Cooking Tools - Which ones do you know?

What is it? Mystery Kitchen Gadget #1

We've been Zooming since Wednesday, March 18. We needed several weeks to get familiar with the Zoom environment - teaching each other about the ins and outs of navigating conversation and instruction online. 

Since our second week on line, we've been working through math and grammar lessons. We've been reading stories and books. We've been writing and sharing our writings. 

Thursday, May 7 - Guess what we did?

We finally felt like we could squeeze more into our time together. We're finally back to working on our units of interest - the topics that we said we wanted to know more about. 

Thursday mornings is about cooking. More specifically, tools, techniques, and flavors.

We may be online, but we still need novelty and interaction. So, last week, we reopened our cooking discussion with Mystery Kitchen Gadget #1 (see the picture at the top). 

We were regular detectives - looking at this gadget's construction (parts), speculating on its action (movement), and proposing its function (purpose).  

This serious discussion included a range of suggestions, such as dog nail clippers or a hole punch. 

We finally discovered that this gadget was ...........! (I'm not telling. Think about it. What's your guess? Answers are at the bottom. Please don't peek until you've made at least one guess.) 

Then, we assigned homework. Rummage through your kitchen drawers. Send pictures. 

Thursday, May 14 - Guess what happened!

This morning we had 10 gadgets to examine. Learners worked in pairs - two gadgets each. Their goal - decide how the gadget worked and its purpose. 

We learned and just had plain fun! Laughter was contagious! Even family members joined in. (They wanted in on the action, too.)  

Now it's your turn. 

Here are 7 of the kitchen gadgets we examined. You tell us, what are they?

 

Mystery Kitchen Gadget #2

 

Mystery Kitchen Gadget #3

 

Mystery Kitchen Gadget #4

 

Mystery Kitchen Gadget #5

 

Mystery Kitchen Gadget #6

 

Mystery Kitchen Gadget #7

 

Mystery Kitchen Gadget #8

Answers: Mystery Kitchen Gadgets

1) cherry or olive pitter; 2) pickle picker; 3) jar opener; 

4) green bean stringer; 5) orange peeler; 6) egg slicer;

7) knife sharpener; 8) herb keeper

Which ones do you know? Which ones don't you know? Tell us in the comments below.

Do you have a gadget you think we wouldn't know? Email us a picture.

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Note: What did this have to do with adult literacy? Everything. Learners had to think. They had to problem solve, use reasoning skills, and make interpretations. In some cases, learners Googled their ideas to further refine their knowledge about about how a gadget worked. And, they had to negotiate so they could come back to the group with a presentation. (We used Zoom's features to make this happen: breakout rooms, screen sharing, and screen annotations.)  - Deb