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BAKING
BREAD WITH THE LITTLE RED HEN
Purpose
For young children, the realities
of life are those within their own spheres of experience. By presenting
children with lessons which are not only verbal but include a multiplicity
of sensory experiences, we can amplify children's understanding and enjoyment
of a concept. With this approach, learning objectives are not lost but enhanced.
In this lesson on interdependence, children experience a variety of learning
methods that help them learn about global interdependence as well as about
how people cooperate to achieve a common goal.
Concepts
A. Interdependence and systems are experienced through
1. Cooking
as a team.
2. Writing a cooperative story of The Little Red Hen
3. Watching people cooperate in the preparation and baking of bread and
bread equivalents.
B. Global Perspectives are experienced through
1. Discussing, tasting, and comparing breads from around the world,
2. Baking various ethnic breads.
3. Reading about and looking at pictures of bread making in different cultures.
4. Comparing, listing, and writing on the variety of ethnic bakeries in
the school neighborhood.
5. Having parents come into the classroom and bake their favorite bread
with the children.
Areas of Study
Language Arts
1. Writing or dictating stories on selected topics related to the lesson.
2. Listening to and participating in classroom discussion.
3. Reading books on bread making in different cultures.
4. Creating a cooperative book and/or play on the story of "The Little Red
Hen."
Math
1. Measuring and using math vocabulary in cooking.
2. Counting and one-to-one correspondence in cooking.
3. Utilizing measuring and math vocabulary in writing recipes.
4. Using map skills (optional).
Social Studies: Experienced through
1. (see Global Objectives)
2. Walking through the neighborhood (thereby becoming more acquainted with
it). 3. Discussing various architectural and ethnic differences and likenesses
in the neighborhood.
4. Using map skills (optional).
Art
1. Illustrating cooperatively the story of "The Little Red Hen."
2. Drawing pictures of favorite breads.
3. Cutting out pictures of different breads.
Objectives
Students will:
- Recognize that
bread comes in many varieties and forms.
- Recognize that
different breads originate in different parts of the world.
- Gain appreciation
for the fact that people like to bake and eat different types of bread.
- Understand that
communities can have a variety of ethnic bakeries.
- Understand that
people must cooperate to make bread together.
- Understand that
they become a "system" themselves by cooperatively baking bread.
- Gain basic skill
building in language arts, math, social studies, and art.
Comments to the
Teacher
Bread is a universal substance. Many cultures have their own varieties
of bread and bread equivalents. Bread is often made as a cooperative activity.
In this lesson, children taste, compare, discuss, write about, bake, and
see bread being made. Through these experiences it is hoped that children
will appreciate the universal quality of bread, as well as the need for
cooperation-in baking bread. Another dimension is added by including your
community in the lesson; children become more aware of their neighborhood
and its diversity.
Activity
A. Discuss bread with children. Ask them where and how they think bread
is made. Distribute a loaf of bread to munch on while you're discussing
bread. Talk about differences in breads. If possible show pictures or
have samples of tortillas, pita bread, rice cakes, etc. Ask children to
draw or to cut out pictures from magazines of their favorite bread, and
write or dictate to you why they like that particular bread. (Send notes
to the parents stating the purpose of the lesson and asking parents to
donate various ethnic breads for sampling in class. You may wish to make
suggestions. Also ask for volunteers to come in and bake with the children.)
B. On a bulletin board set up a world map with your city clearly marked
on it. Place the children's pictures around the map. As donated bread
comes in, place the wrappers around the map, too. Colored yarn can be
strung from the bread wrapper to the country of origin. You may also wish
to make a label for each wrapper stating the name of the bread and its
originating country. Each bread should have its own label and yarn color
to eliminate confusion. Illustrate how your map system works by tasting
another type of bread with your class, pinning up the labeled wrapper,
and placing the yarn on the map. (K- 1 teachers may wish to exclude or
modify this section.)
C. Taste the bread brought in by children daily. Bread munching, taste
tests, and comparisons become an exciting part of the daily experience
for the children. Many children have never tasted many of the types of
bread that are brought in. "Munch time" is a wonderful period to talk
briefly about the culture whose bread is being tasted and about the place
in the world where the bread originated. It is also a good time to read
a book (not necessarily bread-related) about other cultures. Bread tasting
should occur daily for the entire time that bread is being studied.
D. Discuss the story of The Little Red Hen. Have the children re-create
the story in written form or through a play. If the story is unknown to
the class, you may wish to read or narrate it yourself. After the children
hear it from you, they can cooperatively illustrate or write their own
book or make up a play. This story is a wonderful way to emphasize cooperation
and interdependence.
E. Tell the children that they are now going to make bread, but unlike
the Little Red Hen's friends, they are going to cooperate. You may wish
to list with the class the ways to do this, and perhaps to split the class
up into cooking groups with different tasks. Also, you may wish to bake
on more than one occasion, so the cooking group can be smaller÷a volunteer
parent can be very helpful here. Have a child make a large copy of the
recipe (or you can do this). Keep emphasizing cooperation. Go over the
recipe with the children (see the recipes at the end of lesson). As the
children are assembling the ingredients, you might want to point out to
them how they are part of a system. While munching on the bread your class
made, you may wish to discuss how the class worked together to create
your goodies.
F. Review the children's cooking experience and tell them that now they'll
be going out into the neighborhood to see how other people work together
to make breads of all types. Have the children guess what kind of bakeries
they'll see and how many they think are in your area. Record the answers
and take your tally sheet on your walk.
G. Take a walk around your neighborhood. On the walk, check to see how
accurate the children were with their guesses. Be sure to have them keep
track of the number and varieties of bakeries so you can make graphs when
you return to school.
H. Visit a bakery. Preparation will be needed to visit "behind the scenes."
After you make arrangements with the bakery, go over your own experience
of baking with the class. Inside the bakery, point out how people are
interdependent not only with each. other but with the machinery as well.
Again, the bakery is an excellent place to talk about systems and the
need for cooperation. Bakeries give out terrific samples, which makes
the trip even more fun.
Naturally, the larger the number of ethnic bakeries you can visit, the
more reinforcement and understanding the children can gain about the many
varieties of bread and the people who make and enjoy them.
In suburbs or small towns, you may find few bakeries to choose from. A
visit to the grocery store will help you identify different kinds of bread÷the
variety has increased with growing interest in natural foods. This can
lead to a bakery trip, prearranged, when children find out how different
kinds of bread are made and where they originated. Many bakeries are returning
to old-fashioned methods and recipes÷stone-ground flour, etc.÷and an official
at the bakery can give the class a simple explanation of why old kinds
of bread are coming back.
Other Teaching Suggestions
1. Collect children's recipes. Have children write or dictate to you their
favorite way to eat bread (i.e., how to make a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich). Run off the dittos. Each child will have a cookbook.
2. Collect recipes from parents. Have parents send in their favorite bread
recipe. Copy them and send them home as a gift for all the parents. (The
children may wish to illustrate their parents' copy.)
3. Throw a party. Have a cake and bread, coffee, tea, and milk potluck.
Ask the children to write out the invitations. Parents and children can
bring their favorite bread or cake.
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