The Gingerbread People Teachers’ Resource Pack

Thank you for being part of our very exciting Gingerbread People Project (supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England). We are proud to be part of the Manchester Children’s Book Festival.

Contents2. Plot synopsis of the performance Pre-performance workshop summary

Description of activities3. Jobs

Curriculum links: Citizenship/ PSHE, Mathematics (data handling), English, Computing Different jobs, different hats - matching and sorting Hats in Hoops Finding out about jobs - research A-Z of Professions 4. Gingerbread Recipe

Curriculum links: English, Mathematics, Design and Technology Spot the text features Choose your verb Bake the recipe and report writing

4. The Gingerbread People Curriculum links: English, Design and Technology, Art

Getting Away! Who’s the best at… ? Gingerbread Detective

5. Persuasion Curriculum links: English, Geography, Art

Wanted! Climb on my back… A letter to a Baker

5. Materials Curriculum links: Science, English

What’s in the kitchen? ‘Uh-oh! It’s made of the wrong material!’

5. Role Play

Resource sheets6 & 7. Different jobs, different hats8. Spot the text features9. Choose your verb10. Bake the recipe and report writing11. Getting Away12. Who’s the best at…? 12. Gingerbread Detective 13. Wanted!14. Climb on my back…15. What’s in the kitchen?15. ‘Uh-oh! It’s made of the wrong material!’

�1

Plot synopsis

The Baker is writing their autobiography. All their family are bakers. They reminisce about being a child and the jobs that they wanted to do.

[For pupils in EYFS, the Baker is reading his Baby Book.]

The Baker enjoys reading and writing but needs to get on with the day’s orders. Starting with gingerbread, the Baker accidentally picks up The Book of Friendship rather than the Recipe Book. With the children’s help, some wonderful ingredients go into the mixing bowl and magic dough appears. The children will knead and prepare the dough with the Baker before it is shaped into a person and put in the oven.

The Gingerbread Man (portrayed by a puppet) will appear and after being reassured that they won’t be eaten, helps the Baker with the jobs.

The Gingerbread Man thinks about writing his autobiography [or Baby Book] which prompts the Baker to tell him the original story. It is during this that the Gingerbread Man first gets the idea that if your world is made of gingerbread then only your imagination limits you; why not bake a bridge or a boat to escape? The children will help to create this imaginary world for him.

[For KS1 only, the Gingerbread Man will bake some more Gingerbread People to help (portrayed by actors). While being supportive and encouraging, they are rather competitive with each other; finding out who can run the fastest, jump the highest, dance the best. Unfortunately they bolt when they think they might get eaten.]

The Baker wants to bake something special for the Gingerbread Man (puppet) and bakes him a puppy.

Gingerbread Man loves the puppy but this makes him even more nervous about someone trying to eat them. He imagines being a clown in the circus or a pirate in order not to be chased. These both have their drawbacks (his jokes might not be funny enough and he definitely does not want to hurt anyone or be hurt) and finally he realises that what he needs is to be the King/Queen!

He makes up rules which are intended to keep everyone safe and to have fun but the puppy and Baker are both very unhappy - they can’t be themselves.

Gingerbread Man is full of remorse and the children will help him to be a better friend to puppy and the Baker.

Pre-performance workshop

As well as introducing ourselves, during the workshop we will ask the children for ideas of friend-ship and what makes a good friend. We will also ask them what rules they would have if they were King or Queen. Some of these will be incorporated into their performance.

�2

Jobs Different Jobs, Different HatsThere are memory match cards for the different hats worn by professionals. Some pupils might also try matching the image with the name of the job.

Hats in the HoopsTo extend their thinking, lead a discussion on why the different hats are worn, perhaps in-troducing the words ‘protection’ and ‘identification’. Can they sort the hats according to their purpose? Are they used to make the person easily identifiable, for protection or both? You might use a Venn diagram, like the one below:

Finding Out About Jobs - ResearchChallenge the children to find out about the jobs they have been thinking about, or that THEY would like to do then they grow up.. Can they find out three things about the job? What would be the best thing about doing the job? What would be difficult about doing that job?

