Saturday, April 13, 2013

Introduction

 
 
A "smart cookie" is someone who is clever and good at dealing with difficult situations. (http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com)
 

It can be debated whether or not one would desbribe The Gingerbread Man as one smart cookie.
 
Nevertheless, his story provides numerous opportunities for
students around the world to become smart cookies.

 

Gingerbread Man History


 
 
Original Annotated Tale

The Gingerbread Man is a cummulative folk tale.  "Based on built-upon phrases these tales encourage children to join in as new lines are added to a repeated refrain.  The constant rhythm, simple plot, and humor tend to make this popular fare with the youngest children"  (Hancock, 2008).

The original refrain of The Gingerbread Man:
I've run away from a little old woman,
A little old man,
A barn full of threshers,
A field full of mowers,
A cow and a pig,
And I can run away from you, I can! 
 
Modern twists on the tale include the more memorable:
 
Run!  Run!  As fast as you can,
You can't catch me!  I'm the gingerbread man! 
  
If you are not familiar with the The Gingerbread Man, check out the following video narrated by John Krasinski:

 
 

Books

The classic Gingerbread Man or Gingerbread Boy stories have been rewritten as a number of contemporary tales.  Here are a few twists on the classic:


Brett, J. (1999). Gingerbread baby. New York: Putnam.


Dennis, R., & Lyon, T. (2013). The Gingerbread Bear. New York, N.Y.: Cartwheel Books.
 

Ernst, L. C. (2006). The Gingerbread Girl. New York: Dutton Children's Books.
 
 

Ernst, L. C. (2011). The Gingerbread Girl goes animal crackers. New York: Dutton Childrens Books.



Murray, L., & Lowery, M. (2011). The gingerbread man loose in the school. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
 
 
Scieszka, J., & Smith, L. (2002). The stinky cheeseman (10th anniversary ed.). London: Puffin.
 
 
Check out even more exciting twists on the tale at the following website:

http://newsummerfield.tx.schoolwebpages.com/education/components/docmgr/default.php?sectiondetailid=2498

 

Lesson 1 - Compare & Contrast Cookies


Eastern Connecticut State University Lesson Plan Format

 Second Grade - Ashford School

Content Standards:
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy - 2.9  Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g. Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures. 

Prior Knowledge/Connections:
  • Students in this class have previously read variations of The Gingerbread Man as read alouds.  These books include The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray, The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett, The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers by Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Gingerbread Bear by Robert Dennis, and The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka.  They also read The Gingerbread Man  1976 Little Golden Book illustrated by Elfrieda.
  • Students have had experience comparing and contrasting texts using Venn diagrams.
 
 Student Learning Objective(s):
  • Students will locate and mark at least four similarities and four differences between two gingerbread man tales of their choice.  Students will then represent their findings in a Venn diagram.
 Vocabulary:
  • Compare
  • Contrast
 
Essential Question:

How does comparing two texts help to improve comprehension?

Assessment:

Students will complete a Venn diagram comparing two versions of The Gingerbread Man.

 


Materials/Resources:

-  Venn diagram worksheets
-  Variations of The Gingerbread Man text
-  Completed sample Venn diagram
The Gingerbread Man Little Golden Book
The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka
-  Ticket to Leave
-  Two different colored Post-It notes
 
Learning Activities-
Initiation:
  • Tell students that they will be discussing similarities and differences today in class.  Ask the students if they share any similarities with their best friends.  Allow students to share.  Ask students if there are any differences among themselves and their friends.  Discuss how an acknowledgement of similarities and differences can improve a relationship.  Explain to the students that these relationships do not only exist with people, but that they also exist in books.  
Lesson Procedures:
  • Explain to the students that they will be comparing and contrasting two stories together as a class:  The Gingerbread Man and The Stinky Cheese Man.
  • Reread The Gingerbread Man to the class.  Tell the students that you will now read The Stinky Cheese Man aloud.  Explain that as you read, you would like the students to stop you and make note of any similarities or differences with The Gingerbread Man.  When the students come up with a similarity, stick a green sticky note on that segment of the text.  If the students come up with a difference, mark the segment of text with a pink sticky note.
  • After completing the reading of both texts, complete a Venn diagram together as a class.  Record similarities and differences between the texts using the sticky notes as a guide.
  • Explain to the students that they will now be comparing and contrasting two different versions of The Gingerbread Man using the same technique that was modeled and done as a whole class.
  • Break the students into groups of two or three to complete their Venn diagram.  Give each group of students two colors of sticky notes and two books.  Tell the students to begin rereading the stories and identifying similarities and differences.
  • Walk around the classroom and monitor the students.  Assist where needed.
  
