For my grade 1 addition culminating activity, students created gingerbread men. Each student was given a gingerbread man template along with red and green “gumdrops” (colourful circles). Each student was given a set number of gumdrops, although the amount of gumdrops varied for each student. I found that through telling students that each of them would receive a different amount gumdrops, students were unable to copy the accompanying math sentence from others. It also allowed me to provide differentiated instruction by giving students more or less gumdrops based on individual abilities.
Students were subsequently required to use their gingerbread man to create a math sentence on a separate piece of paper. They were required to print the number of red gumdrops on their gingerbread man in red crayon and print the number of green gumdrops in green crayon. The students subsequently added the two numbers together. The students really enjoyed completing the activity. It doubled as both a culminating task and an art project to decorate the room!
