Amanda Cabrera EDESL 772 - Fall 2013 Text Set Narrative

For my text set in a pre-K classroom, the theme is food, nutrition, and cooking. Children are able to bring a wealth of prior knowledge from their own background with food to the classroom and can each be an expert of some sort. The texts selected introduce students to a variety of new vocabulary and ideas related to food. Students will be able to use these texts to share their cultural background, as well as discover one anothers heritage. Through the text set, the children will explore new and familiar types of food, healthy eating habits, and cooking skills and methods. The first text is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, which is a fictional illustrated book about a caterpillar who searches for food because he is hungry. He is so hungry, that he eats a number of different types of food, both healthy and unhealthy. This book introduces many types of fruits as well as traditional Western style foods, such as sausages, cupcakes, and lollipops. The caterpillar eats so much food, that he grows very big and gets a stomach ache. Afterwards, he eats a leaf and feels better. At the end of the book, the caterpillar wraps himself within a chrysasllis, waits two weeks, and finally becomes a butterfly. The text would be used to discuss types of food, as well as which foods are considered healthy or unhealthy. Students would also be able to use their prior knowledge to name other types of food that could be represented in the text. The children would be introduced to new food vocabulary as well as the concept of food that is good or bad for the body. Yoko by Rosemary Wells is the second text for the theme of food, nutrition, and cooking. This book deals with exposure to unfamiliar dishes and how it is important to try new foods. The fictional illustrated book is about a Japanese girl named Yoko, who is teased by the other

Amanda Cabrera EDESL 772 - Fall 2013 Text Set Narrative

children at school for eating sushi and red bean ice cream for lunch. Yokos teacher decides this would be a good learning opportunity for her students and arranges an international food celebration at school in which each family must bring a dish representing their cultural background. The only rule for the celebration is that everyone must try everything. Some of the food brought in for the celebration by the children include spaghetti with meatballs, coconut flakes, and baked beans. The children are all excited to try one anothers food, however no one tries Yokos sushi that she made for her classmates. Finally, one student, tries her sushi, and sure enough the other children enjoy the food they had previously teased her for eating. In the end, Yoko and another child learn to enjoy the food from around the world and create a menu for their pretend restaurant, which features a combination of food from different countries. This is a good book for introducing dishes from other cultures, with which children may or may not be familiar. It also encourages the idea of trying new dishes, and accepting that we all eat different types of food. Yoko also introduces food vocabulary such as sushi, fish, seaweed, and a basic method for how sushi is prepared. By reading this book, the teacher is able to encourage acceptence of one anothers cultural backgrounds and could also help implement an international food day in the classroom. This would encourage children to have first hand experiences with these new foods and a meaningful opportunity for learning new vocabulary. The third book in the text set is Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris, which is a nonfiction book that uses photographs to illustrate the many different types of bread that are eaten all over the world. Bread is a staple of many cusines and most children will have eaten bread at some point in their lives. Children will bring their prior knowledge of bread to the classroom and will be able to make connections to the different types of bread represented in the book. In

Amanda Cabrera EDESL 772 - Fall 2013 Text Set Narrative

Bread, Bread, Bread, the reader learns about the different shapes and sizes of bread as well as how they are eaten and in some cases, how they are prepared. At the end of the book, there is an index of where each photo was taken, along with a small description about the country and the bread shown in the photo. Some of the countries that are represented in the book include, Israel, Ghana, England, Peru, and Hong Kong. Children may be familiar with some types of bread, but they may also be able to share information about other types of bread they have consumed at home or in their community. This text connects with Yoko by Rosemary Wells because it Students will learn new vocabulary

introduces and embraces food from around the world.

related to the different types of bread, such as roll, baguette, and tortilla, as well as the adjectives used to describe these breads, such as skinny, crunchy, and round. By reading these texts that encourage students to embrace one anothers cultural background, students will feel welcomed and comfortable in the classroom, allowing for better learning. The fourth text set is a poem by Jack Prelutsky entitled, A Pizza the Size of the Sun. In the poem, the reader is introduced to the idea of a pizza as well as the types of food that go into making a pizza. The poem names the many ingredients needed for the pizza, including sauce, cheese, muchrooms, peas, peppers, and sausage. This poem builds on the food vocabulary of the previous books, such as the sausage in The Very Hungry Caterpillar; and the idea of the pizza dough being a form of bread originally from Italy, which relates to Bread, Bread, Bread. Children will continue to bring their prior knowledge, now from their own background as well as from previous literature read in class, and will be able to form connections. Students could also talk about other pizza toppings, with which they may be more familiar. The children can also use this poem to understand how recipes are used to make specific dishes. The text, which describes

Amanda Cabrera EDESL 772 - Fall 2013 Text Set Narrative

how a pizza is made, is essentially a poetic version of a recipe. The students would then make connections between the recipes for making bread with the recipe for making pizza and will understand how cooking requires specific methods and steps for preparation. The next text, The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons, continues the theme of healthy and unhealhy eating by introducing children to a variety of vegetables and their qualities. The book is a non-fiction illustrated book that depicts different types of vegetables and categories them based on their similar characteristics. The teacher can also use this opportunity to discuss how vegetables are a healthy food that are good for ones body. Students will learn how

vegetables should be consumed more often than unhealthy foods such as candy and processed foods. Children may be familiar with some of these vegetables, and will be able to use their prior knowledge from their personal experiences as well as the previous texts, to discuss other types of vegetables. Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert is the sixth text within the text set and is related to food, nutrition, and cooking. The book is a fictional illustrated book with basic text that describes how vegetables are grown, picked, and cooked to make vegetable soup. First, the reader sees how the seeds are planted and begin to sprout. Next, the seeds begin to grow into vegetables, until they are ready to be picked. The vegetables are then chopped into small pieces and added to a pot for cooking. Once they have cooked for a while, they are ready to eat the soup. After reading The Vegetables We Eat, as well as the other texts, the children will be familiar with different types of vegetables and their healthy qualities. The teacher can discuss the names of vegetables in the book to review vocabulary. The students can also note the

methods of food preparation, such as chopping and boiling. The students could also use their

Amanda Cabrera EDESL 772 - Fall 2013 Text Set Narrative

prior knowledge of vegetables to name other vegetables that are not mentioned in the text that could be added to the soup. These vegetables could be vegetables that are more typical in

Western cultures and from their own cultural background. The texts used within this text set were selected to create a dynamic learning environment for a pre-K class to discover food, good nutrition habits, and cooking methods. These are

important themes to children, and are typical of their every day life. Often, children see how their relatives shop for groceries or how food is prepared at home. This is a theme that children experience every day, which is thus relatable and exciting for them. Through these texts, the students will be exposed to a number of new fruits, vegetables, breads, recipes, and cultural dishes. The background information they contribute to the lessons involving these texts will enrich the theme and make it more personal for the children in the class as they will each have a hand in shaping the information shared in the class. The texts used for this theme, will

encourage students to feel accepted in their classroom environment, and will allow them to reach their greatest potential.