Closure:
  • Ask students to share common themes throughout the books.  After sharing, ask the students if there was anything that all of the books had in common.  Question if the students have seen similar themes in books they have read in another class or for pleasure.
  • Give students a ticket to leave before moving on to their next lesson.  On the ticket to leave, have students write down one thing they learned about either of the texts they read by completing the compare and contrast activity. 
 
Intervention:
  • Ask students to focus on literal similarities and differences.  Were the main characters the same color?  Were they chased by similar animals?  Who caught the gingerbread person?
 
Enrichment:
  • Ask students to focus on more inferential similarities and differences.  Why do you think the gingerbread person was running?  Were the gingerbread people in either of the stories doing the right thing?  What do you think the people would do with the gingerbread people if they were caught?  Was it morally okay for either of the gingerbread people to run away?

 

Lesson 2- Riding Plot Diagrams

Eastern Connecticut State University Lesson Plan Format

Second Grade - Ashford School

Content Standards:
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.5  Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action. 

Prior Knowledge/Connections:  
  • Students in this class have previously read variations of The Gingerbread Man as read alouds. These books include The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray, The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett, The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers by Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Gingerbread Bear by Robert Dennis, and The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka. They also read The Gingerbread Man 1976 Little Golden Book illustrated by Elfrieda.
  • Students have been introduced to plot structure before.  Most are familiar with vocabulary terms such as exposition, climax, and resolution and use these terms instead of beginning, middle, and end.
Student Learning Objective(s):
  • Students will correctly identify events from gingerbread stories as part of the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, or resolution.  Students will correctly locate these events on an interactive plot diagram.
Vocabulary:
  • Exposition
  • Rising Action
  • Climax
  • Falling Action
  • Resolution

Essential Questions:
  • Why is the order of story events important?
  • What causes events in a story to happen?
Assessment:
  • Students will be assessed through the completion of their Read Write Think plot diagram.


 
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/plot-diagram-30040.html?tab=2#tabs


Materials/Resources:
  • Gingerbread Man Texts
Technological resources:
  • Computers with Internet Access
  • SmartBoard

Learning Activities-
Initiation:

Show the following video on the Smartboard:



 
Lesson Procedures:
  • Ask students to discuss their initial reaction to the rollercoaster simulator.  What did they notice during the ride?  How did they feel?
  • Explain to the students that story plot structures are often very similar to rollercoasters.  For example, the ride starts off slowly (exposition) and travels uphill (rising action) until it reaches a peak (the climax) and then descends (falling action) and eventually stops (conclusion).
  • Tell the students that they will be exploring the plot structure of one of the Gingerbread Man texts today. 
  • Model the activity the students will be completing:  If necessary, reread one of the Gingerbread Man texts as a class.  Pull up the plot structure page from readwritethink.org.  Show the students how they are able to label and describe different events from the story and place them on the correct location of the plot diagram.  Work together to come up with examples of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution from the story.  Enter the examples onto the electronic plot diagram. 
  • Assign each of the students a Gingerbread Man text.  Have the students complete their own plot structure diagram on readwritethink.org.  Walk around the room and assist students as needed.
Closure:
  • Hold a discussion about trends in the plot structure diagrams.  Were there similarities among everyone's climax?  How did the exposition affect the climax?  How did the climax affect the resolution?  How would the story have been different if parts of the rising or falling action were not included?
Intervention:
  • Allow students who are not familiar with the terms exposition, climax, and resolution to use a plot structure diagram with beginning, middle, and end labels.  Have students focus on mastering these three main points before requiring them to complete rising and falling action.
Enrichment:
  • Students who are masters at the plot diagram structure can focus more of their attention on drawing relationships between different events.  Have the students identify examples of cause and effect within their completed plot diagram.




Lesson 3 - Run, run, as fast as you can!

Eastern Connecticut State University Lesson Plan Format

Second Grade - Ashford School

Content Standards:
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy 2.4  Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

Prior Knowledge/Connections:
  • Students in this class have previously read variations of The Gingerbread Man as read alouds. These books include The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray, The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett, The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers by Lisa Campbell Ernst, The Gingerbread Bear by Robert Dennis, and The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka. They also read The Gingerbread Man 1976 Little Golden Book illustrated by Elfrieda.
  • Most students have had prior experience creating Vokis.
Student Learning Objective(s):
  • Students will be able to locate specific phrases that supply rhythm and meaning in variations of The Gingerbread Man.
  • Students will be able to create their own versions of the famous repeated lines from The Gingerbread Man through a Voki.
Vocabulary:
  • rhyme
  • rhythm
Essential Question: What are the benefits of including rhyme and repetition in a story?

Assessment:
  • As a group, students will locate the repetitive segments of text in the Gingerbread Man stories.
  • Students will be assessed through the repetitive speeches/cumulative tales they create for their Vokis.
Materials/Resources:
  • Gingerbread Man texts
  • Scrap paper

Technological resources:
  • Computers with Internet access
  • SmartBoard

Learning Activities-
                
Initiation: 
  • On a scrap piece of paper, ask students to write down what they believe to be the most memorable line from The Gingerbread Man.  After collecting the papers, ask students to share their answers.  Ask students why they picked that line from the story.
  • Show students the following Voki:
  • Ask students why they believe the rhyming segments of a text are more memorable than phrases which do not rhyme.
Lesson Procedures:
  • Work together as a class to recall the repetitive phrases from the higlighted texts:
    • The Gingerbread Man:  "Run, run, as fast as you can!  You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
    • The Gingerbread Bear:  "Run, run, try if you dare.  You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Bear!"
    • The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School:  "I'm the Gingerbread Man, and I am trying to find, the children who made me but left me behind."
    • The Gingerbread Baby:  "I'm the Gingerbread Baby, Fresh from the pan.  If you want me, Catch me if you can."
    • The Gingerbread Girl: "I'll run and I'll run, With a leap and a twirl.  You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Girl."
    • The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers:  "We're wild Animal Crackers, Hear our fierce roar.  You can't catch us, We're off to explore!"
  • Tell students that they will now have the opportunity to create their own version of the Gingerbread Man's famous mantra.
  • Have the students access Voki.com on their computer.  Show the students where to locate the gingerbread character on the website.  Allow students to customize the character and create his/her own repetitive, rhyming phrase.  Assist as needed.
  • Once the majority of the class has completed the assignment, have volunteers share their creation.

Closure: 
  • Ask students to imagine each of the gingerbread stories without the famous repeating and rhyming lines.  How would the stories be different?  What do those lines add to the meaning and flow of the story?
Intervention:
  • Allow students who are unfamiliar with creating Vokis to work in a small group or be paired with an experienced peer.
  • For students who need help coming up with their rhyme, write down a few beginning lines for them to use as springboards.
Enrichment:
  • Students can extend the activity by rewriting the whole story, instead of just the repetitive phrases.  Allow students to be creative with their choice of main character.

Resources

Brett, J. (1999). Gingerbread baby. New York: Putnam.


Dennis, R., & Lyon, T. (2013). The Gingerbread Bear. New York, N.Y.: Cartwheel Books.

Ernst, L. C. (2006). The Gingerbread Girl. New York: Dutton Children's Books.

Ernst, L. C. (2011). The Gingerbread Girl goes animal crackers. New York: Dutton Childrens Books.

Hancock, M. R. (2000). A celebration of literature and response: children, books, and teachers in K-8 classrooms. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill.

Murray, L., & Lowery, M. (2011). The gingerbread man loose in the school. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Scieszka, J., & Smith, L. (2002). The stinky cheeseman (10th anniversary ed.). London: Puffin.

Squires, J., & Berry, H. (2006). The Gingerbread Cowboy. New York: Laura Geringer.