Tuesday, 30 October, 2012

Today we listened to this story about the five tastes from National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15819485

From this story we added three new vocabulary words:
dashi
glutamate
flavor

Then in order to best understand what these tastes are students had a plate of tastes.

Important concepts we covered today include
Flavor is not taste; taste is not flavor. There are five tastes: sweet, sour, salt, bitter, and ummami. Flavor is a complex experience of eating derived from a variety of sense.

HOMEWORK:
Independent Book Projects are due on Thursday, 1 November

There will be a vocabulary test on Thursday, 8 November. The test will cover the following words:
cereal
monocot
dicot
Mise en place
sesame oil
savory
ummami
sour
sweet bitter
salt
anthropology
hearth
sustenance
fruit
rice and beans
legumes
dashi
glutamte
flavor

Monday, 29 October, 2012

Students shared their responses to the "Critical Questions to Answer Before Beginning" questions about their reading projects. The class then discussed concerns related to the projects.

Next the class read and discussed the childrens' book Everybody Cooks Rice by Norah Dooley. The following vocabulary terms were added:

"Beans & Rice" -- Beans and rice combinations are found in traditional cooking in cultures from around the world. Neither beans nor rice provide a complete protein on their own, but together they compliment each other and no meat is needed in a healthy diet.

"Legume" -- seeds know as beans and peas. These plants "fix" their own nitrogen, that is they are basically self fertilizing.

Class on Tuesday will include tasting. Students are encouraged to wash their hands immediately before coming to class.

Thursday, 25 October, 2012

Students turned in their essay's analyzing the symbol of food in a short story.

Students wrote and discussed a journal entry on "Why do you like to eat?" (And what do you like to eat?)

We read and discussed two recent pieces on food choices and eating in the New York times:

No Appetite for Good-for-You School Lunches and

Peanut Butter Takes on an Unlikely Best Friend

The class also discussed the Independent Reading project assignment.

Tuesday, 23 October, 2012

Class began with students receiving this handout describing the project required to show understanding of independent reading. The projects are due November 1st.

The class then read and discussed the memoir "A Fig By Any Other Name".

Next students choose which short story to write an analytical essay on, and had opportunities to get help. Most students had their thesis statement approved by Mr. Zartler. Students who needed more help were encouraged to attend tutorial at 2:05.

Two page, typed, double spaced essays are due in class on Thursday.

Monday, 22 October

Class today included a brief review of vocabulary,

plus the new word: "sustenance"

Noun:

Food and drink regarded as a source of strength; nourishment. The maintaining of someone or something in life or existence: "the sustenance of democracy".

Students were told that this week they will be writing a short essay on one of the short stories we have read and discussed in class (or the memoir we will read on Tuesday).

In class students independently read "The Riding Pants" by Bernard Malmud.

The class also discussed how food can be a symbol of sustenance, and family, or tradition.

Thursday, 18 October, 2012

Class continued with investigation of fiction that has a strong food component in it's symbolism or its structure.

Students also considered what their kitchen trash provides evidence for their families attitudes and practices with food and eating.

The class read and analyzed Elizabeth Woody's story "Home Cooking."

Periods 1 & 3 had time to consider how and why dates often involve food.

All classes learned that they will have a project based on their independent reading due on Thursday, 1 November. These projects will vary depending on the book being read, and options will be explored in class over the next week.

Tuesday, 16 October, 2012

Classes today finished reading and /or discussion and analysis of "Survivor Type".

Food, in general was identified as a symbol of: love, community, and life.

We added the vocabulary words:
anthropology
and
hearth

Anthropologists work by making observations. The class made observations of the neolithic village of Skara Brae and created hypothoses about the culture. One vital observation was that each home in the village was built around a central hearth. Students wrote about how they saw this structure as culturally significant.

Class continued it's examination of the role of Food in Fiction.

The class began with an in-class writing assignment in which students were asked to write about a time that they were hungry, to think about what they would have done to get something to eat, and what they would have eaten.

The class then read the Stephen King short story "Survival Type."

Tuesday, 9 October

Class today briefly continued the discussion around "Stone Soup" stories. Asked if the same concepts could be addressed without the use of food students suggested that shelter (the first thing that the soldiers and the monks asked for) or some kind of communal activity could be used instead.  We discussed how food, shelter, and community represent basic human needs.

