Emily Orlins

Food and Community Lesson 2: Baking Bread

Aim: To continue our focus on cooperation and community through food activities.
Goals and Objectives: Students will be able to cooperate to make bread. They will do this by
working simultaneously (two at a time) and encouraging each other.
Common Core State Standards:
Domain 1: Approaches to Learning
2. Actively engages in problem solving
c) Communicates more than one solution to a problem.
d) Engages with peers and adults to solve problems.
Domain 3: Social and Emotional Development
4. Develops positive relationships with their peers
d) Sustains interactions by cooperating, helping, and suggesting new ideas for
play.
f) Offers support to another child or shows concern when a peer seems distressed.
Domain 4: Communication, Language, and Literacy
Reading Standards: Foundational Skills
1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
a) Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
f) Differentiate letters from numerals.
Prep for teacher: Prepare ingredients and set them up on the circular table beforehand. Write
recipe on chart paper with visuals for students to follow along. Have Pre-K1 Cooperates chant
up on chart paper.
Materials:
Measuring cups and spoons
Flour
Salt
Warm water
Sugar
Canola Oil
Yeast
Bowl
Bread pans
Large chart with recipe and visuals
Step-by-step instructions on smaller sheets of paper for students (see attached)
Procedure:
Connection/Hook:
We are going to bake bread today! Touch your head if you have baked bread before. In
February, we all worked together to make play dough. Last week, we all worked together

to make corn muffins. How did we cooperate when we made play dough and corn
muffins?
Take responses from students who raise their hand. Yes, we helped each other. We
waited for our turn, and we cheered for and encouraged our friends. Do you remember
our cooperation chant? Lets sing it! Direct attention to the chart paper where this chant
is written.
o Pre-K1 cooperates. I said, Pre-K1 cooperates.
We help each other.
We wait for our turn.
We cheer for our friends.
Pre-K1 cooperates. I said, Pre-K1 cooperates!
Direct Instruction (describing the objective):
Today, we will need to cooperate to bake bread together. Some parts of the recipe need
two people to do things at the same time. Do you think we can do that? Lets read our
bread recipe.
Read the ingredients in repeat-after-me fashion, and then read the steps, while pointing to
each step on chart paper.
What do two people need to do at the same time? Pour flour and mix the batter.
Guided Practice (miming):
Yes, one person needs to pour in flour while another person mixes the batter. Who can
show me what they might look like? Call on two students to demonstrate pouring in
flour and mixing the batter. Nice job! How can we make sure to cooperate while
pouring the flour and mixing the batter?
Call on students who raise their hands to give ideas. Some ideas are that we can talk to
each other; we can pour the flour slowly and mix the batter slowly; we can watch what
the other person is doing; we can encourage each other.
Great ideas! I think we are ready to cooperate to bake our bread! Call on students to
walk from the carpet to the circle table.
Independent Practice (students will add the ingredients and work together):
When everyone is seated, we will take turns adding ingredients and mixing the batter.
Every pair will get a turn to pour flour and mix the batter simultaneously.
Ask other students what each pair is doing to cooperate. They are pouring and mixing
slowly; they are saying good job to each other; they are watching each other; they are
being nice to each other.
Lupe will be taking pictures of this lesson, especially the students working together to
pour the flour and mix the batter.
Conclusion:
Once the dough is made, I will say, Wow, you all used cooperation to make our bread
dough. Each of you worked at the same time as another student, and you communicated
and listened to each other to make sure we made a good batch of dough. Lets give
ourselves a marshmallow clap! After the dough rises, we will put it in the bread pans,
and then in the oven.
After the bread is baked, we will enjoy it with lunch.

Extension: Students can work on other activities simultaneously, using cooperation, such as
creating a piece of artwork (painting, collage, sculpture) in pairs or small groups. They can also
pretend to be baking together in the kitchen, using cooperation.
Differentiation:
I will preview the lesson with Joe and Hannah, so they are prepared to work with another
student to pour flour and mix batter. If necessary, they can work with a teacher for this
part.
I will help students who typically have a hard time waiting (Evan, Hannah, Joe, Sabrina),
by telling them how many more students will go until it is their turn and acknowledging
when they are waiting patiently. I will also call on these students to ask what other
students are doing well. This way, they can actively think about how to be successful
during this activity and stay engaged while waiting for their turn.
I will have a step-by-step directions chart with picture cues, so students can follow along
as we go.
Assessment/Eval: I will write down students suggestions about how to cooperate when pouring
the flour and mixing the batter. Who implements these ideas during our baking activity? Do
students use these strategies in other areas of the classroom and other parts of the day (block
building, artwork, dramatic play, etc.)? Do students continue to work on tasks simultaneously,
such as art or cleaning up?

Bread Ingredients
- 1 package yeast
- 2 cups warm water
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 6 cups all-purpose flour

Bread Recipe
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
2. Add the sugar

salt

and oil.

3. Slowly, add 3 cups of flour while stirring the

dough. Beat until smooth.
4. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft
dough.
5. Knead dough until smooth, about 8-10 minutes.