Cooking Up Literacy Skills

1. Cooking Up Literacy Skills Cooking activities are a great way for parents and students to connect reading skills with real-world situations. When children assist in the kitchen they get to practice listening skills and have the opportunity to learn new vocabulary words.

2. Benefits Beyond Literacy • Important life skills • The skills developed through these activities include: pre-math; pre-reading; health, safety, and nutrition; following directions, cooperation, science and many more. • Mathematical understanding • Students will have the opportunity to practice “real world” measuring and conversions. Learning is always more meaningful to students when applied to their lives. • Grow Vocabulary • As adults, it’s easy to assume that cooking vocabulary is something we “just know” already.  But for children, they learn new words through a variety of experiences.  Using recipes in the classroom or at home gives them the opportunity to see, use and explain new vocabulary that they might not have otherwise been exposed to.  Plus, there are loads of fun food-related games and activities that reinforce phonemic awareness and letter sounds – all of which improve vocabulary acquisition.

3. Children's literature is full of references to foods and other ideas that can inspire "cooking" activities

4. Maximize Involvement • Read a Story • The desired cooking activity could guide your story selection. For example, if you want to make bread, the book "Bread, Bread, Bread" by Ann Morris is a great introduction to bread around the world. • Make a shopping list together • Read recipe together • Read a recipe aloud with your child, pointing to the words as you read. Then, ask him to help you complete each step. Say, “First, we have to mix together the sugar and butter. Can you help me mix?” or “Now, we have to roll the cookie dough into balls. Can you help me roll the dough? • “Cook” and/or assemble together • “First, we have to mix together the sugar and butter. Can you help me mix?” or “Now, we have to roll the cookie dough into balls. Can you help me roll the dough?” • Clean up together

5. Suggestions • Goldilocks and the Three Bears (any version): This is one of my favorite cooking connections for kids. Many kiddos can tell you what oatmeal is, but they will look at you blankly when you ask them to describe porridge. I can guarantee you that porridge will be a vocabulary word they will never forget if they can make it and try it in the classroom! • Thundercake by Patricia Polacco: Make the thundercake recipe listed in the back of the book.Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess: Cue the chorus of “ewww, green eggs!” This is a great one to see which of your kids will be adventurous enough to try them.Pancakes for Breakfast by TomieDePaola: Make the pancakes from scratch. Many will be surprised that you don’t just add water to a box of pancake mix.How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman: The recipe is in the back of the book. If you have access to an oven at your school, this will hands down be a favorite of your students!