Jan Brett's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Story 

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas  by Jan Brett

Supplemental Stories

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas  by Mary Engelbreit

“Twas the Night Before Christmas  by

Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book by Molly Rockwell

choose some supplemental St.Nicholas picture books to complete your study

Narration with innovation suggestions follow each subject. 

 *Trim the top of a red file folder for the lapbook into a miter to begin this project. We trimmed it with gold.

Character/Faith

v After reading the chosen story discuss the virtues of humility and charity as modeled by St Nicholas. 

v Research the office of Bishop. 

 What qualifications are necessary?

 Do Bishops normally get nominated by the people as St Nicholas did?

 Who is your local Bishop? Archbishop?

v For which countries, causes, and groups of people is St Nicholas a patron saint?

v St Nicholas’ tomb in

Myra

was a popular place of pilgrimage. What is the Catholic definition of a pilgrim?

v The sailors of

Bari

made a box to hold St Nicholas’ relics. What is a relic?

v students may wish to follow the suggestion found on at St. Nicholas Center

 to give anonymous gifts to a needy person without seeking recognition. Alternatively, siblings could draw names to be secret St Nicks to one another for the remaining days until Christmas.

History/geography/culture study:

v Read about the life of St Nicholas

v Make a timeline

v Narration with innovation: cut a graphic of St Nick and trace several blank pages on which to narrate his bio. Compile in order and attach with a gold brad at the miter to make fan book.

v Find a map of Asia Minor and compare to modern day

Turkey

     Narration with innovation: print and paste into lapbook

v Narration with innovation: A more in-depth geog option would be to compile St Nick customs  from various countries and make them into a map book – Could accordion fold paper and paste map on left side and the custom on the right.

v Identify the symbols associated with St Nicholas and narrate the stories behind them

     Narration with innovation: compile into vertical layered book (or tab top book) with symbols outside/explanation underneath

v Follow the development from St Nicholas as Saint of the Church into Santa the popular folk figure. Make a timeline. Who is responsible for the character of Santa as we know him now? 

v additional stories of St Nicholas for children can be found here and here, for older students.

v Watch the Jan Brett video online to see where the story is set.

v Find Stockbridge

Massachusetts

. Put Twas the Night Before Christmas story disk on

Massachusetts

.

v Look through the Norman Rockwell book to see how he depicted Christmas. Look for people and places in Stockbridge.

Language /Copy work options:

v *There are a number of stories about the life of St Nicholas on the Kids Pages link. Any of these may be used for copywork. 

Younger

St. Nicholas lived a long time ago, but he was a real person like you and me. When Nicholas grew up, he became a bishop. He kept on giving gifts to the poor, in Jesus' name.
Middle

"Here I live," smiled the man, "but after I leave my sticks I will carry your sack to your journey's end with a good heart, for it is Christmas when all men should help their fellowmen." 

from story on  St. Nicholas Center.

Older

Nicholas vowed that he would bring the Gospel of Christ to the people and defend the faith from all those who would assail it. Bishop Nicholas then lived his life in faithful service to God as protector of the poor and helpless, as advocate of justice for those in need, and as a faithful defender of the Christian faith.

v select a poem to memorize this week.

v memorize ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas

v Optional extras on the site include word searches or crosswords that can be completed as language fun work.

v preschool students may enjoy an echo story complete with hand gestures to act out

Additional titles to peruse!

Critical Thinking

v Compare/contrast St Nicholas and Santa

     Venn Diagram

  Narration with innovation: 2 flap minit bk

Art

v Compare the art in the three versions of the book.

v Print a Saint Nicholas icon. Study pictures of real icons. They are certainly different from the art styles in the books we are using. Use glitter glue and glitter paint to paint the icon printed from the website.

v choose an art/craft project such as the felt puppet

    Narration with innovation make a pocket to store your puppet in the lapbook

v create stand up St Nick dolls

v color pictures of St Nick to illustrate a notebook-style report

v The graphics included in the craft pages on the site would be excellent to make into cards for the shut-ins of your parish.

v St Nicholas is especially loved in the Russian Orthodox church which is known for its icon art. Research icons and see if you can locate St Nicholas icons on the internet. Follow this link for a meditation on such an icon:

Music

v Listen to and learn a traditional St Nicholas hymn or two.

v Music students may wish to print the sheet music and play traditional St Nicholas songs

Drama

v Students may choose a script and perform for the family.

v Older students may wish to organize a larger presentation for their homeschool group,  parish or local nursing home.

Cooking

Read The Baker’s Dozen and make St. Nicholas cookies from the cookie cutters available on the website.

Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby Lapbook

Story 

The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

Supplemental Stories

Musabi Man: 

Hawaii

’s Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Man Jim Aylesworth

The Gingerbread Doll by Susan Tews

Read Alone: “Hansel and Gretel” and other stories by the Brothers Grimm

Social Studies

Compare the Hawaiian version of the story to Jan Brett’s story.

Narration with innovation (for the lapbook): Make a Venn diagram of the comparison.

