Pancakes

After the first attempt at adding ingredients to flour ended with a less than pleasing result, the Rivers Class began to discuss what to do next.  Adding eggs and milk were ideas that seemed to make sense based on how dry the mixture was and based on what the children have seen others do.  Also, cooking or baking seemed an important step that we did not yet try.  Several children knew that recipes were a resource that would help and they knew that recipes are found in books and on the computer.

On Wednesday, the class looked together at a recipe that included many of the ingredients we had been wondering about: milk, eggs, and sugar, flour (of course), and also oil, baking powder and salt.  It was a recipe for pancakes and Ms. McHugh brought her electric griddle for cooking them.

While we cooked pancakes at the hexagon table, there was dramatic play in the new kitchen area and clay structures being built using some cooking techniques like rolling and slicing.  Much fun was had by all and important thinking is evident in a number of different contexts. This work provides entry points at many levels for different children.  Some love tasting, some love thinking and talking about the process, some love doing and pretending.  

Some of the thinking: 

"The batter was wet.  How did it get dry now?" -Penelope

"The recipe made it yummy.  It called for everything you needed!" -Kirsten

"[To make a cake,] do we need to make it hotter? As hot as this for a cake or hotter?" 
-Cabot

"I put bananas in pancakes." -Camila

"It's making bubbles. Pancakes have bubbles?" -Cassidy

"You can put peanut butter on it.  And whipped cream and chocolate!" -Alex

"My mom sometimes flips them with the pan and sometimes with the spatula." -Eli

"I can smell that it is hot." -Jack W.

"What number is it on?  If you put it on the side of that, it gets hotter, right?" -Jack M.

"What is sweet? It's kind of like when you say, 'Oh, you're so sweet!' to a person.  But it is sweet food." -Avery