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Thanksgiving
 A Letter from Your Nervous Thanksgiving Turkey

A Letter from Your Nervous Thanksgiving Turkey
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.56

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    jerking, sneaking, wattle, eyesight, ridiculous, spectacular, future, splendid, fully, plotting, running, saying, spite, fate, cultural, needless
     content words:    Ben Franklin, Christopher Columbus, Turkey Trot, Butterball Company, United States, White House, Harry Truman, Abraham Lincoln, Got Beef, Your Nervous Thanksgiving Turkey

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A Letter from Your Nervous Thanksgiving Turkey
By Colleen Messina 		  
1     Hey all you Turkeys!
 
2     Gobble, gobble! I am your future Thanksgiving turkey, and I thought you might like to know a few bits of trivia about me before you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner.
 
3     Before you chomp down on your turkey drumstick (I shudder at the thought), you should know that Ben Franklin felt that I should be the national bird. He thought that the bald eagle was a coward. I'll admit, he did say that I was vain and silly, but he still thought I would be a better choice. I think that coins with turkeys on them would look splendid.
 
4     My name, turkey, comes from the word "tuka." Tuka is an Indian word for peacock, and Christopher Columbus felt that he had discovered India and that the turkey was a type of peacock. Others have noticed that when a turkey is scared, he makes a "turk, turk, turk" noise, so maybe that is why I am called a turkey.
 
5     No matter how we were named, the fact remains that we are a stunning bunch. An adult male turkey has lovely plumage, or feathers, and he does a spectacular dance to attract the ladies. Only the males can gobble. A male turkey is called a tom. The ladies make a lovely, gentle clucking or clicking sound.

Paragraphs 6 to 12:
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