Year levels 3–4 Recipes and Menus - Kitchen Garden · instructional text explaining a procedure)....

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation © 2011

UnitYear levels

3–4

Recipes and MenusCurriculum LinksEnglish: Literacy• read an increasing range of different types

of texts by combining contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge (ACELY1679)

• use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features (ACELY1680)

• use vocabulary related to cooking and the technical conventions of written recipes

• recognise and understand the interplay of features in multimodal texts, including technical conventions in the writing of recipes

• analyse how multimodal texts, including film, use conventions to shape meaning and promote a particular point of view.

About this unitThe unit explores the ways recipes and menus are recorded and presented, and the ways in which text and graphic elements combine to inform and influence readers.

Class members are encouraged to bring family recipes to school, which may be very old and must be treated with care and respect. The participation of family members will enhance the lessons, particularly if grandparents (and even great-grandparents) can attend kitchen classes to bring the recipes to life.

Preparing for the unitStudents can begin collecting recipes and menus for several weeks prior to the start of the unit. Recipes can be found in scrapbooks, family recipe books, magazines, cookbooks, newspapers, promotional brochures and on the internet. Menus can be sourced from local restaurants and cafés as well as on the internet, where many restaurants provide online versions.

Recipes can feature dishes from around the world, and ideally should be from the past and the present.

Because students prepare recipes and menus for dishes cooked in kitchen classes, it would be useful for the Kitchen Specialist to provide at least three unadorned recipes for dishes the students will use in Lessons 4 and 6.

Garden and kitchen classesIn the kitchen, students discuss recipes before using them to prepare dishes. They can note and compare features of the recipes, as discussed in Lessons 1 and 2.

Instructional (procedural) texts, such as recipes, are not only used in the kitchen. In the garden, students will benefit from having written instructions about how to prepare and complete tasks. Similar discussions can be had about these texts, which may be presented in a variety of ways: handwritten notes, fact sheets, signs, chalkboards, copies from books (with appropriate acknowledgements) or files downloaded from websites such as Gardening Australia (www.abc.net.au/gardening).

Recipes and Menus | Lesson 1

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation © 2011 Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation © 2011

Investigating Recipes

Year levels 3–4

Curriculum LinksEnglish: Literacy

• read an increasing range of different types of texts by combining contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge (ACELY1679)


• recognise and understand the interplay of features in multimodal texts, including technical conventions in the writing of recipes.

Resources • family recipes• cookbooks, both current and

from decades past• workbooks• whiteboard

LocationThe classroom

Suggested duration: 90 minutes

Preparation• Arrange for students to bring in recipes and cookbooks from home. Many

recipes may have been in families for generations and must be treated with care.

• If possible, family members may be invited to talk to the class about the time and place in which some recipes emerged, and why they might feature ingredients that are rarely used nowadays, such as lard. They can also explain why recipes are valued by families.

During the lesson• In an informal class discussion, ask the students to note text elements that

are common to most recipes, such as a list of ingredients and equipment, the method and preparation time. Discuss the purpose of a recipe (as an instructional text explaining a procedure).

• Working individually or in pairs, students review a number of recipes. They list elements that they feel contribute to a good recipe, as well as those that compromise its clarity.

• Together, the class lists the elements that make a recipe attractive and effective for them, in categories such as must-have features, useful features and distracting or annoying features.

• They may also have a category for interesting features, such as differences they see between the styles of different eras and media (family recipes, for example, often don’t have specific quantities, perhaps because the assumption is that family members should know what it looks and tastes like when it is ‘right’). The class list can be recorded and displayed for future reference.

• Inform the class that they will be preparing three recipes in ensuing lessons. The recipes will be for three different dishes, such as a hot main course, a salad and a dessert.

Following up• Students continue to bring recipes in for discussion.

• They prepare invitations for guests to attend the meal being served in Lesson 6. Guests might include family members who have participated in the unit.

Assessment

Students’ achievement of the objectives will be evident through:

• noting the depth and breadth of students’ analysis of recipes and their features.

