Date: December 3, 1999

Grade Level: 1, 2

Subject(s):

• Language Arts/Whole Language
• Language Arts/Literature/Children's Literature

Description: This lesson plan is a great activity for a Language Arts lesson/unit around the holiday season.

Goals: Students will engage in whole language building activities which involve the development of reading, writing, comparing/contrasting, and creative writing skills.

Objectives: Students will be able to:
1. compare and contrast similarities and differences between characters in a story.
2. re-tell a story using beginning, middle, end.
3. perform a short skit written by their (cooperative) group.

Materials:

• stories: Gingerbread Man , Gingerbread Boy (or Baby )
• chart paper
• felt, yarn, and other craft material to make puppets

Day 2:
1. Read Gingerbread Boy (or Baby - your choice).
2. Introduce or review what a Venn Diagram is with the students. Discuss the differences and similarities between the two stories.
3. Put students into cooperative groups, and allow them to choose a particular character from the story (for example, one student would be the gingerbread man, another the cow, etc... ).
4. Show students how to create a puppet from felt and yarn. (This part requires a little pre-planning, but it is worth the effort). Trace a larger version of the outside of your hand and cut out. Punch holes around the edges of the felt puppet, and "sew" with yarn - or Wonder Under. You may need a little assistance from a volunteer, depending on the ability of your class.
5. Students write or plan their own version of the play to perform.