Gingerbread baking season is here. Making gingerbread houses is a messy job but someone has to do it and that someone is me.
I like to start my unit you tube videos introducing gingerbread house assembly and decorating. I will post them on the classroom but also watch in class. This one below is actual assembly of the house not decorating it.
This video goes over some icing techniques. I really like how they show laying the panels flat to decorate before the panel are attached.
After some discussion and videos I give stdents a design sheet for them to start crafing out their ideas. It gets groups starting to talk and I can start to see what they are thinking of creating.
Next I am introducing this year my Gingerbread House Whodunit?
It is a group activity for 6 charachters that takes about 20 minutes. It is to help introduce topics like:
Topics like:
being reckless in the classroom
eating the candy they are supposed to decorate with
not paying attention to due dates
Students are required to read out scripts as the characters. If your class does not have strong enough readers in it for small group play, you can adapt it. It can be completed with the whole class with a panel of 6 at the front of the room reading.
Finally, I have them make the dough using the recipe and cut out templates. These are piece of paper they lay over the dough. Then they cut around the dough and bake it.