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| During Middle Childhood, students'
sense of themselves and their world expands. They
begin to see themselves as members of larger communities.
They are interested in and like to speculate on other
times, places and societies. They begin to understand
and appreciate different points of view and develop the
ability to think in more abstract terms. |
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Children in Middle Childhood are moving beyond an interest in
their own family and neighbourhood to a larger world view. This
is, therefore, an ideal time to introduce students to historical
fiction, and/or stories about other cultures that incorporate
a significant reference to food or feasting.
As their fondness for riddles and jokes testify, students at
this stage also revel in the ridiculous, and like to ponder
on 'what if' scenarios so humour and fantasy also hold wide
appeal.
Immerse students
in a feast of reading offering them a wide choice
ranging from the books about the 'olden days', or multicultural
stories, to humour and fantasy all containing an aspect of food.
Click on the approaches listed below
for learning ideas and fiction titles to get you started.
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Students
can:
- Compare the foods eaten by Laura's
family with Aboriginal bush tucker and foods
eaten by pioneer white settlers in Australia.
Compare these with foods eaten in 2002, after
reading Little
House in the Big Woods.
- Conduct a survey of the common
foods eaten by student's parents or grandparents.
Show results graphically. Compare these results
with the foods students eat today. Note and
discuss reasons for any changes. Make a chart
to highlight findings.
- Research methods of preserving
food in the past. Discuss how modern developments
in food growth, processing, preservation and
distribution have helped to change the lifestyles
described in Little
House in the Big Woods.
- Find an old-fashioned recipe
to cook in a small group, for example a dessert
that Grandma made. Or, try to churn butter or
cook toffee (with adult supervision).
- Plan and prepare a class luncheon
for Book Week, after reading NIPS
XI.
- Collect interesting words and
phrases to describe food and eating. List them
on a class chart while reading The
Café On Callisto.
- Write a poem using some of the
words collected.
- Design an advertisement or compose
a jingle for The
Café On Callisto.
- Write an imaginative or humorous
story about food or feasting after reading The
Magic Pudding and or Bartlett
and the Ice Voyage.
- Invent, describe and illustrate
a new fruit or vegetable after reading about
the melidrop in Bartlett
and the Ice Voyage.
- Find a story with food in the
title and present a persuasive book talk to
encourage others to read it.
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For example:
- research the origin of various
foods;
- draw a map to show the locations
where various foods are grown;
- explain an aspect of food growth,
processing and distribution;
- interpret data about food production
around the world;
- discuss nutrition and designing
a healthy feast;
- plan an advertising campaign
to encourage students to purchase healthy snacks
from the school tuckshop;
- investigate the science behind
cooking;
- consider the advantages and disadvantages
of genetic engineering of foods;
- collect, present and analyse
data about the types of food people like/dislike;
- plan a budget for a party;
- learn food vocabulary and customs
in LOTE;
- plan a menu for a special occasion
appropriate to the LOTE language & writing
the menu in the target language;
- follow a simple recipe written
in LOTE to cook part of a meal;
- collate a list of adjectives
and phrases to describe food and eating, in
both English and LOTE;
- plan and presenting entertainment
appropriate to a Book Week Feast;
- learn songs about food, and/or
playing an instrument to accompany the singing;
- compose a jingle to advertise
a particular food;
- write a poem or nonsense rhyme
about food;
- use suitable equipment and safety
procedures to cut, slice and peel fruit and
vegetables;
- learning to preserve food for
example by smoking, pickling, drying, bottling
as was common in the past;
- organise an 'olden days' feast
including appropriate food and appropriate entertainment
such as charades, musical items, poetry readings,
skits, magic tricks, acrobatics.
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FRENCH, Jackie and BARON,
Sarah. The
Café On Callisto
Koala, 2001
Paperback Novel. Sam and her Dad live alone, twenty-five levels
below earth. Seeking a better life, Dad travels to Callisto
Four to open a café. Full of unexpected twists, wonderfully
descriptive language (especially related to food) and interesting
characters, this is an excellent introduction to science fiction
that will be equally enjoyed as shared or individual reading.
Sequel:
Space Pirates On Callisto
HIRSCH, Odo.
Bartlett
and the Ice Voyage
Allen &
Unwin, 1998
Paperback Novel. An
enchanting story about a young and impatient queen who rules
seven kingdoms and is often sent a variety of exotic gifts by
her faithful subjects. However, she longs to taste the melidrop,
a fruit from one of her most distant countries, that spoils
very quickly and is best eaten the day after it has been picked.
The explorer, Bartlett, and his friend Le Grand are commissioned
to bring her a melidrop, a task which requires all their inventiveness,
desperation and perseverance.
Also
available on CD.
Notable Book, CBC Book of the Year 1999:
Younger Readers
LINDSAY, Norman. The
Magic Pudding
Angus&Robertson, 1995
Paperback Novel. This children's classic is a wonderful example
of Australian humour. With exciting adventures related in rich,
textured language and splendid characters that burst into song
at the slightest provocation, it begs to be read aloud. It relates
the story of three noble adventurers, Bunyip Bluegum, Bill Barnacle
and Sam Sawnoff, a magic (cut-and-come-again) pudding named
Albert and two wicked puddin' thieves.
Note that the book of the film, The Magic Pudding, while
undoubtedly popular lacks the richness of language and the story
has little in common with the original version.
STARKE,Ruth. NIPS
XI
Lothian, 2000
Paperback Novel. A group of children, who feel ostracised
because of their cultural backgrounds, unite to form a school
cricket team. In doing so, they bridge the gap with other students
and the local community.
Read Chapter 23 for the delicious and atypical luncheon
served to the visiting cricket team.
Honour Book, CBC Book of the Year: Younger Readers, 2001
WILDER, Laura Ingalls.
Little
House in the Big Woods
Mammoth,
1992
Paperback novel. First published in 1932, this American
classic is the first of nine, largely autobiographical Little
House books about pioneer life in America's mid-west, during
the late 1800s. In easy-to-read language, the series vividly
describes the daily activities, adventures, hardships and joys
of a pioneer family, and Laura's growth over the years.
This title is particularly useful for the topic of food as Laura
recounts what was involved in providing food for the family,
especially for the long harsh winter. Readers learn about curing
bear meat, smoking ham and bacon, collecting maple syrup, salting
fish, churning butter and cooking candy. There are also interesting
descriptions of special celebrations such as Christmas and the
annual sugaring-off party.
ZAMORANO, Ana and Vivas, Julie.
Let's
Eat!
Hardback Picture Book. A young boy tells of his family's lunchtime
'ritual' in this delightful book about a Spanish family. The
family comprises Granny, Grandpa, a brother and sister, Papa,
Mama, who is going to have a baby. Every day for lunch, Mama
prepares something special, but there is always one family member
absent from the table.
Also available as a book
and cassette.
Honour Book, CBC Picture Book of the Year, 1997
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