Reflecting On All Things Gingerbread before 2016...

 Wow, I am so late to the party but I have really been trying to take a break and enjoy my winter break. It has been fantastic and I have loved every second of it. Before I can wish you a Happy New Year I need to show you some of my December pictures and all the fun we had during the last few days.

I love doing a Gingerbread unit each year and comparing the characters in each version, talking about the "bad guy" and how the events can differ from story to story. It is so much fun to change my voice and stop right before the fox gobbles up that yummy cookie! Each year I buy more books and add to my crazy collection. These are just a few favorites that I have purchased.

I always love to send a gingerbread man home for families to decorate to their hearts content. The kids love to bring them back and show them off to the class.  The parents adore this project and it fills your classroom with such cuteness. Try it!~

If you are on this blog you know how much I love making a sight word game for each theme that I teach and I won't disappoint you... here is another one. I think the chant was "Gingerbread, gingerbread... you are so sweet, run from the fox, or you will be his treat!"

 I made some new math centers this year and one was all about reading a ten frame and recording the number. I started off teaching this in a small group and the kids loved using a clipboard and working with a partner to record their answer. I now make one of these for each theme I teach. This one focused on teen numbers.

 This is an oldie but goodie just for reviewing numbers and practicing their formation. I have the kids use the eraser on the back of a pencil to make the buttons by dipping it in an ink pad. This makes this activity so much more fun for them. I love when math and literacy can be merged.

 We are working on beginning sounds so I started off with an easy version of this using an Open Court sound/ spelling image in the corner of each card. For the child who still cannot figure out the beginning sound for the picture this is a great scaffold to ensure they are successful.

 When will my students get tired of these fishing poles? Never. I cannot imagine them not loving anything I put in this sensory table for them to fish out. I should have filled it with something like colored rice to make it more exciting... next year. This is just another beginning sounds game that has them color in the letter on a response sheet. The sight word coloring sheet is just another way of getting to those color words and the kids still love this activity.

 This was a new activity for me this year. Students had to cut and paste pictures into this grid that begin with the sound being focused on. Some of the pictures are wrong so it makes the littles really think! I introduce this in my guided reading groups but eventually the kids do this independently. I can adapt this for students who need additional practice by just changing the image to something that reflects the theme we are working on... hello winter.

Yes life must include playdough so we added in our favorite kind. Gingerbread playdough rocks and the kids loved using it. I also showed them how to make their own gingerbread man and they loved doing this. They were so adorable.

 After a bizillion centers we finally had our Gingerbread Activity Day and our parents came in to help with the different centers I had. They did an amazing job with all the kids and we ended our day by going outside to eat gingerbread cookies. Most of the kids loved them.

 So it was a great week. The parents were so sweet and helpful and cleaned up all the mess with me. I hugged the children good-bye and set the room up for January. All gingerbread things were put away for another year. A new calendar went up. I turned off the lights and left earlier than usual and was ready for that much needed winter break.
I will be ready for 2016 and a new set of goals for my students. I got to spend time with many friends that I love, family that I cherish, and finally read a book and got some much needed sleep. Now it is time to build new memories...

Getting to the Core of the Gingerbread Man and a Freebie... Run As Fast As You Can!

Our kindergarten classroom has been so busy with gingerbread learning and making our parent gifts. On top of that, we have report card conferences this week too. The children have been working on making their frames using pasta I dyed myself and added glitter to. It was a giant hit with my students. They took their gift making project seriously and did a beautiful job. We hole punched the top and tied a matching pipe cleaner across both sides so it could be hung up! They turned out so beautifully! The kids are thrilled.

Now what is going in the frame? Hold on to your hat. Remember I live in Southern California. My partner and I dressed each child in a hat and scarf and put a snow scene into Power Point and made it a background. The pictures are fabulous and my students look like they are standing in the snow. I LOVE HOW THESE TURNED OUT BUT IT TOOK FOREVER TO DO. I have twins and took their picture individually and together... They look precious all bundled up.

This was my version of  a "write the room" activity I taught students in small group. I wanted to be sure they could do this effectively. For the students who needed more support, I modeled how to make each letter for the beginning sound and they were much more successful. My top group did this more independently and I just put all the cards on another table for them to walk over and get. They loved it. At the bottom of the page I had them draw their favorite character, in a setting. It keep the early finishers engaged and they had so much fun doing it. 

We have been reading stories and comparing and contrasting them (yup I am on my Common Core game) and the kids cannot get enough of that bad guy... "the fox". So I made some games to reinforce the concepts we are working on but I used all GBM images. They loved me for this! I also had them do a ton of collaborative and partner work, practicing oral language and academic vocabulary. They did such a great job with this.

Students had a great time with this sight word game and helped each other with them. They placed them into a graph to record their work. This provides some accountability. Each child used a different colored marker and you could feel the enthusiasm around the room. They were so engaged in their work and I actually let them talk to each other! Woohoo!

FREEBIE ALERT

This is an emergent reader I made several years ago that has the children practice writing numbers and reading some simple repetitive text. They had to draw the buttons on each gingerbread man that matched the number and it was a great way to access their number sense. If you want a copy of this you can grab this right here. Leave a comment and let me know if you liked it! 

The gingerbread play dough was a giant hit this year. I let them use this with ten frame mats I made and it was a great independent center. Try it and I bet your students will love it too! I'm going to add gingerbread cookie cutters this week.

Here students worked together to do a syllable sort using gingerbread pictures. We went over these pictures before I released them and they felt so successful doing this with their teams. The team captain (strong academic student) helped to guide them and those that needed more support got it from others in their group. I love the idea of students teaching each other.

We do a lot of guided drawing in my room so I loved using this Jan Brett video where she shows children how she draws the gingerbread baby. My students were so enthralled with this. It was great fun.

Our students love doing projects with their families and this time we sent home... you guessed it- the gingerbread man. They brought them back on Friday and were so proud of their work. They are so adorable and one family added music and lights to this! Oh my!

This is a flow map I created for my pocket chart. It is to retell the story and is a great performance based assessment to use in kindergarten. It connects directly to my little retelling reader that they use when making their bracelet. The focus is on the gingerbread man being the main character. 

Spinner games have been a big hit in my room this week so I created a variety of them so they can review important math and literacy skills. Students did these with a partner and I differentiated them depending on their needs. 

I would come back and share my activities for our special Gingerbread Activity Day but this is a good peek at the fun we are having. What are you doing in your room before winter break? I am trying to keep them busy and engaged in learning fun!

Cooking Up More Treats for Next Week

I need to find nine billion ways to practice writing numbers so I am sneaking this in (sly fox that I am) next week and I am praying that the kids think this looks like fun. To make the buttons they can use the back of a pencil and dip the eraser in an ink pad. Number writing is still a real challenge for my gingerkids. If this helps you to keep them engaged during all the chaos you can click here to download it.