Traditionally, cookbooks

not only provided recipes,

they also showed ways

food could be used to cure

illness and suggestions for

looking after a household.



Recipes and menus

provide a hint of the

taste, spiciness and

texture of a dish,

creating a sense of

anticipation.

A Critical Look at Cookbooks

Getting started• Students revise the features listed in Lesson 1.

During the lesson• Using a selection of cookbooks, magazines and commercially produced recipes

as references, students investigate ways in which text and graphic elements are used to appeal to readers. These include photographs, illustrations, layout, side bars, font types, stylistic text elements or decorative capital letters, and body text size. Students list the elements they find most effective.

• In a similar fashion, students compare cookbooks, magazines and recipes to determine whether particular lifestyles are celebrated. These include outdoor living, exotic dining, family cooking, different cultures, healthy food, and quick and easy preparation. The class can discuss why lifestyles are featured in cookbooks and recipes, list the ones that appeal to them and explain why.

• Finally, students compare the tone of the writing in cookbooks and recipes. Is the writer’s voice purely instructional, is it conversational and friendly or rich and colourful? Students discuss the merits of the different ‘voices’ and discuss the ones they find most helpful and which ones off-putting.

• Draw students’ attention to the language used in the introduction before many recipes. Is persuasive language used (this recipe is even better than, it’s so tasty and easy)? What about emotive language (comforting, exciting – you’ll love this recipe) and personal stories (my mother made this for my birthday…)?

Extension / variation • Aspects of recipes and cookbooks can be explored further by watching

cookery DVDs or online presentations. How do cookery videos typically develop a personality, tone and lifestyle? (Through the presenter’s voice, dress and style of presenting, props and the set – e.g. a ‘stage kitchen’ with an audience or a ‘home’ kitchen that looks like it’s in a farmhouse.) How do the presenters, props and recipes chosen represent this personality and lifestyle? Students can analyse the features and language of videos in the same way they investigated written texts.

• If students know which recipes they will prepare in Lesson 6, they could decide which features and styles are appropriate for presenting the recipes in writing or as a presentation.

Assessment


• recording their understanding and analysis of graphical features, lifestyles and tone.

Year levels 3–4





• analyse how multimodal texts, including film, use conventions to shape meaning and promote a particular point of view.

Resources • commercial recipes, cookbooks

and magazines• lists prepared in Lesson 1• workbooks• cookery DVDs or video clips of

TV cookery shows downloaded from the internet (optional)




Year levels 3–4




• use vocabulary related to cooking and the technical conventions of written recipes.

Resources • recipes and cookbooks• display materials• dictionaries and computers • the Kitchen Specialist’s

knowledge and expertise



During the lesson• Recipes use terms that are specific to the kitchen and often have their origins

in languages other than English.

• Students list terms they have encountered in cookery writing and seek definitions in dictionaries, cooking references, on the internet and by consulting the Kitchen Specialists. Individually, students draft definitions, taking care to ensure that they are presented in language that is meaningful to them (but that is not copied directly from resources). (This list of terms might include metric and imperial measurements as well as cookery procedures.)

• As a class or in groups, students list ingredients they are not familiar with and research them using digital and print resources.

• Together, the class agrees on ways of recording and displaying the definitions of recipe terms and unfamiliar ingredients, then prepares them for display in the classroom.

Following up• Members of the local community can be invited to discuss terms whose

origins are in languages other than English, and possibly to demonstrate their meaning in the kitchen.

Assessment


• quizzing them about the meaning and origins of different cooking terms.

Reading Recipes for Meaning


In French, sauté means ‘jump’,

which is what the ingredients

do as they cook in a hot pan!

Many old English cookbooks,

such as those prepared by

Mrs Beeton and Mrs Glasse,

refer to ‘receipts’ rather than

‘recipes’. This may be an

incorrect translation of the

French word for recipes, which

is recettes or may relate to the

Latin word, recipere.



Revising Recipes

During the lesson• Provide three recipes that students will prepare in Lesson 6. These should

be unadorned, plain text and provide basic instructions for students to elaborate on.

