How does bread relate to learning? Through thematic units! A thematic unit is a style of teaching that uses one central theme (in this case, bread) to teach multiple subject areas. This gives teachers an opportunity to include math, science, reading, and more—all while staying focused on one specific topic.

Why are the benefits of thematic units?

By centering several subjects around one theme, students will obtain an in-depth understanding of the subject while also having fun learning about it! Other benefits of this style of learning include:

• Helping students learn to make connections between subjects
• Developing both strengths and weaknesses in cross-curricular learning
• Engaging students fully on the themed subject
• Encouraging curiosity and asking questions
• Teaching students how to apply what they learn to real-life situations

Above all, thematic units are fun for students and teachers!

All About Bread

Bread has been a staple food item throughout human history. It has taken on many different forms, shapes, sizes, and tastes as technology developed and people discovered how to bake with yeast in order to make bread rise. Even today, bread can appear to be very different, depending on where in the world it’s made.

Check out this free download to learn more about the history of bread and how it was a part of society in Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures—and more!

Bread Activities Across the Curriculum

Math Activities

Counting and Estimation
Estimate the number of slices in one loaf of bread.

• Have students estimate the slices in one loaf of bread, then count the slices to see if they were close.
• Do this with multiple loaves of bread of about the same size or weight to see if the number of slices is similar.

Then, challenge students to figure out how many slices of bread would be needed to make a sandwich for each student in the class.

• Have the class share their answers and explain how they got to that number.
• Go around the room and see if anyone got their answer using a different method.
• To further challenge the students, ask how many loaves of bread would be needed to make the sandwiches for the entire class.

Geometric Shapes
This activity includes different types of bread that come in different shapes. For example, regular bread slices, bagels, pita bread, crackers, etc. You can also cut bread slices into other shapes if you can’t find a variety.

• On construction paper, draw a few different shapes, like a rectangle, a triangle, a circle, a square, etc.
• Divide students into groups of four and supply each group with a piece of construction paper (with shapes drawn on it) and a bag of bread that has a variety of shapes.
• Have students sort the bread into the correct shape category.

Writing Activities

Sequencing: How-to
Practice sequencing by having students write out the steps to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It can be vague or incredibly detailed, depending on the grade level.

Writing Descriptions
Have students write a description of their favorite form of bread. They should aim to be as descriptive as possible, including:

• How it looks
• How it tastes
• How it smells
• What they eat it with

To turn this into a game, have students read out their description to the class (or a partner) and see if they can guess the type of bread being described.

Science Experiment: Yeast

Yeast is the component of bread-making that makes bread rise. Demonstrate this through a fun hands-on science experiment! For this experiment, you’ll need:

• One pack of dry yeast (per experiment)
• Flour
• Sugar
• Warm water
• Six Clear containers
• Spoons

Directions:

1. Set up the containers and label them based on the ingredient combination inside. Use nine parts water to one part dry ingredients.
2. In the containers, mix the following ingredients:
   
   1. Flour and water
   2. Yeast and water
   3. Sugar and water
   4. Flour, sugar, and water
   5. Sugar, yeast, and water
   6. Flour, yeast, and water
3. Have students create and stir the mixtures, noting what they look like when they first mix them.
4. Leave the containers to sit, undisturbed, for two hours. You can have students examine them every once in a while, to see if they’re changing. Bubbles should form in the mixtures with yeast. After two hours, the sugar and yeast mixture should be the most drastically changed.
5. To extend this experiment, make two batches of dough with students, one with yeast and one without. Examine the differences between the two.

Art Activity: Bread Collage

Collect magazines and newspapers (or have students bring them in) that have pictures of food, especially bread. Divide students into pairs or groups, or it can be an individual activity if you have enough magazines. You’ll also need:

• Construction paper or butcher paper
• Glue
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Have students collect more than enough material to cover their entire page.
2. Have them trim or tear pictures to various sizes.
3. Explain that they can arrange their photos on the page until they have an arrangement they like, so pictures overlap on the page.
4. Glue down the photos on the page one at a time.
5. After the collages dry, have students trim any overlap pictures that hang off the page.

Reading About Bread

Include this fun read-aloud book in your bread study unit.

Tony’s Bread is a short story about a baker named Tony, who dreams of being the most famous baker in Northern Italy, while his daughter dreams of being allowed to marry. Both dreams seem out of reach until Angelo comes into their lives. This folktale is a great story to read aloud in class while learning all about bread, and then you can make Tony’s famous panettone as a class!

Bread Baking and Tasting

Of course, one of the best parts of learning about bread is baking and eating it! Buy or make several different types of bread (or have students bring in different types of loaves) and have a tasting day as the cumulation of your thematic unit!

Check out this free recipe for panettone bread.

Discuss with the class what kinds of bread they’ve tried before and list all of them on the board. This can include raised bread (such as rye, wheat, or sourdough), flatbread, crackers, etc. Share with the class some other kinds of bread they haven’t tried and what those breads may be used for.

Tasting Day
In preparation, bring or make (or have students bring) as many different types of bread to class as possible. You’ll also need:

• Paper plates
• Napkins
• Plastic cups for water, milk, juice, or something to taste the breads with
• Knives to cut bread into tasting size

Also prepare a chart (either on the board, using a projector, or on notebook paper) that lists the types of bread for tasting in the left column, followed by two columns for “like” and “don’t like” to record the class’s opinions.

Directions:

1. Show each type of bread to the class and ask if they know what type it is, what it’s used for, and if anyone’s tried it before.
2. Discuss what it’s made out of (like what type of flour, if it uses yeast, etc.)
3. Have students find the bread type on their tasting tray and taste it.
4. Have students discuss their thoughts and opinions within their pairs or groups or with the class.
5. Ask students after each bread tasting to raise their hands if they like that bread. Record their answers in the chart. Do the same for those who don’t like the bread.
6. Discuss the results of the chart. Which bread was most liked? Most disliked? What kind of bread was it, and how is it most often used?

For more individual units that can be hand selected to build additional fun thematic units like this one, consider an Evan-Moor TeacherFileBox subscription!

 

 

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Christine Wooler has experience working with children as a youth soccer coach and summer camp counselor. She is currently studying English Literature and journalism in college. She enjoys exploring educational topics that help students have fun while learning.