Bread
On Friday we “broke bread” together in our classroom. Kind of literally I forgot a bread knife.
Mrs. Puglisi (who is writing this and feels really silly saying “Mrs. Puglisi” )
made 4 loaves of bread (recipe below) and brought butter so that we could try it for
FRIDAY FOOD DAY. This is a time we celebrate culture, cooking and tasting something new. It was “French” bread and some children had NEVER HAD BREAD LIKE THIS.
Several of my students have never really eaten at what you might call a restaurant. But that’s another story.
We sang a lyric in our Patriotic song “America the Beautiful“…………..
O beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain
America! America!
And some students wondered what that meant when we were signing it.
We sing and sign our songs. And then we began to talk about wheat, bread, flour and baking. Life. What sustains us.
What is your comfort food?
“The staff of life”, the stuff of life, our food and our sharing is important. Feeding our world is important almost beautiful work to be done. America certainly produces wheat. And has had a role in food production and bread. One of the wonderful things communities have are bakeries, so we talked about that too. And about visiting (in the future) a bakery near us.
We talked and watched a Reading Rainbow on bread and dough.
We actually tried some yeast in cups to see it bubble and “rise” and then we read “The Little Red Hen.” That story is one Mrs. Puglisi illustrated in a new version by her friend Steve Clark. In this fractured tale version the hen wakes up stuffed with bread but with no friends. She recalls things they did “do” and realizes just maybe that we all have our own “ways” and our own value.
This book contains the core of Mrs.Puglisi’s belief systems and her friend Steve is a very good writer/thinker. And together two very different people found a way to share their core values. What is important is not judging laziness but recognizing another’s perspective, looking more broadly and empathetically. It matters to consider all the truth and not just your bit/piece/slice of it.
Here are Mrs. Puglisi drawings from the book….
She wakes up bloated on her bread.
Alone in her house…
Taken in (See more photos here)
Thinking.
She thinks about telling them no bread….
Taken in (See more photos here)
She remembers what happened, planting, threshing, asking..for help…
Taken in (See more photos here)
Once a wolf came to eat her.
Taken in (See more photos here)
Dog saved her that time.
Taken in (See more photos here)
Once rats got in the grain but cat saved her.
And so the story goes on…………she is remember ways the others did help her.
There is so much to know about bread. And about wheat.
But first let’s talk about how delicious it is.
Do you know the story of the Little Red Hen?
We are working on SEQUENCE, RETELLING and Main Idea in our 1st Literature Theme called “All Together Now.”
The Red Hen is a story about “working together.” It is a folk tale about a group that do not assist someone who really asks and needs help. When later rewards come they do not share in them. Many see this as a “lesson” to kids.
As a teacher I’m always interested in what they REALLY “hear”….what often is missed in teaching is “checking for understanding”, asking then to re-tell or answer a question and “listening” to that.
Here is what the children said when I asked,
What is the Lesson of The Little Red Hen?
Elephanturez said…..
“Sylvia said crocodile.” After pondering that awhile he added, “She got so mad. By herself she did it all. Dog said, ‘Not me.’ So I do it myself.”
Chelsea said..
” It’s a story about helping people when they need that help.”
The Fish said…
“It don’t, the dog, don’t want to help. So ‘who wants to help me eat?” No help , no eat.”
I like that one for the rhetorical question alone.
Shamalanadingdong, (who corrects my pronunciation with an error of his name so I’m truely confused) said…
” It’s a story about that the friends didn’t help the Red Hen, she does all the work. No bread for them. She eats it up herself.”
“the penname “says…
“It’s about an elephant, crocodile, monkey, spider and a shark and it has a voice. He roars. He screams at it. He keeps it up.”
Apple said….
“The hen is not getting help. She asks and asks. And then the hen said, ‘You can certainly help me.’ The little hen had to do so much, everyone wants her bread. That’s just not friendly.”
Rainbow said, on one foot…
“What is the lesson? They didn’t help her cut the grass so she said I’m going to eat the cake myself.”
Superman rather screamed…
“The rooster, no, no hen got mad because her friends did’nt help him. I don’t know….. I like the partwhere we ate the bread.”
Jellyfish said….
“They didn’t get any bread because they didn’t help her. That’s not fair. I felt bad about all of it.”
Ding-Dong said to me…. failing to find words to why he chose this name (he asked for “stupid” from my older daughter and so a few days later today was a day of reckoning on this…
” He cut the wheat and then the grind. They no help her. She said, ‘No, you no help me.’
Last year their Kinder teacher started every sentence with a “No” a feature of her communication that several times has about gotten me ejected from a meeting for saying “No” in mocking unison to it….
And the Red Hen said help me with the thresh, plant, bake of bread. Then no one help me. They no help her. She says, “No bread for you then.”
Sharpee comes up with happy smile I accented her name correctly. I recall Tony Dorsett I say, she looks…..
“Then hen didn’t let the lazy animals eat her bread, she said no way.”
SuperStar said….
“It is about the Red Hen cooking bread and growing it. It teaches us the lesson to make bread together by helping out. Help out, then share.”
Lava-girl said happily because 4 girls are extremely jealous of that name….
“Who was going to eat the bread/ The hen said well not you lazy bums. I’ll eat this for myself. I like it, yum. And I did it all myself.”
I have to say she savored this and her identification with the hen was visible.
Sponge said…
“She makes bread. It’s a story to help people do stuff or else you ain’t gonna get any stuff.’
Spongebob said…
“She do it all. She eat. She was making the pie and I’ll eat it myself.’
The Flower….
“He wants to eat the cake and she says no. Why is not helping? The cat, dog, duck. so they get no, no helps.”
Lorena adds…
“Ummm…they want to help eat it but the hen says no. If you no do any work.
She says no. “
Sharkboy finished up with..
” Look at the the the can (here I stopped him thinking , oh my)
I know the last one…’who can eat the bread, I can, I can , I can.’
No she say. They don’t help get nothing.”
Breads from around the world includes: (all of these to try NEXT FRIDAY)
- pita
- French bread
- English muffin half
- pretzel
- braided roll
- matzos
- slice of white bread
- two-piece bagel
- croissant
It’s yummy to try the BREAD that feeds our world. And now onto the Butter…..
Making bread and butter
Have your children ever asked how butter is made? Here is the perfect project for you. Did you know you can make your own butter at home with just cream and a jam jar? This activity will take a little patience and some stamina (strength) in the arms as you shake and shake the cream in a jar, but it will all be worthwhile when, quite suddenly, you’re shaking a lump of butter. Perfect to spread on freshly made French bread, which you can make to your fresh butter.
French Bread Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
|
1 cup water 2 1/2 cups bread flour 1 tablespoon white sugar 1 teaspoon salt |
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon water |
DIRECTIONS:
| 1. | Place 1 cup water, bread flour, sugar, salt and yeast into bread machine pan in the order recommended by manufacturer. Select Dough cycle, and press Start. |
| 2. | When the cycle has completed, place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched. |
| 3. | Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 16×12 inch rectangle. Cut dough in half, creating two 8×12 inch rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at 12 inch side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper end. Place 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 2 inches, or make one lengthwise slash on each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. |
| 4. | Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water; brush over tops of loaves. |
| 5. | Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. |
