1. Reading Foundational Skills
1.1. MATCHING LETTERS- Print out gingerbread man cookies with the capital letters on them. On pretend candy pieces, write the lower case letters. Children can lay out the gingerbread men and match the lowercase letters to the capital letters. If students are ready for additional challenge, add pictures to the activity so students can sort according to beginning or ending sound.
1.1.1. Alphabetics and Word/Print Recognition 3.2 Match more than half of uppercase and lowercase letters
1.1.2. Alphabetics and Word/Print Recognition 3.3 Begin to recognize that letters have sounds
1.2. EMERGENT READER- Provide students with copies of The Gingerbread Man simplified story by BB Kidz (2018). In a small group, read the story while prompting children to touch each word as they read and use the picture clues to help with unknown words. Students can then color the pictures in their book to make it their own.
1.2.1. Concept about Print 1.1 Display appropriate book-handling behaviors and knowledge of print conventions
1.2.2. Concepts about Print 1.2 Understand that print is something that is read and has specific meaning
2. Reading/Comprehension Skills
2.1. READ ALOUD- Read the book, The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth. Allow students to help with reading the repeating text. Stop before a few of the character interactions to allow the child to make predictions. Practice retelling the story together after the story is completed.
2.1.1. Comprehension and Analysis of Age-Appropriate Text 4.1 Demonstrate knowledge of details in a familiar story
2.2. PUPPET RETELL- Provide students with popsicle sticks and white cardstock to create character puppets from the story. When the students think they have created all the puppets they need to retell the story, reread the text and see if they can make it match. If not, try again.
2.2.1. Social-Emotional Development 5.1 Take greater initiative in making new discoveries, identifying new solutions, and persisting in trying to figure things out.
2.2.2. Language and Literacy 3.2 Understand and typically use age-appropriate grammar including accepted word forms, such as subject-verb agreement and progressive tense.
3. INTRODUCTION: A preschool child is naturally inquisitive. As they explore their environment and discover new and exciting ideas, they want to know more. Providing children time to wonder builds their creative thinking and reasoning skills (Church, 2006). Sometimes these ideas stem from concrete items around them while other times these interests come from books in the classroom. The story of The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth is an engaging story with repeating text that brings the story to life. As the gingerbread man runs past familiar animals in an effort to not be eaten, the students will become more and more concerned for this loved character. Spending time reading this story with a loved caregiver builds not only early reading skills, but also increases the child's vocabulary which has been proven to impact later academic performance (Flack, Field, & Horst, 2018). Spending time learning in various developmental areas based on a story that the children are engaged in, will motivate them to continue wanting to know more.
4. Physical Development
4.1. COOKIE CUTTER TRACING- Add gingerbread man cookie cutters to the art center. Demonstrate how students can hold the cookie cutter so they are able to trace the shape.
4.1.1. Manipulative Skills 3.2 Show increasing fine motor manipulative skills using hands and arms
4.2. OBSTACLE COURSE- Set up an obstacle course with available supplies. For example, place hula hoops on the ground for children to practice hopping, place a jump rope on the ground to practice walking while maintaining balance, etc. When they finish the course, encourage them to say the repeating text from the book. "Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!"
4.2.1. Fundamental Movement Skills 1.2 Show increasing balance control while moving in different directions and when transitioning from one movement or position to another
4.2.2. Fundamental Movement Skills 2.4 Demonstrate increasing ability and body coordination in a variety of locomotor skills
5. Mathematics
5.1. GRAPHING: Provide each student with a small gingerbread cookie and a paper cutout gingerbread cookie. Ask the child to take one bite of the cookie and then stop. Then make the paper gingerbread man match the real cookie by cutting or tearing off the piece that was bitten. The child can then place their paper cookie on a chart divided into the three areas that could have been bitten off: arm, leg, head. Once all students have completed this activity, guide a class conversation around student's noticings of the graph. Which gingerbread man part was bitten the most, least, etc.
5.1.1. Number Sense 2.1 Compare, by counting or matching, and communicate "more," "same as," or "fewer"
5.2. SORTING: Print out a basket of gingerbread cookie clip art and then laminate. Place images in a basket and encourage students to sort the pictures however they would like. If needed, brainstorm some ideas together before they begin this independent activity.
5.2.1. Algebra and Functioning 1.1 Sort and classify objects by one or more attributes, into two or more groups with increasing accuracy
6. Science
6.1. DISSOLVING GINGERBREAD MAN- Discuss why the gingerbread man needed the fox to be able to cross the river. What would happen if he tried to cross by himself? Record the children's thinking to confirm or disprove thir hypothesis. Lead an experiment to see how long a gingerbread cookie can sit in a small tray of water before it begins to dissolve.
6.1.1. Observation and Investigation 1.2 Observe objects and events in the environment and describe them in greater detail.
6.1.2. Observation and Investigation 1.5 Demonstrate an increased ability to make predictions and check them