What’s Cookin’?

Wearing their baker’s hats, third graders sing one of the songs in The Gingerbread Kid Caper.

What’s cookin’ at Lake Spokane Elementary School? Dog bones, gingerbread, and the solar system provided second and third graders in Mrs. Sandy Neagle’s and Mrs. Tracie Best’s multi-age classrooms with opportunities for learning and giving. Prior to Winter Break, the students participated in an annual giving project and treated parents to two musical learning activities.

For numerous years, animals at the Humane Society have enjoyed a Christmas treat thanks to the students in Mrs. Neagle’s and Mrs. Best’s classes. With help from several volunteers, homemade dog biscuits are baked. The recipe even includes parsley for good breath! Small, medium, and large dog biscuits are made with special bone shaped cookie cutters. In addition, the classes sponsor a school wide food drive for the Humane Society. For the month of December, everyone in the school is encouraged to bring food, towels, blankets, kitty litter, etc. to be donated to the Humane Society. These supplies last for a couple of months and are greatly appreciated as the holiday season tends to be a lean time for the Humane Society. Each year a representative from the Humane Society comes to the school to pick up the special dog bones and the supplies. “Guests” accompany the representative, and Mrs. Neagle’s and Mrs. Best’s students are treated to a short presentation on the animals. Hands pop up around the circle as students enthusiastically ask questions and share their own pet stories.

Fluency, expression, and a loud and clear voice is emphasized during reading. To demonstrate these skills in a fun season learning activity, third graders in Mrs. Neagle’s and Mrs. Best’s classes performed a musical, The Gingerbread Kid Caper. The play gave each student a line to speak, as well as several to recite in unison. For three of the four songs, students accompanied their peers on the keyboard.

For science, the solar system is studied. With so many facts to learn, how will the second graders remember them? Through the song, The Family of the Sun! The students learned this fun song with hand motions to complement what they had studied. Each verse told the major facts about one of the planets and the sun; However, the last verse and one line in the chorus was altered now that Pluto is no longer considered a planet! This fact made a big impression on the second graders.

With these learning activities, Mrs. Best and Mrs. Neagle are giving their students creative ways to practice needed skills and build background knowledge. Through singing and performing, facts will be remembered and reading skills improved. Stir in a fantastic community service project to which these young students can relate, and these teachers have improved not only student learning, but have baked a sense of responsibility and caring into their students.