Cook and Tell
MEPI – Hands for Peace Conference
February 21, 2015
Montessori Curriculum
Connections
 Math: measurement, capacity, volume, less,
more, greater than, less than, etc.
 Science: chemical reactions when you add
heat, mixtures, solutions, viscosity, properties of
matter, etc.
 Geography: biomes, habitats, mapping,
continents, oceans, landforms, kingdom, phylum,
class, family, genius, species, parts of a plant,
types of trees, weather, etc.
Today’s Goal
 To introduce you to electric cooking
technologies that allow you to cook in the
classroom with relative ease and clean up
 To show you fun and interesting ways to talk
about the Montessori elementary curriculum,
while cooking with students.
 For you to leave with the tools and language to
cook and tell in your classroom.
Today’s Concepts
 Foods used throughout history
 Where foods are grown and how
 Growing, harvesting, and using nature’s foods
 Health, fitness, and nutrition
Food History
Child friendly resources
Child friendly resources
Stories about food
Stories about food
Internet resources
Internet resources
Preparing to Cook
 Make:
 aprons
 oven mitts
 pot holders
 table cloths
 cloth napkins
 Get students working together
 Get students communicating
 Get students creating
Easy Aprons on Pinterest
Make pot holders
Make cloth napkins
Make quilt tablecloths
Preparing to Cook
 What will you cook? How?
 Name the Montessori curriculum connections you
could make in math, science, and geography
 Choose your curriculum connections
 Gather the cooking equipment and ingredients
 Gather the cooking supplies – bowls, utensils,
cups, napkins, etc.
 Get ready to tell a story, while cooking
What you need to know
 Where foods are grown and how they grow?
 How do we harvest food?
 How do we make the foods we buy in the grocery
store?
 The process of digestion, absorption, energy, and
waste.
 What is the purpose of food?
 What does society use chocolate for?
Collect Student’s Prior
Knowledge
 Make a KWL chart or a
Know/Need to Know chart
 Make a
Connections/Observations/
Wonderings chart
 Collecting students prior
knowledge will help students
connect to the lesson.
 Students will feel more
motivated to listen and
participate if they fee as if
they are a part of the story.
Key Lesson One: Chocolate
 Chocolate dates back to 1500 B.C.
 Chocolate is made from the cocoa bean.
 The cocoa bean is the fatty seed of Theobroma
cacao. Theobroma cacao is a small evergreen
tree native to tropical regions of Central and
South America.
 The seeds of this tree are used to make cocoa
mass, cocoa powder, and chocolate.
The scientific method
 STOP and introduce or
reinforce the scientific
method before continuing
 You could have a chart
near you or you could
name the steps with the
children, depending on
their level of understanding
 You could even ask one
student to be the scribe and
record the method for
future reference
Language Teachable
Moment
 Describe the cocoa pod to the students using
descriptive language in a complete sentence.
 The cocoa pod has a rough and leathery rind.
 It is approximately 3 centimeters thick or 1.2 inches
thick.
 The pod is filled with sweet pulp.
 It contains 30 to 50 large seeds depending on its size.
 The seeds are soft and white to a light purple color.
 When the seeds dry they become reddish brown in
color. Rare varieties of white cocoa remain white
when dry.
Science Teachable
Moment
The cacao tree may have
originated in current day Columbia
and Venezuela. Wild cacao still
grows in these regions of the world.
 This is a great opportunity for a
mapping lesson and cardinal
direction mini lesson.
The cocoa bean was a common
currency in Mesoamerica before
the Spanish conquest.
 Upper el students may enjoy
discussions about the Spanish
colonization of the Americas.
 Trade
 Religion
 Disease
 1492 and other conquistadores
Key Lesson One: Chocolate
 Harvesting the cocoa seeds to make chocolate








Each cocoa pod is typically opened with a machete.
The pulp and cocoa seeds are removed.
The rind is discarded.
The pulp and seeds are piled in heaps, placed in bins,
or laid out on grates for several days.
This process is called “sweating,” where the thick pulp
liquefies as it ferments.
When the pulp liquefies the seed/beans can be
harvested easily.
A typical pod contains 20 to 50 beans and about 400
dried beans are required to make one pound of
chocolate.
Cocoa pods weigh an average of 400 grams or (0.88
lbs.)
Math Teachable
Moment
Word Problem:
If Ms. Sarah’s classroom had 3
cocoa pods each containing 30
seeds and Ms. Amber’s classroom
had 2 large cocoa pods with 50
seeds. How many more cocoa
pods would they need to make
one pound of chocolate?
