Food for Thought
A Kindergarten Social Studies Integrative Unit
Created by Jessica Custer-Bindel
Chapati. Learning about bread around the world
Day 4
Bread Around the World
Preschool-Kindergarten
Subjects:
Social Studies, Arts, Language Arts, Technology, Math, Science and Nutrition
Purpose:
Bread is a staple of life, and many children eat it every day. People all around the eat bread, but many breads around the world have different flavors and textures. Through this lesson, we will explore different ways of making and eating bread, and discover breads and countries they originate from. The lesson culminates with a chapati cooking class.
Duration:
Two hours
Materials:
World map
"Bread, Bread, Bread" by Ann Morris
Chapati, Injera, Ciabatta breads
Computer (for surveymonkey poll)
Objectives
Learners will:
Identify different breads and countries of origin.
Make connections to food and culture.
Make connections to food, its consumption, and food customs. Use their senses to examine breads.
Circle Time:
Take a trip to other lands with Ann Morris's colorful book, "Bread, Bread Bread". The photo index at the back of the book provides background information on a variety of breads and cultures as well as interesting information about each picture. Take an imaginary trip around the world through the book and learn about all different kinds of bread. Encourage the children to observe how the text travels through the pages.
Talk about the variety of breads depicted in Ann Morris's book. Find out how many children have tasted each of the breads shown. Ask children to name other breads they've tasted. Notice the photos of the Indian family and the chapati (Indian flat bread) they are eating. Point out that in India, it is customary to eat with your fingers.
Song:
There Are Seven Continents http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NVrN-0aQV1o
Small Group Activity:
Display three breads on a tray (chapati, injera, ciabatta). Each bread will be labeled with "name of bread" and "country" from which each bread originated, and one descriptive word. Read aloud each label and identify the country on the globe.
Explain to students that there will be samples of each bread on a tray. Each sample is numbered 1-3. They must figure out which bread is which by appearance, texture, and smell. Ask students how are they going to tell the difference between each bread? (taste, touch, smell, feel, sound - Connect the students to the experience). Once students have examined the breads, they can take a surveymonkey poll.
Students wil reconvene to see surveymonkey results.
Cooking Class:
Chapati (Indian Flat bread)
Before You Cook
Help children locate India on a map. Explain that the most popular bread eaten in India is called chapati (ch pat' e or che pa' te). This bread is flat because it's made without leavening agents. Remind children of the difference between leavened and unleavened bread. Mention that chapati is prepared quickly on a hot griddle and is served in India, in some parts of Africa, and in the Caribbean. The Caribbean version of this bread is called roti and is sold by street vendors. It can be wrapped around a variety of fillings and eaten on the go.
Recipe:
Recipe makes 10 servings 1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup hot water or as needed
Directions:
In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the olive oil and enough water to make a soft dough that is elastic but not sticky. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth. Divide into 10 parts, or less if you want bigger breads. Roll each piece into a ball. Let rest for a few minutes.
Heat a skillet over medium heat until hot, and grease lightly. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out the balls of dough until very thin like a tortilla. When the pan starts smoking, put a chapati on it. Cook until the underside has brown spots, about 30 seconds, then flip and cook on the other side. Continue with remaining dough.
Centers
SCIENCE: Yeast experiment. Follow a basic bread recipe with the children helping you mix the ingredients. Before shaping the dough for rising, take out enough to make three balls. Place each ball in a clear glass jar and cover this with plastic wrap. Use a piece of masking tape to mark the height of each ball of dough on the outside of the jars. Place one jar in the refrigerator, one in a warm place with no drafts, and place the last one in a neutral spot (neither warm or cold). Check on the balls of dough from time to time to see how they are rising. Ask the children, "Do you think it makes a difference if the dough is put in a cold or warm place?"
ART: Thaw frozen bread dough to make bread designs. Make sure all the children have washed their hands. Encourage them to explore it with their senses (touch, smell, sight). Show them how to roll snakes with the dough. Make animals, alphabet letters, or anything they imagine with the dough. When all the dough has been used and arranged on a baking sheet, bake the bread
in an oven following the package directions. After the bread is baked and cooled, serve the bread art as a snack.
WRITING: Make a Bread, Bread, Bread book. Children fill it with writings and pictures about bread from other lands. Children can recall information learned from the story and find their own creative ways to share this material with others. Assemble the book and display it in the classroom.
DRAMATIC PLAY: Set up a bakery! Bring in scales, menus, aprons, and breads to sell!
Home/School Connection:
Ask the parents to bring in and share some of their favorite breads with your class. Here are a few different types of breads to try: Jewish challah or matzos, pita, Mexican tortillas, English scones, French baguettes or croissants, American corn bread, English muffins, Irish soda bread, German pumpernickel, Italian panettone, Swedish rye crisps, and others. Talk about how the breads are alike and different as you enhance your preschool theme on bread.
Other Suggested Books
Tony's Bread by Tomie dePaola
Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
Bread is for Eating by David Gershator
Everybody Bakes Bread by Norah Dooley
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies
CULTURE
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity.
Human beings create, learn, share, and adapt to culture. Cultures are dynamic and change over time.
TIME, CONTINUITY, AND CHANGE
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the past and its legacy.
PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENTS
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments.
The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the relationship between human populations and the physical world.
During their studies, learners develop an understanding of spatial perspectives, and examine changes in the relationship between peoples, places and environments.
INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT AND IDENTITY
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity.
Personal identity is shaped by an individual’s culture, by groups, by institutional influences, and by lived experiences shared with people inside and outside the individual’s own culture throughout her or his development.
PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND CONSUMPTION
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people organize for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
In exploring this theme, students confront such questions as: What factors influence decision-making on issues of the production, distribution and consumption of goods? What are the best ways to deal with market failures? How does interdependence brought on by globalization impact local economies and social systems?
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of relationships among science, technology, and society.
Science, and its practical application, technology, have had a major influence on social and cultural change, and on the ways people interact with the world.
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of global connections and interdependence.
In exploring this theme, students confront questions such as: What are the different types of global connections? What global connections have existed in the past, exist currently, and are likely in the future? How do ideas spread between societies in today’s interconnected world? How does this result in change in those societies? What are the other consequences of global connections?
References:
Lesson plan adapted from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/bread-bread-bread-extension- activities
And http://teachersnetwork.org/ntol/howto/eslclass/breadlesplan.htm
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/preschool-lesson-plans/69852-theme-on-bread-and-baking- with-the-little-red-hen/