As a starting point, this BBC page offers short clips of people explaining more about their jobs:https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/pshe-ks1-ks2-what-is-my-job/zrdkt39

A-Z ProfessionsAs a class, take turns to choose a profession that begins with the next letter of the alpha-bet. You could challenge yourselves to remember all the professions that came earlier in the alphabet or put actions to the profession.

When I grow up I could be an actor.When I grow up I could be a baker or an actor.

The children could choose a profession (it doesn’t have to be the one that they would like to do) and draw a picture of someone doing the job. This could open up discussion around what different tasks they might have to do, what equipment they might need and what clothing they might wear.

�3

Hats for protection Hats for identification

Gingerbread Recipe Gingerbread 1 Can the children identify the feature of this instruction text?

Gingerbread 2 In this version of the recipe, the imperative verbs are missing. Can the children choose the right one from the word bank?

Gingerbread 3 Bake some gingerbread if you can! The children can write their own account of what they used and did.

Gingerbread PeopleGetting Away!The Gingerbread People want to escape quickly! Can you design them something that can help? It could be a plane, boat, car, jet pack with your own details or you could invent a totally new machine. Draw a picture of it - you might like to make it look like it is baked of gingerbread too! Explain your invention to your friends.

Who’s the best at …?The Gingerbread People are encouraging, supportive and competitive! Can you fill in the gaps? There are two columns for you to add your own adverbs.

Gingerbread DetectiveAt home, the Baker has lots of different types of books and writing: fiction like ‘The Ginger-bread Man’; instructions like the ‘Order Book’ or lists of jobs; his autobiography; and fact books like The Book of Friends.

Think about different types of books and writing in the classroom and challenge the Gin-gerbread Detectives to find examples at home.

titlelist of

equipmentbullet points

imperative verbs

instructions in order

�4

PersuasionWantedFrom the original story of The Gingerbread Man, the Little Old Woman has put up a WANTED poster. Ask the children to write a description of him from the woman’s point of view; thinking about how he moves and his personality as well as his physical appearance. There is also space around the figure for the children to draw a background showing where they think the Gingerbread Man might like to escape to! (Think about different kinds of geographical locations such as a beach, forest, cave, mountain and so on.)

Additional discussionThe children might consider: whether the Little Old Woman might offer a reward, how the finder might return the Gingerbread Man, when he was lost, if there is anything that people looking for him should be warned about…

Climb on my back!From the original story, how could the fox persuade the gingerbread man to climb on his back? You could also ask the children how the fox could persuade the gingerbread man to let him help - this should give some different responses. The children can write their ideas around the fox individually, in small groups or as a whole class.

Letter to the BakerThe Gingerbread Man has lots of imaginative ideas about animals that could help the Baker with their jobs. Choose an animal you think the Gingerbread Man would like to have baked. Write a letter to the Baker to persuade them to cook one (How could it help? What is their character like? What might happen if they didn’t have extra help?)

MaterialsWhat’s in the kitchen?The Baker uses lots of different tools and items in their kitchen. Can the children match the item to the most useful material for it to be made of? Some of the objects could be more than one material - this is intentional as the aim of the activity is to open up discus-sion rather than having a single correct answer.

“Uh-oh, wrong material!”A clearer understanding of an object’s function can often come from exploring what would happen if it is made of the wrong material. We hope that your pupils will have some fun discussing what might happen if the wrong material was used for Baker’s items!

Role-play areaCould you turn your role-play area into a gingerbread house? The Gingerbread Man can bake anything he likes; what would he like his home? Use brown paper for the children to imagine, draw or model items for the Gingerbread Man’s home.

�5

Different Jobs, Different Hats

The baker is trying to remember the different jobs they wanted to do when they were young and thinks about the hats they would might to wear to do each one. Cut up the grid below and play ‘memory match pairs’ with the hats on the grid below.

