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KidZone 
Gingerbread Man Theme Unit

Contributed by Leanne Guenther

Note:  if you don't want to read through the theme unit, click here to go straight to the printable resources list or the book recommendation list.

Five Day Theme Unit

(suitable for children in kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 2).  Portions can be used for preschool.

This page provides day by day suggestions for a Gingerbread Man theme unit.

DAY 1:

Language Arts (Reading and Writing):

• Before reading any stories, ask the children what they know about the classic story, "The Gingerbread Man".
• Take notes on the white board or flip pages.
  
• Read the classic version of The Gingerbread Man to the children (get book from library)
• Revisit the white board.  Ask the children what they can add to the information now that they've read the story.

Creative Arts/Following Directions:

• OPTIONAL:  If working at home or in a dayhome setting, consider baking gingerbread cookies and allowing the children to cut out the gingerbread man shapes and decorate the cookies.
• Provide the children with the Gingerbread Man Glyph to complete (you need the instructions template and the gingerbread man template for each child if the children can read.  Otherwise, you'll need to read the instructions template aloud to the children):

  

  • Glyph 1:  color the gingerbread man according to the directions.
    • Instructions Template
    • Gingerbread Man Template
  • Glyph 2:  color and decorate the gingerbread man according to the directions.
    • Instructions Template
    • Gingerbread Man Template

Math Skills:

• Ask the children to estimate how many boys and how many girls are in the class.
• Pass out the Gingerbread Man Graph to the children
  • Gingerbread Man Graph for Glyph 1
  • Gingerbread Man Graph for Glyph 2
• Have the children visit the bulletin board to fill in their graphs.
• Review the graphs in front of the class and have the children self assess their work.
• Ask the children if they know how many boys and how many girls are in the class based on the results of the graphing exercise.

DAY 2:

Language Arts (Reading and Writing):

• Discuss with the class how classic stories are modernized each generation.  (for example, stories are translated to film -- Disney's Snow White, Cinderella, etc.  Or classic characters are adopted by current authors.)
• Bring in an image of Disney's Winnie the Pooh and compare it to the classic Winnie the Pooh.  Ask the children if they can guess which is the classic and which is the modern version.
• Ask if they have any other examples? 
• Read The Gingerbread Boy (or some other modern version of the story) to the class (get book from library)
• Either as a group (white board) or individually, have the children prepare a "Venn diagram" (two circles -- where they overlap, put things in the story that are the same).

Creative Arts/Following Directions:

• Provide the children with a blank gingerbread man template. 
• Ask the children to imagine what a modern gingerbread man might look like
• Have them decorate and color their modern gingerbread man.
• You may want to provide some magazine clippings of modern clothes or some shiny stickers to help them decorate their gingerbread man. 

Math Skills:

• Provide each child with a ruler (or other measuring tool -- I know many teachers use the teddy bear measurement system or finger measurements).
• Have them measure their Modern Gingerbread Man.
• Write the measurement on the bottom of the template.
• Hang their work on the bulletin board.

DAY 3:

Creative Arts/Following Directions:

• Provide the children with the felt board fun characters for the Gingerbread Man Poem. 
• Have the children decorate their characters (you may not have time for all of the children to complete all of the characters -- if this is the case, have each child complete one or two characters.
• Attach popsicle sticks or straws to each character to make a puppet.

Language Arts (Reading and Writing):

• Read the Gingerbread Man Poem to the class (words provided for you at the link).
• As you read, put the characters on the felt board as they are announced and/or have the children wave the puppets they made.
• If children are old enough to print, hand out the Gingerbread Man shapes booklets and have the children compose their own Gingerbread Man Poem.  
  • Gingerbread booklet cover page - one per child
  • Gingerbread booklet writing page - one to three per child

DAY 4:

Language Arts (Reading and Writing):

• Read the Gingerbread Baby to the children (get book from library)
• OPTIONAL:  prepare another Venn diagram or simply brainstorm on the white board what is different about this story when compared to the other two.
• Discuss the role of the author and the illustrator of a book.  Point out that in this case, Jan Brett is the author and the illustrator.

Creative Arts/Following Directions:

• Hand out the Gingerbread baby templates.  
• Have the children cut out the 9 gingerbread babies along the square lines (they don't have to cut right around the gingerbread babies).

Math Skills:

• Prepare a number of things for the children to measure with their gingerbread babies -- have them write down their answers.
• For example:
  • How many gingerbread babies does it take to get from the door to the teacher's desk?
  • ...  From the door to the student's desk?
  • How many gingerbread babies long is the white board?
• Have the children work cooperatively to measure how many gingerbread babies tall they are.

DAY 5:

Language Arts (Reading and Writing):

• Read the Cajun Gingerbread Boy to the children (get book from library)
• This can be a difficult one to read as it has quite a few cajun words.  Make sure you read through it on your own before reading it with the class. 

Geography:

• The Cajun Gingerbread Boy book is set in Louisiana.  
  • Point out on the map, globe or atlas where Louisiana is. 
  • Point out where you are.
• Imagine with the children what a Gingerbread boy would be like in different parts of the world.  
  • If you've been studying some other part of the world lately, have them imagine a Gingerbread boy from that location. 
  • Otherwise, here are some possibilities:
    • What would an Australian Gingerbread boy look like/say?  What animals might they run into? 
    • What would a Canadian Gingerbread boy look like/say?  What animals might they run into? 
    • What would an African Gingerbread boy look like/say?  What animals might they run into?  

Math Skills:

• Print out whichever Gingerbread Man math theme sheets you want (there are many skills and grades covered) 

Other Resources:

Good for send home sheets or free time activities:

1. Baking Cookies Story Sequencing
   
2. Gingerbread Man coloring page
3. Gingerbread Man fold and cut paper chain
   
4. Phonics worksheets -- the phonics ending "an" is used frequently in the story (man, ran, can, etc).  Create a MY "AN" BOOK using the phonics worksheets provided.