Gingerbread

Our class ended 2017 with a study of different versions of the Gingerbread Man.  We read each story, identified the characters, repeating text and each ending.  Then we compared each version of the story.  Students also identified their favorite version and drew a picture to accompany their response.  The versions we read included The Gingerbread Man by Karen Schmidt, The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett, The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst, and The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires and Holly Berry.  Throughout the week we also worked on counting objects, syllables, patterns, and letter recognition.

The first story we read was The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett.  The students were asked to recall which animals the gingerbread baby encountered and in what order.  Volunteers stood in line to show the order of events.

In the playdoh center, students used cookie cutters to cut out gingerbread people from gingerbread playdoh.  They then decorated them with buttons, eyes, yarn and other materials.

Our sensory bin had a variety of tinsel.  The students enjoyed feeling the different textures and searching for the gingerbread men hiding within.

As a math activity, students measured one another using peppermint candy printouts.  This practiced one-to-one correspondence and number recognition.  They also compared each other to our giant gingerbread man using the words taller and shorter.

In our dramatic play area the children pretended to be bakers.  They made gingerbread cookies and cooked them in the oven.  There was also a gingerbread house for the children to act out some of the stories we read.

In the art center children used different colored puffy paint to decorate gingerbread people.

One morning each child was given a gingerbread cookie and asked to take a bite.  We graphed which part of the gingerbread body the children ate first.  Almost everyone bit off its head!

As always the children enjoyed singing and movement activities with Mr. Ken.

Our class attended its first all school assembly.  We sang holiday carols led by Mr. R the music teacher and several teachers.  The children were amazing!

 

We ended 2017 with a winter party hosted by our room parents.  The children made snow globes, played a game and enjoyed a feast of delicious treats.  Thank you to everyone who contributed!