Only 5 more days left! Only 5 more days left!ย
ย This is the line I keep repeating in my head as I am reaching for that bottle of Tylenol in my cupboard.ย
Of those five days, only four are with kiddos. Yes, I have a PD day the last day before Holiday breakโฆ (grumbleโฆ)
ย This time of year really wears me down! But weโve been busy working through my gingerbread man unit and the kids are having a blast. Thatโs what itโs really about isnโt it? ๐
I blogged earlier this week about our sampling/graphing of gingerbread and of course the overwhelming response was they LOVED it. ๐ย
In addition to our reading of the โtraditionalโ telling of the Gingerbread Man, we also read โThe Gingerbread Girlโ
(LOVE!)
This quickly became the โmust readโ of the day.
We used the two stories to flex our compare and contrast muscles and worked together to find the similarities and the differences.ย
Students filled out this chart from the pack and then shared it with a neighbor. We then glued it into our Reading Response Journals for future reference.ย
Later in the week, as a culminating activity, I had students compare two of their favorite Gingerbread stories in teams of 4-5 students.ย
Gingerbread books we had read this weekโฆ
Each team choose a gingerbread book and took a moment to reread their chosen tale.ย
ย (Reading finger! WOOT!)
ย (Trying to read like a teacher with some help from a friend! :))
(Wish this pic had sound! He was singing the Gingerbread Girlโs little โcatch phraseโ! Fluency? Common Core? Check! Check!)
Once they finished rereading their story, each team received an โAlike and Differentโ poster.
(Forgot to make these in advanceโฆ so they are pretty simpleโฆ)
Working together, they gave *at least* 3 similarities and 3 differences between their version and the classic retelling of โThe Gingerbread Manโ.ย
(Donโt worry, I reminded them about capitalizing proper nouns and story titles, but looks like we need another quick review lesson.)
Hereโs a peek at some of their finished posters.
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Math time was just as sweet!
One afternoon, we used gingerbread boys and girls to measure items around the classroom.ย
ย (Donโt judge the teacherโs desk! This is a real working classroom people! Not a Pinterest page!)ย
Seriously? How cute is this girl?! <3!ย
On Friday, we put our addition and budding subtraction skills to the test with creating a gingerbread house using items purchased from the โSweetโs Shopโ.
You can use a mini milk carton and cover it with graham crackers, but Iโve found it more fun (and completely editable) to use spice flavored cupcakes and cover them with icing.
I gave each student a budget of $1 to spend on candy to decorate their โhouseโ.ย
Using the price list
students filled out their order formsโฆ
Before they could go โbuyโ their candy with their dollar, I came around and checked their math. Great way to grab a snap shot of who is solid in their addition/subtraction with grouping!
Then, they got in line to make their purchases!
(Thank the lord for my amazing parent volunteer!)
Some pics of our finished cupcake houses!
Told you this activity involved one exhausted teacher! LOL!
All of this activities(and Oh so mcuh more!) can be found in my โCanโt Catch Me!โ Gingerbread Unit.ย
Click the pic or here to check this out!
Now itโs time for me to clean (UGH!) and get things ready for my little guyโs FIRST birthday!
#wherehasthetimegone?!
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