the best feelings ever. I feel strong, happy, and most of all, different!
Mrs. Dingman, please don't eat me. Just drink apple cider. I heard it was a lot better than me. I know... eat delicious mashed potatoes. It's so much better and plus you can put gravy on them. I know what you would rather have than me. Good pumpkin pie. It's the best, even better than me, but you should have an oven stuffer. I think it's the best for a nice Thanksgiving dinner that's for sure. Now I know what's better. Awesome broccoli. That is better and that will complete your Thanksgiving dinner. Don't forget don't eat me! Thank you for not forgetting and for listening!
Sincerely,
Shorty
AKA Jenna P.
Not ME!!
October 30, 2009

Dear Mrs. Dingman,
Hi, my name is Squable. I am a turkey living on a beautiful farm. I love being a turkey. My favorite turkey friends and I eat tasty wheat and seeds. But my favorite food is delicious corn. We don't get to eat much corn because the smelly pigs usually eat it all. I hate pigs mostly because they smell really bad! All you smell on our farm are pigs, pigs gross food, or the horses! I'm glad I don't have a good sense of smell.
It is also loud on our farm. We hear the loud cows, the noisy pigs, and we hear each other because turkeys are so loud! The worst part of living on the farm is the vicious cat. That cat chases us and steals our food!! 
My favorite place to be is the cozy barn. The barn is huge and the vicious cats are not allowed in it. I like to look at the cows too. I always try to find cool shapes in the cows' black spots. Me and the other turkeys on the farm stay close together most of the time. I love being a turkey on this beautiful farm!!
Why do you eat us turkeys on Thanksgiving? A turkey is huge and you will have so much left over. I think you should eat delicious chicken on Thanksgiving. Chicken is so healthy and delicious. Turkey takes all day to cook! If you eat tasty steak it would only take about half an hour. Turkey is dry, but if you eat steak it would be nice and juicy. I know that kids LOVE to eat steak and even chicken!!!! Chicken goes great with nice mashed potatoes. Don't you want to eat something other than plain old turkey on Thanksgiving?? You always eat turkey, but not great steak!! Turkeys are wonderful animals. Thank you Mrs. Dingman for considering something else for Thanksgiving dinner!!
Thank you,
Squable
AKA Jackie 
Not ME!!
October 30, 2009

Dear Mrs. Dingman,
Hi, my name is Plump Pete or Pete for short. I am a turkey on a farm and I am going to tell you about being a turkey. If you are a turkey on a farm you might see some extremely bright leaves, a large red farm, and some fat, smelly cows. Some things you might smell are fat cows, large horses, and very smelly droppings (especially cow droppings!). Things you will hear are moo (from the cows), gobble-gobble (from my turkey friends) and NAY! (from those annoying horses!). You'll taste corn, grain, and sometimes (since you eat off the ground) dirt! You'll feel very cold, fat, and extremely annoyed (well at least I do!) That's how I feel and you probably will too!
Oh yeah, I forgot why I wrote this! I am going to tell you why you should not eat turkey for Thanksgiving and I have a few reasons why. I'm very chewy. No one likes chewy turkey right? I have so much tasteless fat, I have so many stringy veins, and I'll go straight to your thighs! A few more reasons are that stuffing is so much better, and why don't you have mashed potatoes instead? Happy Thanksgiving!
Your friend,
Plump Pete
AKA Hunter
Not ME!!
October 30, 2009

Dear Mrs. Dingman,
Hi, I'm Ham, but I'm a turkey. That's the down side. I live in my nice mountain of grass and the sky. I love it here. There's a beach. I'm an outstanding swimmer there. All I hear is gobble gobble this, and gobble gobble that. It is SO ANNOYING. So I get to make scary animal noises. And the smell! Turkeys smell like nasty dirt! But I have to live with it. I hate that that lazy farmer only watches TV all day! That gets me very MAD. So I bit him. I got in by the dog door. I'm special. I love the warm weather but at night it's so cold the farmer had to come defrost us! We get to sleep in his giant barn. There's only 200 of us. I have to go. Dinnertime!
I'm sad that Thanksgiving is coming. You should not eat me because I taste nasty. All I eat is turkey food. That tastes nasty, very nasty. You also should not eat me because I'll eat you first. I ate a 300-pound giant before. You should eat ham instead of me because ham is great and flavor filled. You should eat mashed potatoes because no animals get eaten. That's why some... I mean most people are vegetarians. Please DON"T EAT ME! PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU! If you eat me my family will hurt you maybe. Wait one moment... mom, will you be mad if people eat me? Yes, my dear. You should not eat me because McDonalds is better. Thanks for not eating me Mrs. D... theme song time... de de de de deee da daaaa. 
From,
Ham
AKA Heather
Not ME!!
October 30, 2009