No Bake Cookies
Examine the ingredients with
students:
½ cup agave nectar/honey
1/3 cup cocoa powder
¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup almond butter
2 cups oats
1/3 cup shredded coconut
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
Recipe
 Mix together agave and cocoa powder. Heat
over medium heat until combined.
 Stir in almond milk and coconut oil and bring to a
boil. Continue stirring and boil for one minute.
 Remove pan from heat and stir in almond butter,
oats, coconut, vanilla extract, and salt.
 Using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop cookies
onto cookie sheets or wax paper.
 Place cookies in the refrigerator for at least 20
minutes before serving.
Language teachable moment
 Ask students to parse the
recipe.
 Ask students to parse just
the verbs.
 Ask students to generate
ingredients they could
substitute for:
 Agave
 Almond milk
 Almond butter
Free write
 Take out a piece of paper
or your MEPI notepad.
 When I say go you are
going to write for 2 minutes,
without lifting your pencil
from your paper. The goal is
to brain dump what you
have learned, so far, about
using food and cooking to
compliment and reinforce
the Montessori curriculum.
Key Lesson Two: Waffles
 Ingredients:
 2 eggs
 2 cups all-purpose flour
 1 ¾ cups milk
 ½ cup vegetable oil
 1 tablespoon white sugar
 2 teaspoons baking
powder
 ¼ teaspoon salt
 ½ teaspoon vanilla
extract
Eggs
Flour
 Wheat flour is a powder
made from the grinding of
wheat.
 Durum wheat or macaroni
wheat is a tetraploid wheat,
having 28 chromosomes.
 Durum wheat was created
by artificial selection of
emmer wheat formerly
grown in Central Europe
and the Near East.
Durum wheat
Waffles Recipe
 Preheat waffle iron.
 Beat eggs in large bowl until
fluffy.
 Add flour, milk, vegetable oil,
sugar, baking powder, salt
and vanilla, just until smooth.
 Spray preheated waffle iron
with non-stick cooking spray.
 Pour mix onto hot iron and
cook until golden brown (5
minutes)
Lesson Three: Spinach/Basil
Pesto
 Ingredients:
 Spinach
 Parmesan Cheese
 Salt
 Pepper
 Lemon Rind (optional)
 Olive Oil
 Garlic
 Walnuts
Preparing your cooking lesson
 Which ingredient from the
spinach/basil pesto will you choose to
be your focus?
 Suggestions:
 Basil
 Spinach
 Olive oil
 Salt
 How is each above ingredient
grown, harvested, processed?
 Where does it grow? What is the
story of the peoples who live in
this place?
 Be ready to share nutritional facts
and information about the body
and how we digest foods and
convert foods in order to have
energy and ultimately, life.
 Consider the historical significance of
each ingredient.
 Think about my examples in math,
science, and geography as well as
what students are currently studying.
 Choose what curricular connections
you want to make, while cooking.
 Remember in a key lesson you want to
leave out some information to enable
students’ independent research.
Resources
 Pinterest – for easy to make
aprons, pot holders, quilt
tablecloths, etc.
 Wikipedia, Google scholar,
Discus, Choosemyplate.gov –
for facts about chocolate,
wheat, and basil.
 There are book resources on
slides 5- 9 as well.
 IF POSSIBLE USE PRIMARY
RESOURCE DOCUMENTS
WHEN TEACHING STUDENTS
NEW INFORMATION.
 When researching the history
of food I found it challenging
to find primary resource
documents.
 In the future, I would contact
an area librarian and ask for
his or her expertise in order to
get better quality resources
for the factual data.
Presenter Contact Information
 Nathalie Hunt
 nhunt@coastalmontessoricharter.or
g
 Currently serves as the director of
Coastal Montessori Charter School.
Coastal Montessori Charter School is
located in Pawleys Island, SC. The
school serves ages 6 – 12. It is soon
to expand through middle school in
a building being build by USDA
funds, since charter schools do not
receive facilities funding.
 Credentials: BS in Human
Development from Cornell
University; PhD from UT Austin; Lower
Elementary Montessori Certificate; K
– 6 NYS Teacher Certification; 12
years experience in the field of
education
 If you are interested in learning more
about Coastal Montessori Charter
School visit our website at:
 Coastalmontessoricharter.org
 We also have a beautiful
commercial on Youtube:
 Coastal Montessori Charter
School
 New employment opportunities
coming soon at Coastal
Montessori!