Poem
Welcome back my wonderful friends. I guess you had class with Ms. Garrett already, huh? Well, welcome back to All Things Word and Baking. Let’s jump right in and get started for the week. To begin with, here is your poem!
CAN’T
By Edgar Albert Guest
Can’t is the worst word that’s written or spoken;
Doing more harm here than slander and lies;
On it is many a strong spirit broken,
And with it many a good purpose dies.
It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning
And robs us of courage we need through the day:
It rings in our ears like a timely-sent warning
And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.
Song
Book Club
The book for this go around is, Island of the Blue Dolphin. Do you want to hear a cool story? My family and I took a trip to Mexico for Christmas and we got to swim with dolphins. No tour guide. No tank. They just happened to be enjoying the ocean water at the same time we were. It was really fun. Dolphins can be a little unpredictable, so we respectfully kept our distance. But it was cool. We also saw at the same beach, three sea snakes, a few sand dollars (one was even still alive), a blow fish that had blown itself up (that was interesting), dolphins and my husband and daughter saw some rays. Later at a different location we saw whales, sharks, sea turtles, an otter, sea lions, crabs, some colorful fish and dolphin after dolphin after dolphin. Just right there, swimming in the ocean. It was a pretty cool experience. One, I hope for you all and one in which I will never forget!
Rebus
Alright, now that we have all of our other business taken care of, let’s jump right in to All Things Word and Baking! Lets get started with the joy of words!
1: Rebus
Solve the puzzles below.
Did you get any of them? They turned out a little smaller than I would have liked. Sorry about that. Computers… not my biggest talent!
Next, our vocab (that’s short for vocabulary words).
2: Vocabulary words
Vocabulary Word Instructions:
Step 1: Read through each word and their definitions. Make sure you can say each word correctly.
Step 2: Copy the word into google and ask for a pronunciation if you need one.
Step 3: Grab your Vangaurd journal and find a section where you can keep ALL of your new vocabulary words for the year. Write down each word AND their definitions.
Step 4: After you have written each word and their definition in your journal, write (in the same journal on the same page as your definitions) a sentence for each word.
Step 5: Grab and index card or a plain piece of paper and write each vocabulary word listed below. Put this piece of paper on the fridge or somewhere you can see it OFTEN. Make it a point to use each word at least THREE times a day. Each time you use a word, put a little check mark next to it so you can keep track. Also, take a picture of your index card or piece of paper and send it to me so I can have evidence that you have done it!
| Bafflegab | Talk that is deliberately obscure or confusing |
| Fartlek | A method of training that involves varying the intensity of your speed |
| Bamboozle | To trick or deceive |
Now that you have the NEW words, let’s see if you can remember the definitions for these words. If not, be sure to go back in your notebook and relearn them. There will be a quiz in class.
- Discombobulated
- Flabbergasted
- Magnanimous
- Bumbershoot
- Befuddled
- Collywobbles
3: Unjournaling
With new words practically SPILLING off of the end of your tongue, get our your unjournaling book. Go ahead and read the prompts from the previous weeks. You know, one of the best things about writing down our prompts is that if you keep them, your CHILDREN will one day be able to read them. Just think of all of the fun adventures and growth that will come between now and then. Imagine if you were to keep a JOURAL everyday. They would have a whole SERIES of you they could read about someday. Alright, this week I want you to complete ONE writing prompt from your unjournaling book, HOWEVER I would like you to choose between #81, #82, and #86. Write your response in your vanguard journal. (Like I said, so your children will one day be able to read it.)
4: Free Write
Now for something a little bit fun and perhaps a little bit different. Usually this is the time I would have YOU write something of your own. A poem. A story. A limerick! (I’ll give you an extra van buck if you come to class and tell me what that is. 5 extra van bucks if you write one!) THIS time, I’m actually going to have you prom ChatGPT to write something. Do you know what ChatGPT is? Here’s a definition I found.
“ChatGPT is an advanced AI chatbot from OpenAI, short for “Generative Pre-trained Transformer,” that uses natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning to understand prompts and generate human-like text, engaging in conversations, answering questions, and creating various content like code, emails, or stories. It learns from vast datasets to predict responses, acting like a versatile virtual assistant that can process text, images, and audio, and can be used for brainstorming, analysis, coding, and more, depending on the model version.”
In short, it’s a computer programming that can do google searches for you but give you the information in the form of a conversation. It also has a way to put information together for you in a very creative way. For example, over the break, my kids and I asked ChatGPT to write us a Christmas story about our grandpa Russell (OPA) stealing our grandma Russells (OMA) cookies. Here was it’s reply:
🎄🍬 The EXTREMELY Ridiculous Christmas Candy Kidnapping 🍬🎄
Everyone agreed on three things:
1 Snow is cold
2 Christmas is great
3 Oma makes the best Christmas candy on Earth
Her candy was so good it once caused a neighborhood argument, three apologies, and a waiting list.
So naturally, a bad guy showed up.
He burst through the door wearing a trench coat way too thin for winter.
“I WANT THE CANDY,” he announced dramatically. “AND THE RECIPE. AND MAYBE A SAMPLE.”
Before anyone could stop him, he scooped up Oma and sped away in a van that said Definitely Not a Kidnap Van.
THE KIDS PANIC (PRODUCTIVELY)
Six kids gathered around the empty candy table.
Douglas tilted his giant sombrero, which was so large it had its own weather system.
“This means war,” he said seriously.
Ireland flexed. “Good. I skipped leg day for this.”
Brytt checked his fishing pole. “If I can catch a fish, I can catch a criminal.”
Juicy grabbed yarn. “I will crochet justice.”
Ellie tightened her pointe shoes. “These shoes hurt feelings.”
Brynnlee burst out singing,
🎵 ‘IT’S THE HARD KNOCK LIIIIIFE—’
then immediately started rap dancing. No one questioned it. This was normal.
THE HIDEOUT (AKA BAD GUY POOR LIFE CHOICES)
They found the bad guy’s hideout, which was an old warehouse filled with stolen candy and terrible decisions.
Ireland lifted a door that said DO NOT LIFT.
“Gym,” he explained.
Inside, Brytt whipped his fishing line and hooked the bad guy’s belt loop.
“Got him!”
“WHY AM I BEING CAUGHT LIKE A TROUT?” screamed the bad guy.
Douglas ran through the room, his sombrero knocking things over like a spinning UFO.
“I can’t see!” yelled the bad guy.
“That’s the sombrero,” Douglas replied proudly.
Juicy crocheted faster than anyone had ever crocheted before, creating a yarn trap so comfy the bad guy said,
“…this is actually very soft.”
Ellie leapt across the floor in perfect ballet form and TAP TAP STAB—blocked his escape with her pointe shoes.
“I fear her,” whispered the bad guy.
Brynnlee finished it off with a Broadway belt so loud it rattled the candy jars, followed by a rap spin that made no sense but worked anyway.
The bad guy collapsed.
“Okay! I confess! I just really like candy!”
Oma was rescued! 🎉
THEN OPA SHOWED UP
Opa walked in calmly.
“Is it cookie time?”
They froze.
“Well…” said Juicy. “The cookies are… gone.”
Opa blinked.
“No cookies?”
Suddenly—POOF—he transformed into a GIANT CHRISTMAS MONSTER with a beard, glowing eyes, and socks with sandals.
“DENIED COOKIES ACTIVATES FINAL FORM,” Monster Opa roared cheerfully.
He scooped up every single piece of candy, climbed into a sleigh that appeared out of nowhere, and blasted into the sky.
As he flew away, they heard him laughing and crunching.
“HO HO HO—THESE WERE AMAZING.”
Snow fell softly.
Douglas adjusted his sombrero. “So… Opa’s Santa.”
Oma nodded. “Yes.”
Ireland sighed. “I worked out for nothing.”
Brytt frowned. “Didn’t even get to fish.”
Brynnlee sang softly,
🎵 ‘There’s no candy like stolen candy…’
Oma smiled. “It’s fine,” she said. “I’ll make more.”
Everyone gasped.
“CHRISTMAS IS SAVED,” they cheered.
