The Summit Country Day School

Second Grade

Gingerbread Boy Project

Introduction

The Summit Country Day School’s second grade participates in an annual Gingerbread Boy Project based on author Jan Brett’s book, Gingerbread Baby. In the book, a boisterous gingerbread baby gets into mischief as he outruns his family and the residents of a Swiss village. Second graders decorate a construction-paper cutout of a Gingerbread Boy and send it to someone they know. They explain the Gingerbread Boy has a tendency to get into trouble and ask for help looking after him. The relatives re-port back on their experience.

The project helps students learn vocabulary, geography, foreshadowing, sequencing and skills they can apply to crit-ical thinking, writing and oral presentations.

Will Delworth sent his Gingerbread Boy to his uncle, James Delworth, a U.S. attorney stationed in Baghdad in 2009. Will’s uncle enlisted the help of his colleagues to give Gingerbread Boy a tour of duty.

The Gingerbread came back with this story of his journey and a flag that flew over the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Will Delworth sends

the Gingerbread Boy

to Baghdad, Iraq.

Will sent the Gingerbread Boy

to the country of Iraq.

He flew over the Atlantic Ocean

and over the Mediterranean Sea

to Iraq.

-1-

Gingerbread Boy flew over Baghdad

and saw the Tigris River.

-2-

Iraq is very dry with lots of desert.

Most people live close

to the Tigris or Euphrates rivers.

-3-

Gingerbread Boy landed in the

desert in Iraq.

There was no grass,

just dirt and palm trees.

-4-

Gingerbread Boy

was very hungry

and thirsty.

He saw

a date palm tree.

-5-

Gingerbread Boy

climbed up

the date palm tree to get

some dates to eat.

-6-

Gingerbread Boy was able

to get some dates

from the palm tree to eat.

They very good. He also drank

lots of water, because

it was very hot in the desert.

-7-

There were a lot

of interesting places in Iraq.

Gingerbread Boy decided

to explore

and have an adventure.

-8-

Gingerbread Boy went

to the Crossed Swords

in Baghdad.

-9-

Gingerbread Boy saw

Al Faw Palace,

one of the palaces of

Saddam Hussein.

-10-

Gingerbread Boy went

inside Al Faw Palace

which was very big.

-11-

Gingerbread Boy sat

on the throne used

by Saddam Hussein.

-12-

Gingerbread Boy even went to an Army

Base and met “Rocky,” the mascot of

the 3rd Infantry Division.

When Gingerbread Boy saw

the American Flag, he missed home

and wanted to go back to The Summit.

-13-

Gingerbread Boy saw some Aladdin lamps.

He tried to rub the lamps to see if a genie

would appear and grant him three wishes.

He was going to wish he was back home,

but there was no genie

in any of these lamps.

-14-

Gingerbread Boy tried to find

a flying carpet to fly home,

but none of the carpets would fly.

-15-

Silly Gingerbread Boy,

you cannot ride

on an MRAP

all the way home.

-16-

A nice Iraqi soldier came by and said:

“Can I help you, Gingerbread Boy?”

Gingerbread Boy said he wanted to go home.

The solder told him to go ask a police officer

to help him get home.

-17-

Gingerbread Boy asked some very nice Iraqi

police officers how he could get home. They

told him to go to the United States Embassy,

and they would help him get home.

-18-

Gingerbread Boy saw some

American soldiers. He asked

the soldiers how to get to the

United States Embassy, and

they showed him the way.

-19-

Finally, Gingerbread Boy made it

to the United States Embassy

in Baghdad. They said,

“We will help you get home,

Gingerbread Boy.”

-20-

The Ambassador told the

Gingerbread Boy that he was very brave.

He gave him a flag that flew over the

Embassy as a gift to bring back with him

to The Summit Country Day School.

-21-

They put Gingerbread Boy in a box

and mailed him back to you.

Gingerbread Boy will be very happy

to get back to The Summit Country Day

School and see Will again.

-22-