Pancakes! Pancakes! Lesson Plan

I use Pancakes! Pancakes! during a unit on maple syrup production. It's a great way to end the unit, with my Aunt Nancy's Sourdough Pancakes. Yum! The recipe below is from What's Cooking America and is based on Alaska Sourdough by Ruth Allman. Students love to help cook, and then eat the pancakes.

OBJECTIVE
Students will "apply appropriate techniques, tools, and formulas to determine measurements." --Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Frameworks

MATERIALS

Pancakes! Pancakes! by Eric Carle
2 cups sour dough starter, room temperature
Sourdough Pancake Recipe:

2 tablespoons sugar

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoons warm water

SET UP AND PREPARE
Make sure that students wash their hands. If you use an electric fry pan in your classroom, be certain that children don't get to close to it, or the cord. You should also be aware of where the smoke alarm is located, and let the office staff know that you are cooking in the classroom.

DIRECTIONS

Have students assist in making the batter, after washing their hands.

In a large bowl, add sourdough starter, sugar, egg, and olive oil; mix well. Dilute 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 tablespoon of warm water. Only add baking soda to batter just before you are ready to cook the pancakes. Fold gently into the sourdough batter (do not beat). This will cause a gentle foaming and rising action. Let the mixture bubble and foam a minute or two.

Heat up a lightly greased griddle until fairly hot; then pour batter onto the griddle. For each pancake, pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

LESSON EXTENSION
Have a follow-up pancake making day and invite a neighboring class to be your guests. Your students can learn a lot about manners and courtesy as they make and serve the food to their friends.

Related Resources
www.massmaple.org
www.eric-carle.com
www.picturebookart.org

About the Author

Jeremy Brunaccioni is a kindergarten teacher in Massachusetts.

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