Little Red Hen, Inc.

Materials

I made this with Rice Chex mixed with dried blueberries and Bob’s Red Mill Biscuit mix for one group as a option for a child in the class who couldn’t eat gluten.

• Butcher paper to cover the table, markers

• Oven

• Ingredients: Cereal with blueberries, brown sugar, butter, refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

• Ziplock Bags

• Bowls, spoons

Procedures

1. Prior to center, melt butter and bring in an insulated container so it stays melted. Pre-prep cereal with dried fruit and sugar in a bag. Cover table with butcher paper. This will be your chalk board.

   • Have several bowls with butter and several with sugar/cereal mix ready to put on the table.

2. Kids pretend to be new workers at the Little Red Hen, Inc. Reminescent of an popular Italian restaurant chain, write your name upside down on the butcher paper (facing the students) and explain that you are their training instructor. Tell kids this is their first day of work and they are attending an Employee Training Meeting. They will be learning about why fractions are useful and why they want to know how to use them.

   • On the butcher paper, draw a triangle and divide into 3 parts by drawing two lines from the apex to the base to show them that 1/3+1/3+1/3=3/3 or 1.

   • Ask them if they know what the words double, triple and quadruple mean and what they would multiply by if they saw those words.

3. Now that they see how we use fractions in cooking, ask if they want to help. Only those who help get to eat.

   • Pass out markers/worksheets to each kid.

   • Work together on the worksheet. Emphasize that the math isn’t hard and that this is what is done to prepare for the lesson. They can also see how much I have to buy and the store and how much it costs.

4. Go through the paper first with circles, drawing on the table cloth when helpful. Do the extra credit before giving students the biscuits to cut up. Each child will get 2-3 circles of dough. Have them repeat the steps they drew out, cutting one biscuit into quarters, then eighths (either 1-2 biscuits). Use the last biscuit for the extra credit.