Thursday, 26 September 2013

Class began with students continuing work on their food/ eating stories with the prompt "Then he/ she said/ did ...."

Next Mr. Zartler went over the requirements for this story:
It should be a story
that uses food or eating as a symblol
The story should use the elements of story telling including:
dialogue;
blocking;
setting;
character description.

Next Mr. Zartler did a lesson on blocking.
Students then worked to add blocking to dialogue that Mr. Zartler handed out.

Finally students were asked to revise their current story so that it included blocking. Some students were able to do revisions in class, many will have to work at home.

Tuesday, 24 September

Class today was focused around the role of food and eating in story telling.

The class made lists of food, meals, and experiences eating that taught us lessons.

We defined "story" as:

 character(s) + conflict = resolution

Students then choose either a real event from their list or created an imaginary event based on their experiences learning from food or eating and began writing a story with a focus on including characters and conflict. Students were encouraged to include dialogue (what was said) in their draft.

Next each class made a chart around how what food symbolizes and how or why it is symbolic.

Students had additional time to draft. This time they were asked to incorporate food or eating as a symbol into the story.

Monday, 23 September

Class began with presentations on the various versions of the Stone Soup story. Students considered what the stories had in common, and how they were different.

The class discussed how the various characters were and were not effective as characters in the story.

The class discussed food as a symbol, as well as the symbolism of cooking and eating together.

Thursday, 19 September

Groups presented their analysis of "How Carrots Won the Trojan War".

Next groups were formed around four different versions of the story Stone Soup. Each group was given issues to focus on, and time to present an analysis of their version of the story.

Presentations were done today and will finish on Monday.

Tuesday, 17 September

First students completed a self evaluation of the paper that was due today.

Students who turned in their essay wrote about:
How did I do?
What kind of feedback do I want?
Is there anything I'm not sure that I've done right?

Students who did not have their essay to turn in wrote about:
Students who did not have their essay were to turn in the following self-evaluation:
What's going on?
What is my plan to complete this assignment (being very specific)
Will I attend tutorial this Tuesday or this Wednesday?
What help do I need to be successful?

Class then turned to reading and analyzing an article called "How Carrots Won the Trojan War". Students worked in groups to present an analysis of how one of the following areas of knowledge was addressed in the article: Science; Health; Economics; Social Studies; Agriculture/ Horticulture; Cooking; "Idle Chat:"

Monday, September 16

Homework:
Essay's based on the summer research assignment are due tomorrow Tuesday, September 17th.

Class discussed why Cheetos are orange, and why some cheddar cheese is orange (color derived from Annatto a seed) is added to change how the cheese looks.

We continued the discussion of areas of knowledge.

Thursday, 12 September

Class began with a writing prompt and subsequent discussion of "formal" and "informal" learning. Students wrote about ways that they had learned about food through formal (academic) channels and informally from others, experiences, observation, etc. We discussed the relative "strength" of each mode.

Students had a chance to ask questions and to get feedback about their essay that is due on Tuesday, September 17th.

Tuesday, 10 September

Class began with students comparing their eating habits with the recomendations of the food pyramid (see below).

Next students worked in groups to analyze what and how the current food pyramid recommend for nutrition and what the pyramid from 1992 recommended.

The class also reviewed the structure of an essay: there should be a thesis that is supported by topic sentences. Each paragraph should provide specific concrete evidence to support the topic sentence (and thus the thesis of the essay).

The essay assigned for summer work is due on Tuesday, 17 September.

Monday, September 9th

Class today focused on the summer homework assignment.

The class discussed the kinds of learnings and insights that could have been gained from doing the assignment.

The class also considered the following four questions:

What is a meal?
Are meals everywhere similar?

Are Cheetos food?
Are carrots a meal?

We developed a working definition of "meal" food that provides the nutrients neccessary for the body; e.g. protein, carbohydrats, fats, vitamins and minerals.

The class will discuss the "Food Pyramid" on Tuesday.

Contemporary:

1992 version:

Thursday, September 5th 2013

Welcome to Food & Culture!

Students got their school photo and ID today, be sure to get yours tomorrow if you haven't already.

We began class by creating a list of memories that included food; then each student wrote details of the memory. Finally each person tried to identify why or how food was important to the memory, or what role the food played in the memory.

Next the class considered the cheeto and the mini carrot. Students took notes about eating carrots and cheetos and the class discussed how the two items were similar and different.

Students were reminded to bring their summer reading assignment to class on Monday. That assignment is: