Gingerbread Friends

Last month we used various versions of the Gingerbread Man story as our unit focus. This was too fun. Of course we had to bake gingerbread men. And I had promised them we would make a gingerbread house out of graham crackers and candies I had purchased on sale at Michael's after Christmas. Clint happened upon a gingerbread tree kit and so we built that too. We read a vast array of stories ranging from the Gingerbread Cowboy to the Gingerbread Girl to a story about an ice cube that runs away from a host of creatures only to be eaten by a whale. I had no idea there were so many versions of that story. We own 3 books ourselves, and the library had quite a few unusual renditions to add to our selection. It was great comparing all the stories and showing how they were alike and how they were different. So, I had the kids do something I probably would not do again. It might have been a good activity for a 6th grader, but perhaps a bit advanced for my kindergartner and 1st grader. I had them complete a chart that compared the various stories (their characters, title, author, and endings) I made them fill out the chart in their own handwriting. So, you can imagine that this took awhile for my budding scribes. However, it was a good lesson to build perseverance. And the English teacher in me wanted them to know what an author and character and illustrations were. They were quite proud of themselves when they finished their charts. (And for the record-- Ethan had to report on more stories and on more topics than Laurel. (my feeble attempt at being age appropriate) They enjoyed making their gingerbread puppets much more. Laurel made a gingerbread girl with blue yarn hair and Ethan made a Gingerbread boy. What I really liked was their own gingerbread story creations. Back at Christmas, I had purchased two booklets shaped like people from Mardel's with just this project in mind. I had the kids write a story and illustrate their story. Ethan came up with the idea of a Gingerbread man on vacation-- in Hawaii. This was so clever. His character basically came to be, because the cooks at a hotel tired of making seafood for breakfast and made a gingerbread man instead. After his escape, the cookie gets chased by a giant orchid, a seagull, a crab, a lava flow, and finally ends up being eaten by a chameleon that is hiding in the bushes and snaps him up with its long tongue. His book cover was quite fitting with a green grass skirt and a lei made of sequins. Laurel's gingerbread girl encounters more of the traditional story's enemies, but I loved the twist she made at the end. When the fox tries to persuade the girl to hop on its back, she spies a bridge over the river and refuses to accept his invitation, opting instead to use the bridge. I wanted her to end there, thinking it a perfect ending, but she insisted that something sinister happen to the villain and so the fox ends up being stung by a whole bunch of electric eels that happened to be hanging out in the river. How about that for an ending. I plan on treasuring those books for many years to come. Who knows. One day I may see their name on the spine of a book at Barnes and Noble.