Instead of having a Christmas party or even a holiday party in December we put on a Gingerbread Man Play for my students grandparents. It is wonderful! We spend the first two weeks of December reading all of the Gingerbread Man books I can get my hands on. We then talk about who the characters are in each book, where the setting is in each book, and what happens in the books. This really teaches my students that structure of a book/story. After we have read all of the books we write our own story. First, my students tell me where they want it to take place. This year they wanted it to take place on a Ice-Cream Planet. Next, they decide who they want the characters to be (remember that you need enough characters for every child in your class). My students wanted a mix of Star Wars Characters, Pirates, and Aliens. It was quite a unique play. Then they gave me some ideas of what they wanted to happen in the story. After that I went home and wrote out the story based on the ideas I got from my students. Then I recorded it on a CD using audacity. That way I wouldn't have to read the play while directing it. Just make sure to leave enough time for the students to move to their spots or say their lines. Then we spent about a week and a half practicing our play. Each of the children made a mask (made from a paper plate and a craft stick) for their character. I also made programs for the grandparents and after the play the kids went to the cafeteria with their grandparents to eat gingerbread cookies. It was an excellent holiday idea that did not center around Christmas!
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