NOT BY BREAD ALONE: Following Gina Ciancia’s (right) instructions, fifth-grader Maya Pophristic (center) turned out perfect-looking pretzels, while James Carson looked on. They were participating in a “Life Skills” program sponsored by King Arthur Flour. (Photo by Pam McLean)

Philosopher John Dewey’s precepts about engaged education and using what we now call “teachable moments” to educate children were alive and well at a bread-baking demonstration in Princeton last week.

Sponsored by King Arthur Flour, the program was presented for the school district’s 240 fifth graders. Gathering at Littlebrook School (LB), they learned about the art (and science) of bread-baking, and got a “goodie bag” to boot. Each student left the event with a bread baking kit that included four pounds of flour, yeast, and a recipe. Their charge was to take the kits home and, using what they learned on Friday, bake two loaves of bread, one to keep, the other to donate to the Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton.

As part of King Arthur Flour’s outreach to promote “Life Skills” in schools, the entire program, including all the bread baking kits, was free. In addition to fifth-grade teachers, the event, coordinated by LB fifth-grade teacher Sarah Schwimmer, was supported by district science teachers.

Littlebrook Principal Anna Gonzalez Kosek got right down to the business of teaching when she began the program by asking the assembled students how long it might have taken King Arthur Flour representative Gina Ciancia to travel from Vermont to Princeton. Questions about how many teaspoons are in a quarter-cup and whether or not students knew what yeast is, prompted Ms. Kosek to note the “science skills, math skills, reasoning ability, and creativity” that the morning was tapping into.

Ms. Ciancia was ably assisted during the 50-minute program by apron-clad fifth graders Maya Pophristic and James Carson. A camera trained on their work space projected a view of what they were doing as they measured, mixed, kneaded, and shaped the dough. Ms. Ciancia offered lots of practical advice, like washing your hands, laying out all the ingredients, and rereading the recipe before you actually get started. “You will get a little bit dirty, but it’s kind of fun,” she observed. She reassured students that the “muddy water” resulting from the addition of sugar to yeast is exactly what they want. “Don’t panic,” she counseled. “You want dirty, smelly water.” Along the way, students in the audience helped to define words like “dormant,” “gluten,” and “fermentation.”

Large companies supplying thousands of loaves of bread are not making them all by hand, Ms. Ciancia conceded. In the meantime, though, it was time for Maya and James’s own fingers to “dive right in.” Students watched quietly as Maya and James made a loaf of traditional-looking bread as well as a braided version. The real oohs and aahs began when, under Ms. Ciancia’s guidance, they used the same dough to make a pretzel, a pizza base, and cinnamon rolls.

Attentive adult members of the audience probably learned a couple things they didn’t know before. Some may not have known, for example, that sprinkling flour into a measuring cap is preferred to scooping it up from the container because that packs the flour down. Others may have been surprised to see the beautiful results obtained using dental floss, instead of a flour scraper, to separate pieces of rolled up dough for pastries.

Time did not allow for actual baking at the Friday morning program. It was easy, though, to imagine the smell of baking bread wafting around Princeton over the weekend.

King Arthur Flour received additional exposure last week when the brand was prominently mentioned in a New York Times/N.Y. Region article about stores in New Jersey that bake their own bread.

A NATURAL: After a bit of a shaky start, fifth-grader James ­Carson (left) really got into it as he tossed pizza dough in the air while instructor Gina Ciancia looked on at last week’s bread-making demonstration at Littlebrook School. (Photo by Pam McLean)