Far above, Santa-Opa flew away, full of cookies and zero regrets. 🎄🍪✨
Chat can come up with some pretty funny things, but it’s not a human. It needs to be told fairly clearly what to do. This is called “prompting.” A “prompt”– is a brief explanation of what you want it to do for you– like the writing prompts you do in your unjournaling book. In the above story, my daughter had typed a prompt telling chat to write a story about grandpa, who we call OPA stealing a cookie from our grandma, OMA. She included that grandma was an excellent cook and that grandpa was both funny and sneaky. She typed in the names of each of her siblings along with a brief explanation of something that they really liked doing or were good at. Can you see how those things and names came through? Try copying and pasting the below prompts in chat at chatgpt.com. Read the response and see how well it did with the details you provided. Then for fun, write your OWN prompt for chatgpt and see what it comes up with. We don’t always have the be the STORY writer, great creative writers can also be good at coming up with good ideas for OTHERS to write about and that STILL constitutes for being a writer. And you thought there wasn’t a writer anywhere in you! Be sure to copy the prompt you come up with as well as chats response. Print it out, and bring it to class to share so we can hear how creative it turned out to be. Computers! Perhaps sometime soon, they will come up with one that will do my laundry!
Prompt idea #1:
Hey chat, can you write me a short funny rhyming poem about why homemade buttercream is far superior than a store-bought substitute? In it, be sure to use the word Bamboozled.
Prompt idea #2:
Hey chat, can you write me a short story about how my cat named Nibbles is actually a secret spy from Russia who is actually here to eat all of my dads Oreos and leave all the evidence pointing to my innocent puppy Frankie and how Frankie, who is actually a secret spy himself from Spain stops him and ends up not only catching him but has the story become the top story on the 5 o’clock news.
All Things Baking
Alright! Put your notebooks, pens and computers to the side and preheat your oven, it’s time to warm up our baking skills! We’ve got some fun things stirred up for you (pun intended). I felt like last time we didn’t get to spend quite as much time playing around with tips than I would have liked to, so we are going to stir into that once more! HOWEVER, this time you will need to bring your own homemade buttercream to class. I’m feeling confident that you can do this on your own. Once you have made your frosting, be sure to put it in a LARGE ziplock and let ALL the air out so it won’t dry out. I suggest you make this the night before and put it in the fridge. In the morning, take it out and it should be the right consistency when we get to class.
Also, please remember to bring your tips and couplers to class or we won’t have any to practice with. I also would like you to find a cupcake recipe that YOU would like to try making, bake the cupcakes, freeze them like you have done before and bring them to class like you have before. Try a flavor that sounds yummy to you. I love a good spice cake cupcake. Or even a tasty strawberry. Find one that YOU would like to actually eat. Part of the fun of baking is being able to enjoy what you just created. In my opinion, if food wasn’t designed to be enjoyable, we wouldn’t have been given tastebuds. See what you can find. Here’s some tips to remember. Be sure to read the recipe before hand. Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature (unless they tell you otherwise). Enjoy a finger lick or two of the batter– if your mom is good with it– and KEEP YOUR KITCHEN CLEAN!!!!!!! I may or may not have enlisted spys who will report on you. You can also find your own SMOOTH buttercream recipe if you would like that will pair better with your cupcakes than the one that I have provided. As you bake, I would like you to “halve” the recipe. This means that instead of baking 24 cupcakes, you will only be baking 12. To do that, print off your recipe and look at each ingredient and its amount listed. Grab a pencil. Now, take each amount and divide it by two, NOT MULTIPLY…divide. That means “cut” each ingredient amount by half. For example, if it says two cups sugar, do 1 cup. If it says 1 tsp, do a 1/2 tsp. If it says 2 eggs, use one. Does that make sense? The baking time remains the same. And I suggest you have your mom look over your “new” amounts after you have halved your recipe. Why? Because some ingredients will be easier to divide than others. Fraction amounts may be a little trickier if you haven’t done fraction “conversions.” Here’s a video to help you understand how to “halve” a recipe. Who knew that by becoming a good baker, you would also become a great mathematician. 😉
I’ve also included some videos with some piping “tips” (actually NO pun intended) for two tips we will be practicing this week. Happy Baking!
Buttercream recipe: please HALVE this recipe as well.
List of what to do and what to bring to class:
- song
- poem
- rebus
- new vocabulary words AND send picture to Miss Jinger
- review previous vocab words
- unjournaling prompt
- plug prompts into chatgpt
- write prompt for chatgpt, copy the prompt and response and bring it to class to read.
- find a FROM SCRATCH cupcake recipe
- watch the altering video
- alter the recipe to make 12 rather than 24 cupcakes
- bake and freeze the cupcakes
- halve the butter cream recipe, make the recipe, and bag up the frosting. Put it in FRIDGE. Bring it to class
- watch the piping videos
- bring an apron, your buttercream, cupcakes, piping tips and couplers I gave you from our last class (as well as your writing prompt and chatgpt page) to class.
