Holiday Activities and Freebies!
One of my favorite ways to get students excited about writing is to incorporate the season into what we’re writing about! This is especially fun during the month of December as the holidays approach. These gingerbread man writing activities are a fun addition to your December lesson plans!
You don’t have to plan an entire thematic unit in order to reap the benefits of themed learning activities. Adding some themed writing practice to your lesson plans can be helpful for many different reasons:
These gingerbread writing activities are such a fun way to bring the benefits of themed writing practice to your classroom during the holiday season. I love to use gingerbread activities to add some seasonal engagement to the classroom in December, particularly because there are so many great literacy activities to go with the story of the gingerbread man. Here are two of my favorite writing projects that are inspired by the tale of the gingerbread man.
This writing activity is a great way to enhance your December read alouds. Since there are multiple versions of the gingerbread man story, you can use this as an opportunity to compare and contrast different gingerbread read alouds. I have always liked to read “The Gingerbread Girl” by Lisa Ernst in addition to a more traditional version like “The Gingerbread Man” by Jim Aylesworth.
First, you can discuss as a class the similarities and differences between the two stories. You can also discuss how the stories have different endings. This is a great way to get students ready to write! By talking about the stories first, students will more easily recall story elements and events. This will make it easier for them to respond to the prompts of the writing activity.
Once students have had a chance to compare and contrast the stories, it’s time for them to decide which version was their favorite! They love to share which one was their favorite and why! At the top of their writing activity is a place for them to circle which version they preferred. Then, they can write their response as a complete sentence on the lines below.
Next, students will write about the ending of the story they chose. They can write a one sentence summary of the ending, using the whole-class writing as a reference if needed.
A fun way to complete this writing activity is with a gingerbread craft for the front cover. Students can choose the gingerbread character that matches their favorite story, then add it to an oven craft. Your students will be excited to take home their completed writing to share with their families.
After reading and enjoying the gingerbread stories with your class, you can give them a chance to write their own version!
Writing a story from square one is a big task for kindergarten students! This is why it’s so helpful to work together as a class to help students understand the writing process and build their confidence. An anchor chart is a great place to start!
You can brainstorm ideas for the story together as a class, filling out the graphic organizer anchor chart as you go. Then, students can fill out an organizer for their own stories. You can choose to have students fill these out all at once or break it up into smaller chunks.
Once students have completed the graphic organizer, it’s time to write! Again, it’s helpful to work on this together as a class before having students try to write independently. You can go through the anchor chart one part at a time and talk about how you would write about that character or event.
For example, you could discuss how you could introduce the main character on the first page of the story. Once you have modeled this, students can write their own sentence. They can also create an illustration for each page.
Students can continue to work with you and the rest of the class using the anchor chart and then branch off to work on their own for each section until they have an entire story completed.
Once the writing is finished, students can get ready to publish their stories by creating a front cover! This is the final step for this gingerbread man creative writing project. Your students will love sharing their stories with their friends and families!
These two writing activities are also included in a set of fun gingerbread-themed activities that you can use to put together a full thematic unit. This gingerbread man unit includes literacy and math practice, crafts, and more! If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this resource, you can find it in the A Spoonful of Learning shop or in my TPT store.
Be sure to save this post if you’d like to come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these gingerbread man writing activities when you’re working on your December lesson planning.
