December Monthly Themed Idea Topic: GINGERBREAD

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1 December Monthly Themed Idea Topic: GINGERBREAD Writing After reading the classic story of the Gingerbread Man, work with your student to journal about these questions. Why do you think the Gingerbread Man ran and ran? What would you do to catch the Gingerbread Man? Beginning Middle End After reading the story ask your child to write one sentence about the beginning of the story, the middle of the story and the end. This is a great way to see if they comprehend the story as well as chance to practice writing a short summary of a story. Math Lower Elementary: Give your student small paper plates with one numeral written on each plate. Ask your student to place the number of Gingerbread cookies on each plate or card, according to the numeral written on the plate. Adapt this activity to include addition and subtraction practice if your child is ready for this.

2 Upper Elementary- practice estimating measurements with gingerbread cookies or cutouts. Point to an object ( i.e. chalkboard) and ask your child to estimate how many gingerbread men that object is. After they guess, use your cookie or cutout to get the exact measurement. Reading Read two books about the Gingerbread Man and compare and contrast the stories. Here are two books you can use, but there are MANY others out there. Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett Gingerbread Man by Karen Schmidt

3 Read the following poem together. Have your student practice oral reading with this poem. Once they have mastered it, make a recording of them reading it so they can hear how they sound. GINGERBREAD MAN POEM Once there was a gingerbread man, Baking in a gingerbread pan. Raisin eyes and a cherry nose, Trimmed right down to his fingers and toes. A gingerbread man in a gingerbread Here's the old woman who made him so sweet, A treat for her and her husband to eat, She made him with flour and sugar and eggs, She gave him a face and two arms and two legs. A gingerbread man in a gingerbread Now open the oven to see if he's done, This gingerbread man, he know how to run. Out of the oven and onto the floor, Now run away out the kitchen door. The gingerbread man, he's out of the Now chase him old woman, now chase him old man Chase him, yes chase him as fast as you can! Through the garden and out the gate, Catch him right now, before it's too late. The gingerbread man, he's out of the Along came a cow who wanted a treat And the gingerbread man, he looked good to eat I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the Along came a horse who wanted a snack But the gingerbread man, he never looked back I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the Along came a farmer who wanted a treat And the gingerbread man, he looked good to eat I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the ( continued next column) Along came a dog who wanted a snack But the gingerbread man, he never looked back I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the Along came a hog who wanted a treat And the gingerbread man, he looked good to eat I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the Along came a fox who wanted a treat, And this gingerbread man, he looked good to eat. Jump on my back, my gingerbread pet, And we'll cross the river, so you won't get wet Mr. Gingerbread man, who's out of the There was no place to go, there was no place to run And a ride on the river could be lots of fun! So off with the fox did Gingerbread go And what happened next, you already know To the gingerbread man, who's out of the pan That sly old fox had a de-lic-ious treat And the old man and woman had nothing to eat Not a bite was left for the cow or the dog, The horse or the farmer or hungry old hog There's no gingerbread man in or out of the So let us go home and get out the pan And we'll make ourselves a new gingerbread man! And when he is eaten, we'll make us some more But this time we'll be certain to lock the back door! A new gingerbread man, in a gingerbread

4 Crafts Help your child dip various size cookie cutters into paint to make their family Make some Gingerbread Play dough ahead of time and bring it to school to play with. Talk about how it smells and feels. Bring in cookie cutters and a rolling pin to make some gingerbread shapes together. 1 cup flour 1/2 cup salt 2 tsp. cream of tartar 1 cup water 1 tsp. vegetable oil lots of cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, whatever! DIRECTIONS: Mix the dry ingredients. Play with the spices till you get the scent and color you want. Mix water and oil together first and THEN add them to the dry ingredients and stir. In a pot, cook the mixture for two to three minutes, stirring frequently. The dough will start to pull away from the sides of the pan and clump together. Take the dough out of the pan and knead the dough until it becomes soft and smooth. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.. Design a modern day gingerbread man. 1. Ask the children to imagine what a modern gingerbread man might look like 2. Have them decorate and color their modern gingerbread man. 3. You may want to provide some magazine clippings of modern clothes or some shiny stickers to help them decorate their gingerbread man.

5 Game