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Last year about this time, I began working with my oldest son on how to format a friendly letter (with the heading, greeting, body, etc.). I created a free printable that he has kept in his Writer’s Notebook. We refer to it quite often as he writes letters. This year, I decided to bump it up a notch and work in a little persuasive writing, too!
A Gingerbread Man Persuasive Letter
Before writing, we read several versions of The Gingerbread Man together (his favorite being The Stinky Cheese Man) over several days’ time. In most versions, the fox eats the gingerbread man in the end. We had a good discussion as to why the fox was able to eat him when all the other characters were not. We talked about the power of persuasion. The fox was sly and was able to persuade the gingerbread man to trust him.
I challenged him to write a letter (using the format of a letter) to the gingerbread man. He had to think of a way to persuade the gingerbread man to come with him instead of running away. We brainstormed a few ideas together and even talked about what Matti did in The Gingerbread Baby. By the way, this is an excellent way to enhance a child’s comprehension of the story because the child has to understand the storyline and character’s qualities in order to write an effective letter.
He wrote his rough draft. We revised a bit, then edited it. (He uses a free editing checklist called CUPS.)
He wrote his final copy on a fun gingerbread man template I whipped up for him {free download at the end of post}. He had fun reading it to my mom. She decided if she were the gingerbread man, she would stop running from him! 🙂
So, what about you? How would you persuade the gingerbread man to stop running and come with you? If you could persuade him, would you eat him like the fox or show kindness?
 More Writing Resources from This Reading Mama:
- Persuade the Pigeon– persuasive writing exercise
- Write and Color (creative writing prompts for every month)
- Unleashing the Writer in Your Child (5-day series)
- Simple Writing Lessons– a 12 week series on teaching writing with primary-aged students
- CUPS– a free editing checklist
- Writing Ideas for Kids (Pinterest board)
- Writing with Kids (Google+ Community- request to join!)
Download the FREE Gingerbread Man Persuasive Letter Template HERE!
~Becky
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