Dear Mrs. Dingman,
Hi, my name is Turkey Jerky Jr. and this is my life on the turkey farm. On the turkey farm I see other turkeys, people, and a farm. Life on the farm isn't so bad except for the brutal heat. I hear other brown turkeys gobbling which gets really annoying. When I walk around I feel pain from the spiky twigs. Plus when the cars come by the oil smells so terrible we have to hold our breath for 3 minutes. Don't get me started with the bathroom smell. The beautiful flowers here cover up the smell sometimes. What we eat is crunchy breadcrumbs and we only drink milk. The best part is when it snows. When it snows the lake turns to ice. We slide and play on the ice.
Please don't eat me for Thanksgiving dinner Mrs. Dingman. If you eat me you won't be hungry enough to eat all that magnificent delicious ham. Plus who eats turkey anymore? Cheeseburgers and hot dogs are the new eating statement and it's baseball season so it will fit right in. Have you ever had stuffing with buttered corn? It's outstanding. Please don't eat me for Thanksgiving dinner. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Turkey Jerky Jr.
AKA Dalton
Not ME!!
October 30, 2009

Dear Mrs. Dingman,
Hi, my name is Mr. Turkey Jerky and this is my life... during my life I see other animals, people taking pictures of me, and a person riding a horse. I usually smell bacon, gas from a weed whacker, and something odd. Sometimes I hear pigs snorting, cars driving around, and cows mooing (moo!!). I also taste my food, pollen in the air, and something good in my tasty food. I feel itchy hay, grass brushing by my legs, and I am happy to get good food while I live in a barn.
You shouldn't have me on your Thanksgiving dinner menu because if you have bread you don't have to kill an animal, and if you want glazed honey ham it serves a lot of people. Or you could have mashed potatoes because you could have all types such as butter and herb. You could have corn because you can have Cajun seasoning on it or you could just put the corn in the mashed potatoes or you could just do both. You could make a lot of gravy because you could put it on the mashed potatoes or you could put it in a china bowl and pour it in your plate and dip your bread in the gravy. One last thing... turkeys are NICE and they DON'T DESERVE TO BE EATEN!!!!! (gobble, gobble) HAVE SOMETHING ELSE!!
Sincerely,
Mr. Turkey Jerky
AKA Tyler F.
October 30, 2009

Dear Mrs. Dingman,
Greetings, my name is Turkey Jerky and I live on a farm in South Carolina with my turkey brothers and sisters where it's hot like the sun. Now I'm going to tell you about what's been going on at home. Everything's been a little crazy with Thanksgiving coming up. The farmers are giving everyone away and my feathers are falling out and I'm starting to stress out. I'm afraid I'm going to be next!
You definitely should not have me on your menu. I heard cows taste a lot better especially on a grill so why eat me when you can have a nice juicy cow for Thanksgiving or maybe corn? It is a lot better for you. Chicken is good too because you can make a lot more recipes. You can bake it, fry it, or you can even make it into buffalo chicken. It's just so many different varieties of foods. If you make a change of food it just might give you a chance to make a new and improved family tradition. So please try something else and please don't eat me! If you try something else I will be deeply in debt to you.
Sincerely,
Turkey Jerky
AKA Michael
Not ME!!
October 30, 2009

Dear Mrs. Dingman,
Hi, my name is Squawky. I am a turkey. In my marvelous turkey utopia I see many magnificent and terrifying things but first I think I will tell you what I look like. I am a rather plump turkey. I have many friends and 40 brothers and sisters! I have aquamarine eyes. My feathers are hazel and pitch. I was voted Gobble Queen in 2008 because my feathers are the most breathtaking. My utopia is very pretty yet very squished. It has a gigantic sign that says Run Turkey Run but I don't know how to read so I don't know what it means. 
There are other turkeys and some humans with a small silver thing. I don't know what it is so I am hoping that it won't hurt me. I smell many things. Some of them are smoke, gravy, corn, mashed potatoes, and boiled eggs. I hear the ding of ovens, people saying "let's eat", and squawks of other turkeys. I taste food, wonderful food, other turkeys' feet (you do not want to know why), and smoke with faint traces of gravy. I feel scared, anxious, and hopeful.
Now I will tell you... please, please, please, please don't eat me. I am too cute to die. Anyway you can have chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, peas, gravy, eggs, (not turkey eggs though) or whatever else you want... just not me. What did turkeys ever do to you? If you agree to eat this I'll give you my Wal-Mart card so you can buy all you need for a good Thanksgiving. I'll give you anything just do not eat me. Think of all the lives you are saving. Thank you for not choosing me for a delicacy for your Thanksgiving meal.
Your friend,
Squawky
AKA Alyssa
Not ME!!
October 30, 2009

Dear Mrs. Dingman,
My name is Tommy the Turkey. I see food, hunters, other turkeys, and trees... lots of trees. I smell lots of things but the things I smell most are the smell after it rains, the smell of a hunter's deodorant, and other turkeys... stinky. I hear a couple of things too like gobble gobble gobble, leaves rustling, and flapping feathers. Some of the things I eat are verrrrry strange but these are kind of normal like grass, corn, and apples. How I feel and what I feel are grass between my toes and happy. And when I eat, I'm really happy.
Mrs. Dingman don't eat me. Have potato salad because it tastes really good. Or corn... It's way better with melted butter. Or something like mashed potatoes because it would be really mean if you ate my friends and family. This stuff is good... apple pie! It tastes better and I'm not kidding, it's fantastic. Or roasted pig... It's pretty good and you're not eating my friends and family.
From,
Tommy the Turkey
AKA Deston
Not ME!!
Not ME!!
This page was last updated: October 22, 2015