The Gingerbread Man/Real Gingerbread

Animal adaptations, diversity of animals

wrists, suit, skyscraper, silk

Essential Question

The big question of this issue of Storyworks 2 is, what can we learn from the foods we eat?

• Reading and discussing “The Gingerbread Man” and “Real Gingerbread” along with the other themed texts in the magazine (the Mini Read, “The Pokémon Café”; the past to present feature, “The History of Tacos”; the fiction piece, “Stone Soup”; and the poetry kit, “A Lot Dog”) will help kids think critically about this question.

Show “The Big Question” Video (10 minutes)

Watch “The Big Question: What Can We Learn From the Foods We Eat?” (This video also goes with other stories in this month’s Storyworks 2.)

• Before your students watch, ask them to think about the question “What can we learn from the foods we eat?”
• Watch the video.
• After watching, ask the question again. Write students’ ideas on chart paper.

Preview Vocabulary (2 minutes)

• Play the online vocabulary slideshow. This article’s featured words are cottage, darted, gasped, crafty, sly, glimmered, devoured, and root.

Text Preview Bookmarks (5-10 minutes)

• Students can use these evergreen bookmarks to help them preview the text. Our skills page has both fiction and nonfiction options for kids to cut out. They can use the nonfiction bookmark for this story.

• Now tell students they are going to read two texts. One is a folktale about a gingerbread man and the other is about real gingerbread.

ELA Focus: Quiz (10 minutes)

• Pass out the quiz for a quick comprehension check.
• The quiz is available in multiple-choice and written-answer formats.

Mix and Match Activity: Lost Gingerbread People! (1 hour)

• In this whole-class activity, students will decorate gingerbread people printables, write descriptions of their people, and mix up the gingerbread people and descriptions. Then the class will match them again!
• First, pass out the “Whose Gingerbread Person Is This?” printable. Students can decorate their gingerbread people with markers or crayons. Tell them NOT to write their names on these sheets.
• Next, pass out the “Lost Gingerbread Person” printable and have students complete the sentences describing their cookies.
• Create a display with the “Lost Gingerbread Person” printables on one side of the classroom and the decorated “Whose Gingerbread Person Is This?” printables on the other side. Then have students match the gingerbread people with their owners!

ELA Focus: Sequencing (15 minutes)

• Students practice sequencing with the “What’s the Order of the Story?” printable. They’ll cut out pictures from the story and paste them in the correct order.

ELA Focus: Compare Fiction and Nonfiction (15 minutes)

• Using the “Compare Fiction and Nonfiction” printable, students can compare and contrast the features of fiction and nonfiction.

ELA Focus: Parts of Speech (15 minutes)

• Using the “My Yummy Day” printable, students can fill in the blanks with different parts of speech to create a silly story about cooking a meal.

Enrich the Learning: Paired Text Opportunities (time amount varies)

• Making text-to-text connections builds knowledge and comprehension. We layer Storyworks 2 with many ways for your students to make connections.

Whole Issue Scavenger Hunt (15 minutes)

We created a scavenger hunt for several stories in this month’s Storyworks 2, including the paired texts. The scavenger hunt can be done by students independently at home or during class time.

This is a self-contained group of slides that guide your students on a scavenger hunt through the whole issue. It’s not only fun, it also helps them make text-to-text connections. 

To find it, look in your Resources section. Scroll down to Activities. You will see it there.