Students had a bit of time to read their independent reading books; people shared what they were liking or not liking in their books. Mr. Zartler read Garlic and Sapphires on the plane this past week and really enjoyed not only the writing about food and restaurants, but the interesting writing about playing roles and identity.

The class worked on two vocabulary activities. The first involved charting the various terms we use for meals:

The second involved identifying the relationships among the words we use for hunger:

The last activity of the day involved reading excerpts from The Woman Warrior (a new addition to the suggested reading list), and discussing how the references to food, and symbolism were used.

Thursday, 4 October, 2012

The class read three versions of children's books telling the story of "Stone Soup".

The class divided into three groups to create detailed analyses and presentations of their assigned text.

The general questions addressed by each group for their text include:

As you read think about how food as used as a symbol in the story. In other words does food only mean food in your story?

How do the illustrations affect your understanding or interpretation of the story?

Is there a moral to the story? If so, what is it?

Is this book only for children?

Is the story meant to be funny?

Each students was asked to show their independent reading book as a assigned. This was a graded assignment.

Tuesday, 2 October, 2012

Plans for the week were reviewed.
Thursday the class will embark on a mini-unit on food in fiction. The first quarter of Food & Culture is a survey of many different topics; some will be examined in more depth as a class, others may be the subject of independent research for the thesis.

Groups had time to finish their group presentations based on the Corn Causes Vampire reading. The groups had to develop a claim with five supporting facts from their assigned field of knowledge  (Agriculture; Economics/ Business; Health; Eating & Cooking; History & Social Sciences; Jeopardy Knowledge; Science; Symbolism & Arts & Religion). Each group also had to develop a metaphor for corn based in their field of knowledge.

ANY STUDENT WHO MISSED THE PRESENTATION MUST COMPLETE A WRITTEN VERSION OF THE PRESENTATION. This can be turned in to Ms. Margolis on Thursday, or Mr. Zartler on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Students presented their claims and metaphors, and the rest of the class took notes. After all the presentations the class choose a metaphor for corn in general. Two class choose "Corn is like Oxygen," and then each person in class wrote a journal entry to explain the metaphor.

Classes reviewed the current and new vocabulary:
cereal; monocot; dicot; mies en place; sesame oil; savory; umami.

All students MUST bring their independent reading books to class on Thursday when Ms. Margolis will be teaching.

Monday, 1 October, 2012

Class began with reviewing the Mark Bittman breakfast recipe:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/dining/184mrex.html and watching the video where he makes it again:
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2009/02/17/dining/1194837897096/savory-breakfast.html

Then Mr. Zartler demonstrated how to make the dish. He demonstrated slicing scallions  (including removing the roots and basal plate of the bulb), and the tough upper part of the greens.

After eating some Wheat Berries and Scallions (with Sesame Oil and Soy Sauce) the class wrote about the dish. Students were asked to come up with a metaphor for the dish.

New vocabulary words were added (3rd period will get these words on Tuesday).
Cereal
1: A breakfast food based on processed grains (cereal) usually sweetened and very popular in the United States.

2: Grain; the seeds of a variety of monocots.

Monocot: grass and grass like plants; seedlings have only one leaf

Dicot: a large group of flowering plants including (among many others: apples, cabbages, and Douglas Fir); seedlings have two leaves.

Savory: as opposed to sweet a pleasant taste; used most often in reference to meat, spices, etc. See also umami.

Groups had a brief amount of time to prepare for tomorrows presentations on corn.

Students were reminded to have their independent reading books by Tuesday.

Thursday, September 27, 2012 Class Review

In class today students took a vocabulary quiz. The class then reviewed the quiz. Anyone who did not earn at least a "C" on the quiz needs to attend Tutorial on 2 October, or on 9 October to retake the quiz.

The class was divided into study groups in order to break down the analysis of "Carrots Cause Vampires." Each group is responsible for identifying an important claim or conclusion that applies to their field of knowledge, and then for creating a metaphor to for information contained in their section.

There will some class time available on Monday for group preparation; reports to the class will be due on Tuesday.

Homework: Man will have to work on analysis of the article. ALSO everyone is to have their food related independent reading book by Tuesday, 2 October.