Baking Apple Crisp
I had planned a baking activity for Friday, September 22 for both the AM and PM classes. As a way to get the students excited about our first baking experience together, I brought in my apple peeler/corer. I didn’t tell the kids what it was but rather invited the students to tell me what they thought it was. The responses varied. Suggestions included: “a mixer”; “a tree machine”; “a spiker”, “a tool”. I wasn’t about to give it away… On Thursday, I had brought in the ingredients to show the students. Again, I didn’t tell them what recipe I had picked out and invited more wondering. After looking at the flour, brown sugar, oats, a bag of apples, cinnamon, etc the students made more guesses about what we might make the next day. Some of the guesses included: “applesauce”; “oatmeal”; “apple pie.” They were getting closer! Finally on Friday it was time to work together to bake. The center was set up and the students who wanted to participate and help were able too. We discussed cooking safely, and the importance of handwashing. After we all washed our hands we got started. I told them the recipe was for Apple Crisp and then I read the recipe to the eager bakers. I have photos on the display that will be set up in the hallway soon. While we worked together there was plenty of discussion about what was taking place, and about things they have helped make at home. “Oh, it’s peeling off the apple.” (Keita while using the apple peeler) “I haven’t had apple crisp in a long time.” (Charlie) “I want to try that again.” (Andrew- as he was cutting up the apple) “It is so hard to cut the apples. Why?” (Keita as she was chopping) “It looks like oatmeal.” (Andrew, pouring in the oats) “Ok, I’m done now,” (Amira, after participating) “My mom likes it.” (Hassnain as he was cutting an apple) “My mom doesn’t have that.” (Raphael referring to the apple peeler/corer) “What’s next?” (Ananya asking about the steps for the recipe) “Now we spread them,” (Maddia explaining what to do after she poured in the apple mixtur The Benefits of Baking with Children: When children participate in baking they are exploring a multitude of concepts and social skills. Numeracy Skills Baking and cooking provides real life opportunities for children to explore mathematical concepts that include measurement, weight, volume while seeing that math has practical applications. Literacy Skills As children follow a recipe they are learning to follow step by step instructions, following a sequence, and exposure to language related to cooking (mixing, pouring, etc). Science Cooking is science! The observations made, use of our senses, exploring how adding ingredients or changing a temperature can change what product we end up with, are all hands on scientific learning. A Sense of Confidence Cooking allows children to receive instant feedback, which helps them learn and grow in self-knowledge. Learning a new skill and working with others is known to help students develop a healthy self-esteem. They see themselves as capable to do something that ‘big’ people do. Just seeing the students’ confidence when allowed to chop the apples was evidence of this. Fine Motor Skills Using measuring spoons and cups, an apple corer, and even a knife for cutting provides a rich opportunity for fine motor skill development. As students use the tools to prepare the apple crisp they are also developing hand-eye coordination. Fun Cooking is fun! Allowing the children this time to work together to try something new (or not new), to participate freely, create memories and good food is just simple FUN.
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Here we are, the last day of our first week together. It's Friday and we have all had a wonderful first week getting to know one another. We have begun to establish a sense of our classroom community. We are learning how to be a Kindergarten kid! Together we have explored several centers including: big blocks; drawing in the Atelier; dramatic play (there was a lot of cooking happening in our play kitchen); counting and stacking for numeracy; play dough; loose parts; playing and exploring letters; and creating our first piece for our scrapbooks. Also, we have had our first gym classes with Mr. Hurley and our first music class with Ms. Wilson! We have visited the playground and are doing a fantastic job of lining up when being called off the playground at the end of the day. I can't wait to see what our children will explore next week!
Thanks for taking the time to read! Love, Mrs. White "If a child is to keep alive his/her inborn sense of wonder...he/she need the companionship fo at lease one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him/her the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in." (Rachel Carson, Sense of Wonder)
We have a class fish, which we've had for a while now. Each day the line leader feeds our fish, and this is one of the very important jobs he/she has in thier role. The fish is blue, we call him "the fish". This week (Jan. 9-12) we will be getting another class pet! I won't spoil the surprise but make sure to ask your child about what kind of animal we have! As we learn about our new class animal we will be discussing 'what we already know' and 'what we want or need to learn' about this new creature living in our space with us. We will use a variety of sources to find our information including non-fiction books from the library, the internet, youtube, and Mrs Turner (our resident animal expert). As we observe our new pet in class we will be using magnifying glasses, clipboards, pencils, markers, paper, photos, etc as well in order to study and learn about this new animal. As the students observe our new pet, I will be paying special attention to what they are noticing and what questions they are asking. We will share this excitement and wonder together, I will model curiosity and learning (this is new for me as well), we will call attention to our discoveries, and make note of patterns, features and changes we see together. What a wonderful learning adventure! We will be sharing what we learn with you when we come home! Parent's are always welcome to come visit our class pets too! There may come a time when you may be asked to take care of them over breaks:) Stay tuned!... Mrs. White (January 8, 2017) This week, Nov 14-18, the students will be invited to explore the centers photographed here. The students love to sing Oh Canada in the mornings so I wanted them to contribute to making a Canada Flag for our classroom. They were able to use fine motor skills as they ripped paper and glued it on. It also provided an opportunity to work collaboratively with friends. In numeracy we are beginning to explore number sense and the students are invited to make sets as they represent numbers 1-10. As we continue to play with and explore the alphabet, the students were provoked with the question "What does your Alphabet look like?" They were encouraged to use the loose parts to represent various letters of the alphabet. A final center that was introduced this week, that blends very well with our construction site/office explorations and project is the Architectural center. Students were provided photographs of different building structures and small blocks that work well on a table surface in hopes that they would explore building on a smaller scale. They also have clipboards, paper and pencils to encourage them to represent their work in another form, by drawing a 3D object in 2D form. As our week continues, some centers will change and it's always exciting to see where the students take the provocations I've set out!
Thanks for reading, Mrs. White (November 15, 2016) Hello Kindergarten Families!
T his is my first Blog! I would like to show you a part of our daily entrance routine in our classroom. It is our sign in table! Each day upon arriving in the classroom the students have to complete several tasks such as: putting on their indoor shoes, finding and putting on their name tags, signing in on the Epsom board for attendance, and signing in. Signing in allows them to practice printing their names at least once a day. By now, the routine is familiar to all students and they can now begin to take some responsibility for completing their daily arrival routines. In our classroom children are also encouraged to always print their names on the work they complete. Learning the letters of our names and the names of our friends is a first step into the world of reading and writing! You can always practice this at home also. Thank you for taking time to read my first blog! I hope to keep you informed with various activities, special events, routines, explorations and student creations with my blog posts! Mrs. White (November 6, 2016) |
AuthorI am Mrs. Leigh White, Reggio Inspired Kindergarten Teacher at Walter and Gladys Hill Public School Archives
September 2017
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