Mud Pay Learning for Kids

Kids of all ages love mud! Our class read the Magnificent Magical Mud story posted on this blog site. Then we planted flowers in flower pots as gifts for seniors and homeless residents. Students learned how to make mud while watering the plants in flower pots. We studied different types of potting soil to determine how much water it took to make mud in the flower pot. We also studied the ingredients of various mud solutions. Some mud samples had a sandy composition while others contained small rocks. The students were fully engaged while playing with their magnificent mucky mud. They were excited about learning. They were also curious and eager to learn about the composition and the many uses of mud throughout the ages. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.

Magnificent Magical Mud

by Mary Ann Burke

INTRODUCTION: GenParenting bloggers will periodically feature select children’s stories with educational and social-emotional growth themes. Magnificent Magical Mud was written to support second grade learners. Students will complete mud science projects and research online informational text to write a mud report.

Why do I love mud?

I have loved mud since I was three years old. I liked the way it squished through my fingers. It was fun to smush my feet in sticky, muddy puddles. Mud was my favorite ingredient for pies and sloshy rock leaf soup. My favorite activity was slinging mud balls at my irritating older brother. Maybe I liked mud because my mom hated mud. Perhaps it was because our backyard became flooded with lots of muddy puddles that I played in whenever it rained. Then my mom would make me change out of my muddy clothes before I stepped into the house.

What is mud?

I was excited when our teacher, Mrs. Hecklebee, asked our class, “What is mud and how do you make it?”

We learned that you can make different types of mud when you mix water with various types of soil. Clay soil is heavy, sticky when wet, and has very fine mineral specks. Sandy soil consists of small pieces of weathered rock and is light and crumbly. Loamy soil has clay, sand silt, and dead plants in it. I was amazed that there were different types of soil that could make mud. I must have used clay soil for great mud pies when I played in my backyard.

Sophia excitedly asked our teacher, “What is the difference between sandy mud and clay mud?”

Then Manuel exclaimed, “Does one type of mud take more water to make? Can you add leaves and branches to make the mud thick?”

My teacher responded to our questions by having us make a quart of clay mud. First, we scooped 4 cups of clay soil into a bucket. Second, we mixed it with a few cups of water to make it stick to our fingers. Finally, we added lots more water to make the mud roll off our fingers. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert