1-2-3 Come Chase The Gingerbread Man With Me!

I LOVED designing this gingerbread writing and activity packet and am so excited to share it with you.  I hope you have oodles of fun with your kiddos doing these fun-filled activities. 

Before hand, put up the wanted posters in your room.  I've included 3, and think the one with the mustache is a hoot.

Run off the masters and put the notes, signs and clues in a variety of places in your school: cafeteria, library, office, gym etc.  Get your principal, secretary, cafeteria staff etc. in on your "ed-venture" and give them a clue card. 

After reading the original story of the gingerbread man, tell your students that you are going on an ed-venture looking for the gingerbread man, and to be on the lookout for clues of his where abouts.

Before hand, fill out the clue cards using plenty of spatial directions.  To get in some math practice, you may want your kiddos to count steps as they go.

The clue cards also come in black and white, but you may want to print everything in color, laminate, and then save for future years.

As you arrive at the various destinations, have adults at those places, say something like: "Oh no! You just missed him, but he left this clue!"  or "I think I spotted him over by that shelf."  (A clue card is on the shelf.)

After you make the rounds, return to your classroom to find a note on your door that the gingerbread man had been looking for them.  As a special surprise, while you are gone, have a helper set up gingerbread or cookie treats for your snack time. 

Now would be the perfect time to do the "Take a bite" graphing activity.  Children take one bite out of their cookie, and you graph what they bit off.  

I've also included a graph for "Who does or doesn't like the taste of gingerbread?"  Both of these graphs can be found in the Gingerbread Class Book packet. 

(Back to the original packet) I've included a class book where each student contributes a page, writing about the day's adventure.  

There are templates for students to do this separately or in groups. 

They can draw pictures or take a photograph. 

There's also a graphic organizer where students name their gingerbread man and describe him. 

Click on the link to view/download the Gingerbread On The Loose Writing and Activity packet.

Later today side note: Woo hoo!  I was surfing the net looking to see if anyone else did a gingerbread hunt and found a 1st-grade teacher (Jodi) who does this on the first day of school. She made adorable rhyming clue cards.  Click on the link to get her darling FREEBIE. (Fun In First.)

If you did the graphing activity, another fun transition would be to play a quick game of Pieces & Parts. Children color their gingerbread and then cut on the lines to make 6 puzzle pieces. 

Students pick a partner and take turns rolling the dice.  Whatever number they roll they glue that piece on their template.  The 1st one done is the winner.  Click on the link to view/download the Pieces and Parts Gingerbread Puzzle. 

Finally, another follow-up writing prompt I call "You're The Man!"  Your students pretend to become the gingerbread man. 

Where are they going? Why are they running?  What people/things are they running past? What finally happened to them?  I've included a fill-in-the-blank template for girls as well as boys to write on.

Encourage students to do a little research about their destination and include plenty of description in their sentences.  Have kiddo's underline adjectives when they do their rough draft, so they know if they have included enough. 

I filled in a sample to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. 

After students share their page, collect, collate and make them into a class book.  Click on the link to view/download the You're The Man! Gingerbread Writing Prompt craftivity.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  If you'd like to see some of the creative and educational items I spend way too much time pinning, click on the link.  I have an entire board of gingerbread activities. 

Interesting bit of trivia:  "E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.  Gingerbread Husbands: Gingerbread cakes fashioned like men and gilt, commonly sold at fairs up to the middle of the nineteenth century."

1-2-3 Come Do Some Gingerbread Activities With Me!

Gingerbread activites are like Pinterest; does anyone ever get enough?   My daughter frequently asked me why I "reinvented the wheel" each month, spending hours creating new things, when I already had "a ton." 

The easy answer was, I simply LOVE designing stuff!  I'm always looking to improve, as well as keep things current, fresh and interesting.  There must be quite a few teachers who feel the same, as I continue to get requests for "more-more-more" gingerbread goodies. 

I hope you enjoy the newest FREEBIES on the blog today, plus a few old favorites that you might not have been aware of. 

"I need a glyph!" is probably one of the most frequent e-mail requests that I get.  The gingerbread glyph is very popular.  Glyphs are a great way to get to know your kiddos, at the same time whole group assessing listening & following directions. 

Because each one is so different, they make a cute December bulletin board. If you'd like to see my entire glyph collection, click on the link to zip on over to the Glyph Section of my site. 

Many teachers are also in search of worksheets that help reinforce and review a variety of standards, so that they can use them for practice, whole-group assessing, games, something for "early finishers" to transition to, or homework.

With that in mind, I designed a variety of simple, quick and fun gingerbread-themed worksheets that I think your kiddo's will enjoy. 

Plug a few into your Daily 5 activities or sub folder.   Click on the link to view/download the Gingerbread Worksheet Packet.

One of the most popular stories read in December is The Gingerbread Man.  I enjoy collecting various versions, with different endings.  Introducing story elements by reading a favorite book, is a simple way to grab students' attention.  

Give them a list of things you want them to listen for,  then when they realize where the setting is, they shoot up their hand.  When a new character is introduced, they do it again etc.  This is fun for children and keeps them focussed.

You'll be able to cover quite a few Common Core Standards with The Gingerbread Literacy Packet.  I've included picture cards, a graphic organizer, and a story slider "craftivity"  to help students sequence and retell the story.

The slider is my personal favorite.  I updated this old favorite. Adding "frosting" with puffy paint gives it an "awwww-dorable" finishing touch.

There are also pocket cards, 40 traceable word cards as well as a Venn diagram activity.  Click on the link to view/download The Gingerbread Literacy Packet.

For more Gingerbread Venn diagrams, click on the link for some fun ways to compare and contrast a variety of things. 

The Gingerbread Sentence pack is also great for reviewing the story, as well as practicing end punctuation and capitalization. 

You can use the pocket chart cards for a whole group activity and correct the sentences together, or have students do the individual worksheet.

Click on the link to view/download the Gingerbread Punctuation Packet.

Finally, K-teacher Jill, from Georgia, asked if I had time to make some gingerbread activities that involved colors and color words.  I hope you like them too.  Click on the link to view download the Gingerbread Colors Packet.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away. It's my hope that my efforts bring a smile to your students and more quiet time for you.  I enjoy hearing from my visitors; you can leave a comment below or e-mail me at: diane@teachwithme.com

"Had I but a penny in the world, thou shouldst have it for gingerbread." -William Shakespeare.