GRADE: Third
TECHNOLOGY: Internet,
Word Processor
BY: Sara
Young
Grade:
This lesson is designed for a third
grade class of 21 students who come from various backgrounds. It would benefit the students to have
children from other countries in the class. This lesson will be coordinated with Ms. Gayton’s
class. Her class will advertise
for the specific restaurants that the groups in my class create. View the related lesson.
Subject:
The primary topic of this lesson is the food of seven European
countries. This interdisciplinary
lesson focuses on three primary subjects:
social studies, language arts, and technology.
Rationale:
Third graders are still at a developmental level where they need
concrete activities that relate to their daily lives. Without explicit relevance, some students may not truly
grasp the meaning of the lesson. The focus of this lesson is on food, a topic
that most third graders can relate to.
They see food daily. Most
of the students have prior knowledge of restaurants, and even restaurants
serving food of different countries.
The class will work in small groups to discover the typical foods of
other countries allowing the students to discuss international topics relevant
to them. It facilitates
conversation and knowledge of other countries.
Objectives:
1.
Using library, classroom, and
technological resources, the student will research the primary components
(courses) of a meal in a European country.
2.
Using the resources listed above, the
student will research typical food items within each of these categories
(courses).
3.
Using a word processing program, the
students will create a menu with appropriate components (courses), food items,
and beverages for a specified country.
4.
The student will briefly describe at
least three food items and how they are prepared.
5.
The student will acquire recipes for at
least three food items.
6.
The student will list at least three
beverages appropriate for a specified country.
7.
The student will participate in an oral
group presentation on the food of a specified country.
8.
The student will create an attractive
layout for the menu using various word
processing
functions (i.e. fonts, sizes, graphics, etc.).
Materials:
Encyclopedias
Trade books
Informational
books
Word processing
program
Computer access
to the World Wide Web, email, and CD ROM’s
Sample menus
from various restaurants in town
Map of
Europe-classroom resource
Sheet 1 - guide
for country information
Sheet 2 - rubric
for evaluating lesson
Sheet 3 - names
of countries to put in hat
Background:
In the lessons
immediately preceding this one, the topics focused on the similarities and
differences between the United States and European countries. The lesson was set up assuming that the
students have had some experience with the World Wide Web and email.
Introduction:
Introduce the
topic of food. Have a discussion
about the importance of food in their own lives. Discuss the components of a meal in the United States.
What
role does food play in our lives?
What
foods do you like to eat?
What
are the components of a meal?
What
are some examples of those courses?
Pass out sample
menus. Did we miss any
category? Any additions?
Lesson:
Introduce the
idea of food in other countries being different from the food we eat every
day. Discuss what they know about
the foods in other countries.
Progress to discussing the seven European countries that they will
research: France, Italy, Germany,
Greece, Spain, England, and Switzerland.
Discuss what the students think people in these countries eat. On the board write down the hypotheses
that the students suggest.
Inform the
students that today’s lesson focuses on doing research on the foods of
these countries. Discuss resources
to locate this type of information.
Where
do you think that you can find out information on food in other
countries?
Write ideas on
board. Monitor and revise the
ideas when necessary. Leave the
appropriate resources on the board for future reference.
Explain that the
ultimate goal for this lesson is to create a menu for a particular country and
then to prepare three food items off of that menu for the school.
Distribute the
teacher-made guide sheet (see sheet 1 in attached materials).
Go over sheet to
confirm that students understand my expectations. This sheet is a guide for the creation of a menu.
(See Sheet 1)
Name country. Indicate categories
(courses) for a typical meal.
Identify and describe three food items in each category. Acquire recipes for at least three of
the food items. Pick three food items that you have a
recipe for to prepare for the International Dining Festival.
Divide the
students into 7 groups of 3. Each
group should decide who will be the following roles: reader, recorder, and facilitator. (These are roles that the students have used many times
before.)
Have a representative
from each group come forward to draw a country name out of a hat.
Give the
students time in class to work on the assignment (approximately 30
minutes—this is flexible).
Over the next
several days, the students will have time to work on this project.
On the second
working day, distribute the rubric for the menu. Go over the components of the rubric and ask for
questions.
When the project
is close to completion, inform the students that each group will give a brief
oral presentation to describe the components of the meal, some of the typical
food items, and the three food items that the students will prepare for the
festival. Each student in the
group is responsible for participating in the presentation.
Evaluation:
1. Students will be evaluated using the
attached rubric (sheet 2).
(Objectives
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8)
2. Continually during the lesson, I am
asking questions to ensure that they understand my expectations. The responses to my questions will help
me to evaluate if the students are understanding. If they do not understand, modifications and additional
explanations and modeling are needed.
More specifically, I will ask the students questions about where they
can locate resource materials about food from other countries.
(Objectives
1 and 2)
3. Walking around the classroom and
checking in with each of the groups during research time is key. I will be monitoring their progress and
leading them in an appropriate direction.
If they are having difficulty using the resources, mini-lessons may be
added to help the students with these skills. If the students are having difficulty finding information in
the resources that they are using, I may help the students brainstorm other
resources to use.
Menu/Lesson Rubric
(sheet 2)
|
|
Exceeds Expectations (5 pts) |
Meets Expectations (3 pts) |
Below Expectations (1 pt) |
|
Categories |
Includes
most/all food categories for specified country |
Includes major
food categories |
Does not
include major food categories |
|
Food Items |
Includes more
than 3 food items |
Includes 3
food items per category |
Includes less
than 3 food items per category |
|
Description |
Description is
informative and concise while describing unique details to several food
items. Describes preparation |
Description is
concise, informative, and descriptive.
It describes what each item is and how it is prepared. |
Description
tells little of the type of food or how it is prepared |
|
Beverages |
Included three
valid beverages unique to the country |
Included
appropriate, valid beverages for the specified country |
Included
incorrect or inappropriate beverages for the specified country |
|
Creativity |
Creates
captivating menu on word processor using many different applications (fonts,
sizes, graphics, etc.), names restaurant |
Creates menu
on word processor using basic applications; names restaurant |
The added
extras are missing. Text of menu
is dry with little to catch the reader’s attention. Fails to name restaurant. |
|
Participation
in group oral presentation |
All three
group members participate |
|
Only one or
two group members participate |
|
Recipes |
Acquired more
than 3 appropriate recipes; acquired unusual recipes for food items |
Acquired 3
recipes that are appropriate for the specified country |
Failed to
acquire three recipes that were appropriate for the country |
A = 28-35 points
B = 21-27 points
C = 15-20 points
D = 7-14
F = below 7
points
Sheet 3 - Cut in
strips to draw out of the hat
England
Italy
Germany
Greece
Switzerland
Spain
France