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�6

Can you match the hat with the name of the job?

captain

firefighter astronaut

nurse police officer forest ranger

cyclist beekeeper

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�7

YOU WILL NEED:

a bowl, a spoon, a rolling pin, a gingerbread person cutter, a baking

tray, an oven

1. Turn on the oven to 180 degrees c. 2. Grease the baking tray. 3. Weigh the flour and butter. 4. Pour them in a bowl with the ginger, cinnamon and bicarbon-

ate of soda. 5. Rub together with your fingertips until it is crumbly. 6. Crack the egg into the bowl. 7. Measure the golden syrup and the sugar and add them to the

bowl. 8. Mix it all together with a spoon until it forms a firm dough. 9. Roll out the pastry with the rolling pin. Dust the surface and

the rolling pin with flour so that the pastry doesn’t stick. 10.Cut out shapes using gingerbread person cutters. 11.Place the gingerbread people on the baking tray. 12.Bake the gingerbread people for 10 - 12 minutes.

�8

INGREDIENTS •350g plain flour (and extra for dust-ing) •100g butter •175g soft brown sugar •5 teaspoons of ground ginger •1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon •1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda •4 tablespoons golden syrup •1 egg

HOW TO MAKE A GINGERBREAD

PERSON

YOU WILL NEED:

a bowl, a spoon, a rolling pin, a gingerbread person cutter, a baking tray, an oven

WHAT TO DO: 1. ____ ___ the oven to 180 degrees c. 2. ____ the baking tray. 3. ____ the flour and butter. 4. ____ them in a bowl with the ginger, cinnamon and bicarbon-

ate of soda. 5. ____ together with your fingertips until it is crumbly. 6. ____ the egg into the bowl. 7. ____ the golden syrup and the sugar and ____ them to the

bowl. 8. ____ it all together with a spoon until it forms a firm dough. 9. ____ out the pastry with the rolling pin. ____ the surface

and the rolling pin with flour so that the pastry doesn’t stick. 10. ____ out shapes using gingerbread person cutters. 11.____ the gingerbread people on the baking tray. 12.____ the gingerbread people for 10 - 12 minutes.

crack bake cut turn on mix

place grease pour weigh roll

rub dust measure add

�9

INGREDIENTS •350g plain flour (and extra for dusting) •100g butter •175g soft brown sugar •5 teaspoons of ground ginger •1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon •1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda •4 tablespoons golden syrup •1 egg

HOW TO MAKE A GINGERBREAD

PERSON

YOU WILL NEED:

_________________________ _________________________ _________________________ _________________________

WHAT TO DO:

__________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________

�10

INGREDIENTS•_______________________ •_______________________ •_______________________ •_______________________ •_______________________ •_______________________ •_______________________

HOW TO MAKE A GINGERBREAD

PERSON

Getting Away!

The Gingerbread People want to escape quickly! Can you design them something that can help? It could be a plane, boat, car, jet pack with

your own details or you could invent a totally new machine.

Draw a picture of it - you might like to make it look like it is baked of gingerbread too! Explain your invention to your friends.

�11

Who’s the best at …?

The Gingerbread People know that it’s good to jump high and dance quickly. Can you fill in the gaps? There are two columns for you to add your own adverbs.

Gingerbread Detective

The Baker has lots of different types of bookings and writing at home. Can you be a Gingerbread Detective and find different types of writing and books in your home?

Adverb High

Comparative Louder

Superlative Fastest

�12

�13

The Little Old Lady

�14

What’s in the kitchen?

The Baker has lots of tools and objects in the kitchen to help with baking.

Can you match up the object with what it might be made of? (Some objects might have more than one answer!)

Which material can be used for the most objects?

Can you think of anything else in the kitchen that might be made of this material?

“Uh-oh! It’s made of the wrong material !”

Imagine what might happen if the baking tray was made of glass, the book was made of stone or the scrubbing brush was made of paper…

�15

Material

Wood

Stone

Fabric

Metal

Plastic

Glass

Ceramic

Paper

Leather

Object

Cleaning cloth

Apron

Baking tray

Rolling pin

Chair

Book

Oven door

Mixing bowl

Scrubbing brush