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A Recipe for Writing: Fairy Tale Feasts
|Grades||2 – 4|
|Lesson Plan Type||Standard Lesson|
|Estimated Time||Three 50-minute sessions|
In this lesson, students use the book Fairy Tale Feasts to examine recipes written based on their favorite fairy tales. Students then decide on a story, book, or fairy tale for which they would like to find their own recipe. A student-created recipe book showcases the students' findings and the class' favorite stories.
- Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook for Young Readers & Eaters by Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple: This children's book contains short fairy tales and accompanying recipes for students to read and learn about the recipes.
- Recipe Card (printed on cardstock or heavy paper): Students use this recipe card to create a classroom book of favorite recipes related to their favorite story, book, or fairy tale.
"[Students] bring to school powerful life experiences that can be easily tied to state or district guidelines. By using what they bring, I can empower these older emergent readers and writers to succeed in school" (10).
In this lesson, students are able to showcase their life experiences with food and recipes. By bringing their background knowledge of family and other recipes to the table, they are able to make the connection between different foods and their favorite stories, books, or fairy tales, thus linking everyday life experiences to literacy within the school walls.
Mercuri, Sandra. "Supporting Preliterate Older Emergent Readers in Becoming Bilingual and Biliterate." Talking Points 12.1 (October/November 2000): 8-13.