Bread Making!

Dear Families,

We have enthusiastically begun our new unit this week, “Bread Around the World.” This unit will grow to incorporate science, mathematics, literacy, and social studies as the children explore the different processes used to make bread, different types of bread, and the different ways that bread is eaten around the world. We would love to include some of your own family traditions surrounding bread into our studies. Please e-mail Morah Larissa at LHalfond@ohabei.org if you would like to get involved! You could share a family recipe for a bread product (such as banana bread, muffins, pita, pizza, rolls, or bread) or even come in to prepare your recipe with the children. We will continue with this unit on the week that we return from vacation.

This week, our conceptual focus has been to introduce the children to the unit and to introduce them to two of the processes by which adults make bread: quick breads and yeast breads. We launched our unit with a wonderful book, Bread, Bread, Bread, by Ann Morris. This book uses photographs and text to teach children about the many ways that bread is prepared and eaten by children throughout the world. We have also read an old favorite, Bread and Jam for Frances, by Tana Hoban, as well as It’s Challah Time, by Latifa Berry Kropf. Now that it is December and the children are increasingly able to sit and attend during read-alouds, we have begun to ask the children more questions about the texts that they listen to during these times. The children are invited to make predictions about the books, to talk about how a character might be feeling, or to share what they remember about the text. These questions help us to build the children’s comprehension skills. Comprehension is equally important to decoding (the ability to sound out words) in the children’s success as future readers.

The first kind of bread that we prepared together as a class was corn bread! Morah Larissa demonstrated how adults use a table of contents in a large book to find the right page. We read the recipe together, and then wrote a list of all of the things that we needed. This was a wonderful opportunity to teach the children the ways that adults use writing. Then it was off to the kitchen for the ingredients! The children carefully carried everything back to the classroom, and enjoyed preparing the cornbread together. Cooking and baking in the classroom offer so many rich opportunities for learning. The children practice sequencing and measuring. They experience text outside of the more familiar realm of picture books. Cooking and baking can also be a rewarding sensory experience, as the children look at and smell the ingredients while they are preparing them.

The children noticed how much the cornbread rose as we cooked it, and we explored the science behind quick breads. We tried mixing vinegar with baking soda, and the children loved watching their cups overflow as the mixture reacted. We also experimented with vinegar and baking soda in a pitcher of water with corn kernels. The children loved watching the corn kernels dance!
We have begun to transform our dramatic play area into a bakery. We have added bowls, mixing spoons, aprons, menus, pretend bread, and additional cooking tools. It has been wonderful to watch the children become excited about this area of the room. Dramatic play supports the children’s social and emotional skills as they learn to negotiate with each other over roles and the sharing of materials. It also nurtures their growing ability to engage in abstract thinking.

To support the children in their excitement over the new materials in dramatic play, Morah Larissa created a “Social Story” for the class. This is a teacher-made book written from the children’s perspective that introduces, step-by-step, the expectations for this area. For example, the children learn that while there are some toys where there is enough for everyone to use at once, there are other toys where the children need to take turns. The book reads: “We can tell our friends that we are waiting for a turn. Then we can ask a teacher to help us make a waiting list.” This is a direct way of introducing the children to the routine of waiting for a turn with a toy. By creating a routine around what is sometimes a stressful situation for children, we can alleviate the anxiety and excitement that can result in grabbing and hurt feelings.

We have also introduced a new routine about “calming down” in the classroom. We’ve posted a “Calm Down” chart in the book area, where children are often invited to take a break if they become too loud or active in the classroom. This chart gives the children a series of steps, in text and in pictures, to calm themselves down. The children are asked to take three deep breaths and count slowly to ten. We have also introduced this routine (using the chart) as we begin Morning Meeting and Circle Time. This is a great tool to teach the children to become aware of their own bodies and excitement level, and to learn to develop self-control.

On Thursday, we began making challah, and are looking forward to finishing it Friday morning. The children will each take home their own small loaf of challah to share with you during your family Shabbat dinners. The children will also make a challah plate on Friday. We will keep these at school until all of their Shabbat items are ready to be taken home.

We are sad to be saying good-bye to Arturo and his family on December 22nd. The children know that this will be his “good-bye day.” We are preparing a small gift for him and will have a small party on his last day.

Finally, we are looking forward to sharing some pajama day pictures with you next week! The children could not possibly be more excited!

L’shalom,

Morah Larissa and Morah Kate