Junior Syndicate News

The Production of Bread                           

OurTerm 3 inquiry is ‘production’ so we decided to have look at how bread is produced.   

First we had a go at making 2 types of bread. We found out that things happen is a specific order to make bread. First we needed to combine the ingredients, then mix it and let it sit so it can rise.

While it was rising, we looked at how bread is produced on a larger scale - in a factory. We saw the different roles people play to get bread out to consumers. From the farmers who grow the wheat, to the bakers making the bread, to the people packing the bread right to the drivers who deliver the bread!

Because there are many types of bread, we talked about the differences between them. The teachers bought in a few different breads to feel and taste - a baguette, wholegrain loaf and pinwheels!

 Finally the bread was cooked. It smelt delicious. The teachers cut up all the different types of bread and next came the best part - eating it!

Cooking Promotes Development and Learning  and is not only a fun, engaging activity for children, but one that has been used for years as an important teaching and development tool for all ages.

Social-Emotional Development – Hands-on cooking activities help children develop pride and confidence in their skills and abilities. The act of following a recipe can encourage self-direction and independence, while also teaching children to follow directions and use thinking skills to problem solve.

Physical Development – Chopping, squeezing, spreading, and mixing are all cooking skills that help develop a children’s small muscle control and eye-hand coordination. It’s impossible to separate hands-on cooking activities from physical development for young children.

Cognitive Development – Cooking inspires children’s curiosity, thinking, and problem solving, offering new opportunities to make predictions and observations. Additionally, cooking offers authentic opportunities for students to understand and apply their knowledge of measuring, one-to-one correspondence, numbers, and counting. As they follow a recipe, children organize ingredients, follow a sequence, and carry out multiple directions.

Language Development – With its own vocabulary, cooking is a great opportunity for language development. Take advantage of opportunities for children to match pictures to words and articulate questions inspired by their new experiences.

Term 2

BLUE FAIRY BREAD

To kick off our blue inquiry unit the Junior classes had some fun with food!

We found that there are very few natural blue foods. We could only find blueberries,

corn, potatoes and crabs.

We realised most of these were more of a purple-blue which we thought was

definitely a more tasty colour to eat. So why aren’t there many blue foods?

We decided to make blue butter to see how we felt about eating something blue.

We added blue food colouring to the butter.

We used this blue butter to make fairy bread. Some of the children were excited

 to eat the blue butter while others were a little nervous to give it a go as it

didn’t look very tasty - and we actually do use our eyes to eat!

 But in the end the kids took a risk and gave it a go. 

Making Jelly

11 June 2018

Today Room 4 made Blue Jelly. The children had to tell Mrs Rose how to make Jelly. They had to be very specific with their instructions.

This learning opportunity encouraged curiosity, thinking, and problem solving, offering new opportunities to make predictions and observations. Additionally, it offered authentic opportunities for students to understand and apply their knowledge of measuring, one-to-one correspondence, numbers, and counting. As they follow a recipe, children organize ingredients, follow a sequence, and carry out multiple directions.

TERM 1

SLEEPOVER

The kids from Rooms 1, 2, 3 & 4 all came together with their parents and whanau to celebrate our inquiry topic - Bright Lights - by having a sleepover under the stars! 

We mixed and mingled, played games and stuffed ourselves with pizza and chips.

After our yummy food we settled inside with a very funny movie - Captain Underpants 😁 The children and parents who were staying, set up their beds. Girls were in Room 3 and the boys in Room 2.

After a big day, the kids quickly went to sleep (and so did the adults).

The sleepover was a big success and so much fun!