Gingerbread Week

This week we had fun with gingerbread activities!  We read many books, sang chants, and made a gingerbread man cookie,  After we made our gingerbread cookie, we put it in the oven then set a timer. When we came back for the gingerbread man, we opened the oven and he was gone!  He left us lots of clues for our hunt and we finally found him in the office.  Back in the room we practiced our manners as we were given our gingerbread man to eat.  We then took a vote on who liked the taste of the gingerbread and who did not like it.  

During our gym time, the hippos ran, walked, jumped, and tip toed as they pretended to be a gingerbread man.  We had to listen to do these movements slowly or fast.  The students then did different movements based on our books.  For example, when they heard the word fox, the students swam with their arms.  When they heard the words old lady, they made a bowl with their arms and stirred the dough.  This game worked on listening and memory.

Our letter this week was the letter D for duck!!  We practiced making the D sound and thinking of other words that begin with the letter D. 

Our dramatic play area turned into a kitchen with gingerbread men, pans, an oven, plates, oven mitts, aprons, etc. The students enjoyed pretending!  

During our 2nd Steps lesson we focused on uncomfortable feelings and how our body may feel. For example, our tummy may feel bad, our heart may beat faster, we may breathe faster, etc.  Susie, our puppet, was worried because Sammy was not at school today and she was looking forward to playing with him.  After our story, I held up pictures of children with different feeling faces. We played a thumbs up/thumbs down game.  Thumbs up if we saw a comfortable feeling and thumbs down if the feeling was uncomfortable.

Learning goals this week:

• fine motor practice-cutting, art, manipulatives, writing name, dot to dots, stencils
• cutting out paper chains
• making decisions independently
• answering questions from the different stories
• comparing books read in class by questioning/same/different
• putting gingerbread men in numerical order and by size
• working together to solve problems
• gross motor
• playdough with cookie cutters, gingerbread man sheets, and items to complete the gingerbread man
• counting, recognizing numbers, tracing them and matching # to quantity
• sensory tub with flour, cinnamon, measuring spoons and cups
• measuring objects with peppermint candies
• reinforcing our character word, "Caring"
• turning our arch into a gingerbread house
• writing center-tracing gingerbread man, cutting gingerbread men and taping items to our gingerbread house, dot to dot gingerbread men
• practicing positional concepts with our names and gingerbread men
• making gingerbread houses with blocks and magna tiles
• making our own gingerbread man and lemon drop
• making a small gingerbread house out of a small box for our small gingerbread men, then decorating it with all kinds of items
• Journal-Where would your gingerbread man run to??? (making representational pictures)
• Mixing colored water using ice trays and pipettes. (strengthening finger muscles with pipettes)
• Painting snow for our gingerbread house using puffy paint and glitter

Books Read this Week and Next Week
The Gingerbread Boy
The Gingerbread Bear
The Gingerbread Pirate
The Gingerbread Goes Animal Crackers

The Gingerbread Man Loose at School

Questions to ask:
1. What happened to the gingerbread man we made at school?  (he ran away)
2. Where did we go to look for him? (the nurse's office, the cafeteria and the big colorful tree in the hallway)
3. Where did we find him? (in the office)
4. In the book, The Gingerbread Goes Animal Crackers, how did the animal crackers get rid of the fox so not to be eaten? Did they whisper or roar in his ear? (roar)

5. Did the gingerbread pirate get eaten? (no)

6. Did you like the taste of the gingerbread man we ate in class?


Reminders:

*Tuesday 12/19 WINTER PARTY at 11:00 in the Hippo room/PJ Day

*Winter Break 12/22-1/3
*School resumes Thursday, January 4th

Next Week  More Gingerbread Activities and our Winter Party!!

Enjoy the hippos in action!!

We cut paper to make paper chains for our gingerbread house!

Our dramatic play area turned into gingerbread baking!

The Hippos enjoyed decorating a small gingerbread house
for our class gingerbread man.

We traced frosting before decorating the gingerbread man.

The hippos practiced cutting skills when cutting wrapping paper.

Show and Tell

Show and tell

How many peppermints long is this log? block?

After making the gingerbread house, the students played with
it and all the gingerbread men.

We used buttons, pipe cleaners and googlie eyes
to make gingerbread men. 

The hippos used a variety of materials to decorate their gingerbread men.

We used puffy paint and glitter for snow!

We first painted the gingerbread house white.

We counted dots and matched the number.

Our sensory tub contained flour, scoopers, measuring cups and cookie cutters.

We practiced copying our names for your cards
you will receive next week!

We cut out lemon drops and glued glitter on them.

We used a variety of materials to decorate our big gingerbread house (our arch)!

It was fun to make gingerbread houses out of blocks for our little
gingerbread men!

Sorting and weighing buttons.

Everyone decorated bags for the presents for their parents.

Each student helped press down dough to fill in
our large gingerbread man!

We put him in the oven.

When we came back, he escaped and he left a clue.

He ran from the nurse, but left another clue.

He left another clue in the cafeteria!

He left another clue by the big tree!

Finally we found him in the office!!

Show and Tell

The students placed their name according to the concept given. (below, above, beside, in front of,
between, behind)  For example, place your name above number 2.   

Art fun making snowflake pictures.

We made peppermints by painting with golf balls.

We also colored snowflakes!

We followed gingerbread directions.

Where will your gingerbread man run to???