It’s December and that means you have to spend some time on Gingerbread activities! We spend a whole week on learning the different stories and outcomes of each.
My Favorite Gingerbread Picture Books
My favorite titles include The Gingerbread Man, The Gingerbread Baby, The Gingerbread Cowboy, The Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Boy, The Ninjabread Man, and the list could go on and on! The students love learning the stories and how they all end a little differently.
Setting the Stage to Engage
Meg inside of the Gingerbread House made with Antsy Pants Play building sticks and butcher paper.
With the help of my student teacher, Maddy, we created this amazing house using our Antsy Pants Build & Play poles to construct it. Then we covered it with brown bulletin board paper. Afterwards, the students helped color the candy and decorate the walls of the house.
We included our light box inside and have sight words posted on the wall to build with the letter cubes and cups. It has become my student’s favorite Word Work Center this month! They also get to work inside during Read to Self and Morning Work.
In addition to the academic benefit of the house, it is very calming and peaceful inside and I have enjoyed having it within my room. I’m dreaming up new ideas to have each month so that I can keep this for my students.
Measurement tools for gingerbread math unit.
Mastering the Measurement Standards in December
We also completed our measuring unit this month. We began by practicing measuring for weight, height/length, and capacity. Students were given the gingerbread men and peppermints to practice measuring length with different objects around our classroom. These measuring tools are a fun an easy way to introduce measuring to Kindergarten Students. You might want to check out my Measurement Unit to get it for your classroom too!
The students had so much fun finding different materials to measure. They asked if they could keep measuring during play time, which makes my teacher heart so happy.
Don’t forget the ELA standards too
Our other centers included building sight words with our Letter Construction Activity Set by Learning Resources. Students began the year by constructing letters and now that they can do this quickly, they use them to make our word wall words.
I can’t wait to share what we have planned for the Polar Express this week. Make sure you check it out here!
