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Feed the mind and body!
RAISE a READER
RAISE a READER
Maximize the read aloud experience by incorporating it with the timing,
anticipation and positive sensory experience of baking bread!
anticipation and positive sensory experience of baking bread!
Materials:
oven, bread or muffin ingredients, muffin tins, aprons, sink
Good muffin or quick bread recipe (try Knead It, Punch It, Bake It! The Ultimate Breadmaking Book for Parents and Kids by Judith and Evan Jones for ideas!)
Procedure:
1. After washing hands, children will participate in making the batter or dough by
working cooperatively to measure and mix ingredients, and putting their mixture into
tins to bake.
2. After cleaning up, children will gather around an adult facilitator who will read aloud to them as a pleasant way to pass the time until the baking is completed ("story time"). The facilitator shall read picture books (a chapter book may also be used in serial form for older children). The facilitator shall be explicit as to what is going to be read that day in order to help the children know when it will be appropriate to stop and check or eat the bread.
3. Once the read aloud is finished, the bread is also finished and ready to eat, closing the experience in a gratifying and nurturing way.
This is a program I ran out of my apartment while I was on maternity leave with my son. I invited former students and neighborhood children over for books and baking; they ranged in age from about six to thirteen years old. My favorite afternoon was when we made corn bread and read from Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. You can read whatever you like; if you have older kids, it can be fun to serialize a longer novel. But if you want to start with a baking theme, try any of these!
Great Books to Bake Bread By
Walter the Baker by Eric CarleThundercake by Patricia Polacco
Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells
The Missing Tarts by B.G. Hennessy
The Sleeping Bread by Stefan Czernecki and Timothy Rhodes
A Spoon for Every Bite by Joe Hayes
A Baker's Portrait by Michelle Edwards
The Woman Who Flummoxed the Fairies by Heather Forest
The Little Red Hen (traditional, I like the version illustrated by Margot Zemach)
Getting Something on Maggie Marmelstein by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
"The Talking Bread" from Richard Scarry's Funniest Storybook Ever by Richard Scarry
The Biggest Birthday Cake in the World by Elizabeth Spurr
The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone
The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake by Nancy Willard
Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
Tony's Bread: An Italian Tale by Tomie de Paola
Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris
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