Food is integral to any culture and is influenced by the geography and traditions of the people. To illustrate this dietary and gastronomical diversity, I first compared and contrasted different foods of various families from around the world by introducing the book, Hungry Planet by author Faith D'Alusio and photographer Peter Menzel.
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| Image taken from Amazon.com |
Although Y4s had a copy of the book in their classroom to peruse at their leisure, I went through a slide show of 28 different families profiled in the book with a projector. Students were able to identify how different diets were on an international scale. Not only did they find it it interesting what different foods people ate regularly, but also the difference in costs. Every photo noted the monthly food bill in U.S. dollars.
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| Taken from Time.com |
To bring it down from a global level to their own classroom, I read Yoko by Rosemary Wells. This picture book tells the story of how one student feels bad when her favourite sushi rolls are made fun of by other students who have never tried it. I like how the teacher resolves this issue by having an international food day that requires students to both bring a dish from their country AND try a food from a country other than their own.
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| Taken from Amazon.com |
After reading the story, students had to connect it back to their lines of inquiry in terms of what other culture and their foods were mentioned, why and how others react when they encounter something new or foreign to them and why it is important to try new things to resolve any initial negative reactions they may have.
Students were also able to connect the parts of the IB Learner Profile related to trying new foods: open-mindedness and risk-taker.
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