When Allie Lively, a fifth-grade teacher at Windermere Elementary School saw conversions ahead in her lesson plan, she thought, ‘baking would be a great way to learn how to convert fractions, and who doesn’t love treats?’
But, Lively also wanted to add the element of public service, getting students to think not just about sweet treats but the sweet feeling of giving. During a cooking day she arranged for the students, they would learn new recipes, new math equations, all while supporting Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
(left-right) Maddie McCaig, Colin Sosnowski, Brayden Falken
Hands-on learning
(left-right) Griffin Lauer, Margot Costianes, Summer Teems, Elyse Feamster
Lively began planning students’ cooking day early: this takes a lot of coordination.
Math can be a polarizing subject in elementary school with students claiming, ‘I’m just not good at it,’ or ‘When am I going to use this?’ The cooking day shows students how important math is every day. And, with treats in the mix, there were no complaints.
She chose recipes requiring students to double, halve or quarter ingredient measurements. Multiplying fractions in the kitchen with a reward of yummy treats connected the dots between school and real life. Lively intended for her students to take these math lessons home and apply them. She says this helps them remember what they learn.
“(This) is an authentic learning experience because if you bake, you know any time that you change the recipe, that’s what you’re doing in your head to find the correct amount,” Lively says.
Her class was scattered in stations around the brightly lit kitchen. At one station, students measured and sketched fractions next to big bags of chocolate chips. At another station, they rolled their chocolate chip cookies or shook-up puppy chow (a Chex cereal and powdered sugar-based snack in a bag). Finally, the last station wrote cards to accompany their gifts.
Making givers and bakers
After the students had their share of treats, Lively brainstormed with the class where they could send the surplus. The students voted, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital won in a landslide.
(left-right) Rylan Wilks, Charlie Mascho, Jen Mascho
This project didn't just turn her students into givers, but also bakers.
“Several parents reached out to me asking for the recipes because their kids wanted to make the recipes with them the following week,” Lively says. “I was encouraged that they were feeling inspired to become bakers and work in the kitchen with their parents.”
Other teachers have found ways to use the learning kitchen in their classes, such as a kindergarten teacher using waffles to demonstrate simple fractions.
“Using the kitchen in an authentic way is just a way for kids to get engaged and be enthusiastic about their learning,” Lively says. “They’re showing what they know. They’re able to apply it without help. The independence and confidence they achieve in order to do math is just worth it.”
He said, she said: Students share their experience
(left-right) Matilda Stafford, Ryan Wilks, Charlie Mascho
“I feel good about giving the baked goods to the staff at Windermere and Nationwide because we got to make things for other people to feel happy while learning and having fun of our own.” – Charlie
“My favorite part of making the recipe was putting it into the batter. I would like to bake a sheet of cookies to give to all my neighbors.” – Peter
“WAAAYYYYY more fun than doing normal math work.” – Brayden
“It was lots of fun to do it. Also, I never got to bake before.” – Rylan
“My favorite part of baking was probably when I made a mistake my friends would laugh with me but then they would help me get better.” – Matilda
Maggie Fipps is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
