Author: K.Graybill

Kim Graybill is a veteran Family and Consumer Science teacher who teaches both middle and high school in Pennsylvania.

Home, House & Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

I’ve heard many say “come to my home”, while others say “come to my house”. While similar, the two terms are different in meaning as well as how each meet our
needs.  Home, House & Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs addresses all of these as it explores the similarities and differences between the two along with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This lesson provides an overview while engaging students in a variety of ways. So, if you teach about factors that influence our home and house selections, this may be a new way to go about it!

Children’s Book Character K-Cups

Last fall, I saw a lot of cute children’s book character pumpkin projects surface all over social media!  While the pumpkin characters are/were super cute, I feel like the project limited itself to only the fall season.  With that being said, I wanted to come up with a similar project, but one that could be done ANY time of the year and with minimal cost as empty K-Cups are used as the base of the character!  AKA~ Book Character K-Ups!  How’s that for sustainability and upcycling!

Cultural Diversity Assignment

Katelyn Propper, of Indiana, is teaching a new course this year titled, Understanding Diversity. Like many new courses, she is building the curriculum one lesson
at a time. The Cultural Diversity Assignment is one she created this summer for use in this new class to expose her students to a variety of cultures. Continue reading to learn more.

Plant-Based Rummy Card Game

In my opinion, two heads are always better than one!  When Arlene DeJoy-Meckes of Twins & Teaching reached out about collaborating on an activity for plant
based diets, I was excited to collaborate! The Plant-Based Rummy Card Game is a free resource reinforcement activity and assessment that can be used when teaching about plant-based diets. Read on to see what we developed!

Clothing Influences

Think about your closet full of clothing…what prompted you to buy all of these items?  Our clothing decisions are often influences by a variety of things.  This lesson on Clothing Influences is a great way to explore what guides our choices when it comes to clothing. Use this as an intro lesson to your clothing or fashion course or unit or as a stand alone overview lesson in a comprehensive FACS class or middle school program when you need to explore various FACS content areas in a short period of time. Be sure to check out all of the engaging ideas as you continue to read this post!

Food Culture Fridays

Looking to add some culture into your school or program?  I see a lot of teachers requesting ideas on this very topic all over social media. Food Culture Fridays is a way to not only add some culture by way of different foods to your school and student body, but it’s a great way to connect your students to the cafeteria staff,  who often go unnoticed. Read on to learn more about how you can expose your students to some delicious and diverse foods every month!

Importance of Small Talk

There was a time when keeping students quiet was a challenge because all they wanted to do was talk! Now, not so much! Sadly, many students want to avoid
talking to you, their peers or anyone else at all costs. Importance of Small Talk is a great lesson to use with students at the beginning of the school year, new semester or even as part of a communication unit. Not only does this lesson give insight on the importance of small talk, but it encourages small talk among students and helps build relationships as they get to know each other! Continue reading to learn more…

Careers in the Food Industry

The food industry contains many careers for individuals to investigate and pursue. However, many careers are unfamiliar and go unnoticed. There are more jobs in
the food industry than you would imagine! Careers in the Food Industry, created by Nicole Brown from Illinois, allows students to dive deeper into careers within the food industry and all they encompass.  Continue reading to learn more…

Relationship Videos

Movies and movie clips can be a great way to add and increase interest to a lesson or topic. Jeff Brown, of Colorado, teaches a Psychology of Relationships
course (any many others) at Rampart High School and has an amazing collection of Relationship Videos that he has created for that class.  He is graciously sharing his video collection with us, along with his websites which are chocked full of materials for various content areas.  So, if you’ve been struggling to add more interest and engagement to your relationship lessons, you are definitely going to want to check these out!

Aprons: History & Design

With the surge in home cooking, aprons are making a comeback!  However, in the cooking lab, they’ve always been a staple!  Learn about Aprons: History & Design and then teach students how to create their own, with or without tie dye.