One of my favorite read alouds to use in the kindergarten classroom is The Gingerbread Man. This classic story is always a favorite for young students, but it’s also a perfect read aloud to use for comprehension practice. In this post, I’m going to share some engaging Gingerbread Man activities for kindergarten that you can use to help students build their comprehension skills after enjoying this story together as a class.
The Benefits of Kindergarten Read Alouds
Read alouds are such a powerful tool for literacy instruction in kindergarten. They give students the chance to do the thinking work while you as the teacher do the reading work. This means that students can practice important comprehension strategies as they listen to a story being read aloud. You don’t need to wait for students to be fluent readers in order to practice reading comprehension! In fact, research has shown that reading comprehension starts with listening comprehension.
In Hollis Scarbourough’s Reading Rope infographic, language comprehension is an essential strand that intertwines with other skills that lead to skilled reading. Using read alouds in kindergarten will give your students the chance to develop their language comprehension skills, ultimately becoming more fluent and confident readers.
Participating in daily deep conversations surrounding real-world literature will allow students to strengthen their thinking and build a strong foundation for reading.
Gingerbread Man Activities for Kindergarten
The Gingerbread Man by Jim Aylesworth is a fun read aloud to share with your students, especially during the weeks leading up to winter break! It’s a great way to incorporate the season into your daily learning routine without discussing a particular holiday.
There are many ways to help your students practice reading comprehension strategies as you share this read aloud with them. Here are some examples:
1. Visualization
Skilled readers make pictures in their minds as they read a story. You can give your students the chance to practice this skill with visualization activities!
Give each student a piece of paper to use for their visualizing practice. Invite them to draw the picture that comes to their mind when the story tells them that the Gingerbread Man popped out of the oven and ran across the floor. Once their drawings are complete, your students will be excited to share what they visualized with a partner or table group.
2. Character Traits
Understanding the characters in a story is an important skill for students to develop because it can help them better understand what happens in the story (and why). The Gingerbread Man is a perfect story for exploring character traits!
In the case of The Gingerbread Man, the character traits of the fox can help students understand how the Gingerbread Man was ultimately tricked. You can discuss what it was about the fox that allowed him to outsmart the Gingerbread Man. As part of this discussion, you can create an anchor chart where students can document the different traits of the fox in the story. Exploring character traits can go a long way in helping your students improve their comprehension skills.
3. Story Retelling
After reading the story together as a class, you can help your students practice retelling the events from The Gingerbread Man. This also gives them the chance to practice sequencing story events.
You can give students illustrated story cards to help them remember what happened in the story. Students can then arrange these cards in order on a sheet of paper, gluing them down once they are sure they have them in the correct sequence. You can then invite your students to practice retelling the story to a partner, using the visual they created to help them remember the events.
This adorable oven craft is another fun story retelling activity for students to complete after reading the The Gingerbread Man. Students can color the different characters from the story and use the oven craft to store the pieces. When they’re ready to retell the story, students will have everything they need at their fingertips!
4. Vocabulary
Another reason why I love read alouds in kindergarten is that they expose students to new vocabulary through engaging stories. You can include vocabulary practice activities to help students deepen their understanding of new vocabulary words from The Gingerbread Man.
These practice cards include space to write the new vocabulary word along with synonyms and antonyms. Students can also write a sentence with the vocabulary word to show that they understand the meaning of this new vocabulary. As you explore new words from the story with your students, you’re helping them build a bank of vocabulary knowledge.
5. Comprehension
Another Gingerbread Man activity that you can include in your lesson plans would be comprehension practice. Students can practice answering comprehension questions in different formats like multiple choice and true or false.
As they answer the text-based questions, students will also be learning how to navigate these question formats. This skill will be something students will need throughout their education!
Printable Kindergarten Gingerbread Activities
All of the printables shown in this post (and many more!) are included in a set of engaging Gingerbread Man read aloud activities. This easy-to-use resource includes everything you need to plan an engaging read aloud experience in your kindergarten classroom.
This set of Gingerbread Man activities includes scripted, research-based lesson plans that will help you plan an engaging, interactive read aloud for your students. This resource isn’t just a packet of worksheets. Instead, these lesson plans and activities will guide you through the process of using a quality read-aloud book to teach the grade-level standards for reading comprehension.
If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this resource, you can find it in my TPT store.
Save These Gingerbread Activities for Kindergarten
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these Gingerbread Man activities when you’re putting together your ELA lesson plans!
