Gingerbread House Descriptive Writing Activity

Gingerbread House for Sale Holiday Descriptive Writing Activity

Transform Your Middle School Classroom with a Fun + Engaging Holiday Writing Project!

Use code HOLIDAY at checkout to get 40% off

Are you looking for a way to keep your students excited and focused during the holiday season? 🎁

The "Gingerbread House for Sale" Descriptive Writing Activity is exactly what you need! This resource is designed to spark creativity, boost descriptive writing skills, and bring the festive spirit into your classroom—all while keeping your students fully engaged.

🏡 What’s Inside:

Role-Playing as Realtors: Your students will step into the shoes of a realtor, using their descriptive writing skills to create an irresistible sales pitch for their Gingerbread House.
Brainstorming & Planning: A fun graphic organizer guides students through brainstorming strong vocabulary and descriptive phrases to enhance their writing.
Sentence Transformation: Watch your students transform boring, basic sentences into vivid, detailed descriptions that will captivate potential "buyers."
Creative Real Estate Flyer: Students will put their creativity to the test by designing a real estate flyer that showcases their Gingerbread House in all its sugary glory!

Snag This Festive Activity Today!

See Why So Many Other Teachers Are Raving About this Unit!

We are wrapping up our Gingerbread challenge and the kids and teachers are loving it! Such a fun unit and I am so impressed with my students’ writing. The excitement in the hallway was palpable during dismissal now that I had other teachers “buy” the houses they liked the best. I have a little candy treat for those whose houses sold and a little penguin figurine I got off of Temu that is hilariously smaller than I was expecting. I’m sure they’ll love it!

—Ashley D.

We had such a good time with the Gingerbread Houses! I have a very creative group of 7th graders who LOVE working together, so I decided to make this a group project and they made houses out of cardboard! I cannot get over how unique each group’s house turned out! They also did a great job with their listings! Next week, I invited the other grades to walk through and they can vote on their favorite house!

—Lindsay D.

Mic drop 🎤 My 6th grade embraced this activity. They collaborated and worked hard on the finished product. Now, the excitement builds as teachers post their sold signs. There was so much buzz in the hallway today.

—Kerri P.

The Gingerbread House for Sale could not have gone any better! My students loved it, my admin was impressed that they were still doing work on the last day before break, and EB gave me a plan for the content so I had the time, energy, and bandwidth to plan and prepare graham cracker and candy houses for students to create after! I am so grateful to EB that I could do this fun, albeit messy, thing that could have turned into a disaster but that brought so much joy and laughter to our classroom! I had the rigor and the fun! Thank you SO much EB!

—Genevieve C.

Add to Cart + Start Writing!

🎁 Why Your Students Will Love It:

Interactive & Hands-On: This activity turns writing into a fun, interactive challenge where students can let their imaginations run wild.
Perfect for the Holidays: Embrace the festive spirit in your classroom while still focusing on essential ELA skills.
Develops Key Writing Skills: From vocabulary building to crafting detailed descriptions, your students will sharpen their writing abilities without even realizing it!

📚 Why You’ll Love It:

Easy to Implement: Includes all the materials you need—just print and go! Great for a stress-free holiday lesson plan.
Flexible & Adaptable: Use it as a stand-alone writing activity, a fun holiday-themed project, or even as part of a larger writing unit.
Engages All Learners: With a mix of writing, brainstorming, and creative design, this resource engages different learning styles and keeps your students on task.

Commonly Asked Questions:

What skills are covered in this unit?

This unit covers a variety of skills, but the main standards covered based on the CCSS for ELA are Expository Writing and Sentence Structure.

EXPOSITORY SKILLS:

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.

Use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information.

Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented.

With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE SKILLS:

Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

Expand, combine, and reduce sentences for meaning, reader/listener interest, and style.

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships (e.g., however, although, nevertheless, similarly, moreover, in addition).