The Giant Jam Sandwich Activities and Lessons

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Wasps have invaded Itching Down, and the villagers must find a way to trick and trap those pesky wasps. Bap the Baker has an idea that just might work. So grab your baking gear, gather your children, and our The Giant Jam Sandwich activities for a week of berry good learning fun.

The Giant Jam Sandwich Activities & Lessons

Here are a few sample lessons from The Giant Jam Sandwich unit study:

Problem Solving
Discuss the problem in Itching Down (wasps!). How did the town people solve this problem? (they held a meeting and asked for help). Problem solving is an important life skill to possess. Discuss some problems your family has encountered (maybe during a power outage or maybe something as simple as when your child is trying to build a train track and can’t get the ends to connect) and how you used problem-solving skills. You may also want to continue your discussion by determining other ways the people of Itching Down could have solved their wasp problem. Have fun with this!

Human Relationships: Community and Teamwork
Can your student remember some of the different ways the people worked together to get rid of those pesky wasps? Could one man have done this job alone? No way! Not even ten men could’ve done this job alone; it took everyone working together including those who:

mixed ingredients to make the bread dough (have your student count all the people who are on this page)
sewed a tablecloth
transported the loaf to the old brick mill to bake
cut the slices of bread off the loaf
cheered others on
took the bread to Farmer Seed’s field
buttered the bread
brought the jam
spread the jam
were in flying machines waiting to lower the top piece of bread on the wasps

Science Lessons

Bees vs. Wasps
What are the major differences between bees and wasps? Your student may want to make a Venn diagram or chart comparing/contrasting the similarities and differences in honey bees and yellow jackets (they look very similar).

Note: Information about paper wasps, yellow jackets, and honey bees is provided in the full unit study download.

Language Arts Lessons

Rhyming Words and Listmaking
Ask your student if he notices anything special about this story and the way it reads (it’s written in couplets– rhyming words at the end of two successive lines). List some of the rhyming words and see if you can think of MORE words that rhyme with those words.

To access all of the lessons in this The Giant Jam Sandwich unit study, grab an easy-to-print file at the end of this post.

The Giant Jam Sandwich Lapbook Printables

This The Giant Jam Sandwich unit study also includes these printables for your lapbook or notebook:

Wasps vs. Bees Venn Diagram Flap Book
Wasp Diagram
My Map of Itching Down Simple Fold Book
Favorite Jam Graph Simple Fold
Rhyme Time Flap Book
How to Make a Jam Sandwich Shape Book
Yeast/Dough Shutterflap Book
Teamwork Matchbook
My Story Pocket
Recipes Pocket
The Giant Jam Sandwich Word Find

The Giant Jam Sandwich Lapbook Video

The Giant Jam Sandwich has been updated since this video, but you can get an idea for a general lay-out for your lapbook.

How to Get Started with The Giant Jam Sandwich Unit Study and Lapbook

Follow these simple instructions to get started with the The Giant Jam Sandwich unit study and lapbook.

Buy a copy of the book, The Giant Jam Sandwich, or grab one from your local library.
Print the The Giant Jam Sandwich unit study.
Choose the lessons you want to use with your student (a highlighter works great for this).
Choose and prepare the lapbook printables you want to use with your student.
Enjoy a week of hands-on learning with your student.