Language Arts

This is a great book to use to reinforce a sense of story and story structure.

v This book is a circle story, so we can present it to the children with the circle drawn and divided into twelve parts.  Prepare pictures representing each part. As you read the story, paste the picture into a section of the circle, working your way around until you return to the first segment which was the picture of Matti's home. I laminated the finished wheel and then I placed another cardstock circle with just one wedge cut from it over the top and secured with a brad. Now, the circle can be turned to show each segment in turn as the child re-tells the story. You can see the wheel on the upper flap.

Narration with innovation (how to make the circle for a lapbook): Make an 8 inch medium weight cardstock circle. Divide into have twelve sections:

1) The house from the title page (that's where the story begins and ends)--2 1/2 X 3 1/4 inch reduction on the copier trimmed to fit the wedge

2) Gingerbread boy in the bowl .2 1/2 X 3 1/4 inch reduction on the copier trimmed to fit the wedge.

3) mother and father searching --copier reduction again

4) Cat--I printed this page as is and just trimmmed the figures

5)Dog--as the cat

6)goat--as the cat

7) girls with braids knotted--copier reduction

8) fox--as the cat

9) milk man--copier reduction

10) pig--as the cat

11) river scene --copier reduction

12) Matti with the gingerbread house --copier reduction

All my children enjoyed the circle story lesson. For the older ones, I encouraged them to write a detailed narration of the Gingerbread Baby, bearing in mind the structure of a circle story. The protagonist begins at home, goes on an adventure and then returns home.

v Discuss the structure of the story using the terms conflict, rising action, climax, and denouement. 
Be certain the child understands each term and can identify the part of the story.

Narration with innovation (for the lapbook): Gingerbread doll fold:

Accordian fold a piece of paper four times and cut into a gingerbread shape. There is a pattern at this site:

Decorate the cover of the folded book to look like the gingerbread baby. Opening it out, on the first fold, write “conflict,” then on the next one “Rising Action,” then, “Climax” and then “Denouement.” The children will identify and dictate each part. You can record these on the bodies of your folded dolls if you type and fiddle with the font.

v Look closely at the parallel story unfolding in the insets in the margin and discuss parallel construction.

Poetry and copywork:

Run, run, as fast as you can!

You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!

Once there was a gingerbread man,
Baking in a gingerbread pan.
Raisin eyes and a cherry nose,
Trimmed right down to his fingers and toes.
A gingerbread man in a gingerbread pan!

Here's the old woman who made him so sweet,
A treat for her and her husband to eat,
She made him with flour and sugar and eggs,
She gave him a face and two arms and two legs.
A gingerbread man in a gingerbread pan

Now open the oven to see if he's done,
This gingerbread man, he know how to run.
Out of the oven and onto the floor,
Now run away out the kitchen door.
The gingerbread man, he's out of the pan!

Now chase him old woman, now chase him old man
Chase him, yes chase him as fast as you can!
Through the garden and out the gate,
Catch him right now, before it's too late.
The gingerbread man, he's out of the pan!

Along came a cow who wanted a treat
And the gingerbread man, he looked good to eat
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a horse who wanted a snack
But the gingerbread man, he never looked back
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a farmer who wanted a treat
And the gingerbread man, he looked good to eat
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a dog who wanted a snack
But the gingerbread man, he never looked back
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a hog who wanted a treat
And the gingerbread man, he looked good to eat
Run, run, as fast as you can
You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man
I'm the gingerbread man and I'm out of the pan!

Along came a fox who wanted a treat,
And this gingerbread man, he looked good to eat.
Jump on my back, my gingerbread pet,
And we'll cross the river, so you won't get wet
Mr. Gingerbread man, who's out of the pan!

There was no place to go, there was no place to run
And a ride on the river could be lots of fun!
So off with the fox did Gingerbread go
And what happened next, you already know
To the gingerbread man, who's out of the pan

That sly old fox had a de-lic-ious treat

And the old man and woman had nothing to eat
Not a bite was left for the cow or the dog,
The horse or the farmer or hungry old hog
There's no gingerbread man in or out of the pan!

So let us go home and get out the pan
And we'll make ourselves a new gingerbread man!
And when he is eaten, we'll make us some more
But this time we'll be certain to lock the back door!
A new gingerbread man, in a gingerbread pan! 

Art/Cooking

v Watch the video online of Jan Brett drawing and reading The Gingerbread Baby 

v Mix and bake and decorate gingerbread baby cookies.

v Make gingerbread houses; kits are fine.

v Sequence the steps in making the house.

v Narration with innovation (for the lapbook) Gingerbread flap book:

At the Jan Brett site is an interactive activity where the children can decorate their own gingerbread houses. Each child did this activity and I printed the finished product at 75%. This became the cover of the book, seen pictured in the middle of the lapbook.

We built our gingerbread house from a kit. I save the picture directions, copied them for each child and cut them apart. On the next page of the book, a green piece of paper, cut to  the shape of the house, the child glued the steps to making the house in order.

The final page is another shaped green paper with a photo of the child building his house.

Stay tuned for plans for more Jan Brett Christmas books and a link to Kim's Jan Brett Lapbooks.