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It is fun to teach about the gingerbread man in your class, it is a story that could be used in a variety of classrooms, both Spanish Immersion Pre-K thru. second grade and in a K-5 FLES class. It is a great story that many revisit every year as a holiday tradition and perfect for schools or classrooms where you will not be teaching about specific winter holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Since the story about the gingerbread man isn’t specifically related to Christmas (or any other holiday for that matter) it is a great story to share during December each year.
This is a great story to use for a variety of focuses likes story sequence, comparing and contrasting different versions and character traits. Kids love reading different versions of the gingerbread man story and talking about their favorite parts.
As a class, it is always fun to…
- go on a gingerbread man hunt around the school
- decorate gingerbread houses (we used milk containers and graham crackers.)
- decorate gingerbread cookies
- eating gingerbread cookies and graphing who ate what body part of the body first
- write your own version of the gingerbread man and share it with the class
You can find our Spanish book study and activities for the ‘El muñeco de jengibre’ here.
Books to read during a gingerbread man unit:
There are lots of English language options but not so many Spanish options. I have compiled a list of both languages.
- El muñeco de jengibre By Jim Aylesworth (Also available in Scholastic’s Club Leo)
- El hombre de pan de jengibre (Bilingual) By Catherine McCafferty
- Atrapa a esa galleta By Hallie Durand
- El conchito fuguitivo By James Luna (similar story but about a pig)
- La tortilla corredora By Laura Herrera (similar story but about a tortilla)
English language Gingerbread Books; would be great if you had English time, could collaborate with an ESL or media teacher to read another version of the story in English.
- Gingerbread Baby By Jan Brett
- The Gingerbread Girl By Lisa Campbell Ernst
- The Gingerbread Cowboy By Janet Squires
- The Gingerbread Pirates By Kristen Kladstrup
- The Gingerbread Man By Gail Yerrill
- The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School By Laura Murray
- The Ninjabread Man By C.J. Leigh
- The Gingerbread Boy By Richard Egielski
- Three Pigs and a Gingerbread By Hilary Robinson
- Gingerbread Mouse By Katy Bratun
There are also a few animated versions available on YouTube.— The last two appear to be translated from English.
- El hombre de jengibre
- El hombre de jengibre
- El hombre de jengibrehttps://youtu.be/7sBhW2gbrrg
Have fun teaching about the gingerbread man in Spanish with your students or bilingual kids. I am sure they will love the different versions and would love to come up with their own version of the Gingerbread man/woman/girl/boy/ninja/etc. as well.
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