• Using information gathered in Lessons 1 and 2, as well as recipes and cookbooks for inspiration, students revise the three recipes for dishes they will make later in the unit. The recipes do not need to be stylistically consistent: students can experiment with different lifestyle image, language and tone of voice (emotive, scientific, persuasive words), graphic layouts, fonts and decorative elements. A considered, consistent approach is also welcome. Students might choose to present the recipes in a traditional, family style, using elements observed in Lesson 1.

• The completed recipes are displayed in the classroom.

Extension / variation• Students can prepare another recipe for a favourite dish. These can be

collected into a class recipe book or displayed in the kitchen.

Assessment


• discussing with students the elements they have used in each of their recipes and considering their overall effectiveness

• asking other students to hypothetically follow the recipes and determine whether they can produce the appropriate dishes.

Year levels 3–4


• plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features and selecting print, and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose (ACELY1682)


• analyse how multimodal texts use conventions to shape meaning and promote a particular point of view

• use vocabulary related to cooking and the technical conventions of written recipes.

Resources • paper, coloured pencils and

pens, computers and word processing or design software programs

• recipes and cookbooks



Family recipes are often written in short-handed form, as quick reminders of well-known recipes, where quantities should be exact – or as a record of a recipe shown by one generation to another.


A good menu creates a heightened

sense of anticipation of the

delicious food being offered. It sets

the tone of the dining experience

(formal, informal, family-style, etc).


Getting started• Working in pairs or small groups, students identify elements shared by most

menus. These might include the name of the restaurant, different courses (Entrées, Mains, Desserts), drinks and prices. Students make a list on the whiteboard or in their workbooks.

• Similar to their analysis of recipes in Lesson 1, students classify features of the menus as being essential, useful or unhelpful. They consider the purpose of the menu (advertising outside the restaurant; setting the tone and expectation of style; tempting the reader with anticipation of the food; and, usually, the legal requirement of providing prices and descriptions to diners).

• Students investigate the graphic and textual elements used in menus, along with the tone of the text (e.g. informative, expressive, detailed, chatty). Aspects such as font size and type, use of non-English terms and characters, the number of dishes listed, decoration, illustrations, size, texture and number of pages can be considered. Students identify the aspects of menus they find most helpful. A discussion about the menus might lead to comments about how the tone and language of the menu reflects the character of the restaurant (for example, French words on menus in ‘fancy’ restaurants and names like ‘Big Brekkie’ in relaxed cafés aiming to attract families or young people).

• Referring to the recipes they prepared in the previous lessons and the design elements they have investigated, students prepare a menu for the meal they are going to prepare in Lesson 6. They consider what style the menu should convey, how the menu differs from the recipes (the diner reads the menu; the cook reads the recipes), and any other points they wish to convey.

Assessment


• discussing the elements they have used in their menus: have they considered each element carefully? Is each element effective?

Meaning in Menus

Year levels 3–4




• analyse how multimodal texts use conventions to shape meaning and promote a particular point of view

• form and express an opinion about aspects of texts and support the opinion with evidence from texts.

Resources • menus collected or borrowed

from local restaurants• menus downloaded from

the internet, from café and restaurant websites

• paper, coloured pencils and pens, computers and word processing or design software programs

• whiteboard• workbooks




Using Recipes and Menus


Year levels 3–4


• plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features and selecting print, and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose (ACELY1682).

Resources • recipes and menus prepared

by the students in previous lessons

• ingredients for the meal described in the recipes and menus

LocationThe kitchen and dining area


Getting started• As part of a regular kitchen class, the class follows the recipes they prepared

in Lesson 4, to create a dish. Family members who have contributed to the unit can be invited to assist with the cooking, to comment on the recipes and to share the meal.

• Students present each guest with a menu that has been prepared in class.

• Recipes and menus are kept for display in the classroom.

Extension / variation• The class can continue to critically review recipes and menus they encounter,

and can maintain displays of exemplary and interesting examples.

Year levels 3–4 Recipes and Menus - Kitchen Garden · instructional text explaining a procedure)....

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