The Fourth Grade Cookie Project

Everyone enjoys a tall glass of milk and a batch of freshly baked cookies.  Where did the idea of cookies originate?  How does one go about creating a cookie?  What skills do you need to complete each of these tasks?  These are the questions we pose to our students every February when we introduce the “Cookie Project.”  This project is a fun way to entice students to think outside of the box.  Students will use all interdisciplinary areas to strive for the title of “Greatest Cookie.”

The “Cookie Project” seeks to address the following content and process objectives:
· To stimulate students’ creative thinking skills;
· To reinforce measurement and money skills;
· To encourage teamwork;
· To develop confidence in a group setting;
· To integrate the different interdisciplinary areas.

The “Cookie Project” is a fresh and innovative way to combine math, creative thinking, oral speaking, writing, art, and home economics into one delicious idea.  Students are grouped together to create their own cookie company from the ground up.  Students must first think of where to begin.  They will need to figure out what type of cookie they are going to market, how much they will charge, and a clever name to attract consumers from all grade levels.  After completing this task, groups will have to design posters, jingles, slogans, and commercials to advertise their product.  Posters will be drawn and decorated by hand.  Students will then need to write and star in a commercial.  These commercials should contain jingles, skits, and slogans.  The entire school will view these advertisements by grade level in the weeks preceding the cookie sale.  Students will also be demonstrating their knowledge of measurement while they are writing their own recipes for these unique cookies.  Students will create the batter for their cookies two days prior to the cookie sale.  Parent or guardian volunteers will then bake the cookies.  Finally, the day of the cookie sale arrives.  Groups are given fifteen minutes to decorate their tables.  They will sell their final product during the last fifteen minutes of each lunch period.  Students will use their mathematical skills to make change for their customers.  After the final lunch period, the money from each group will be collected and tallied.  The group with the largest profit is awarded the title of “Cookie Champions.”  All the students are honored at a pizza party, which the groups’ profits provide.

There is no other way to describe the “Cookie Project” except to say that it is an enjoyable learning process for everyone involved.  The students work step-by-step with each other, with a teacher, and with a family member, promoting a positive and stimulating community.  Students obtain a sense of accomplishment upon the completion of this two-month long task.  Students can take pride in seeing their hard work being rewarded when the school is lining up to buy their product.  As they reflect upon their two-month journey, students will realize the many skills and endeavors they had to learn, master, and apply both as individuals and as team members.  The final reward is the knowledge that they created something that truly belongs to them.  Their cookies started out as an idea and became a reality through hard word and determination.