Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Recipe Books
Literacy is all around us, and I love watching children explore new facets of their interests. A great suggestion to encourage children to read familiar texts is integrating recipe books into your class library. Teachers can read and model the books to the children, taking time out to point out the types of foods, and ask the children if they recognize any. Recipe books with pictures can be great for picture to text association. An additional activity can be created if the children's interest is sparked through the recipe books. A project that I recently heard a past teacher speaking out really excited me: a family recipe book. Have the children tell you what their favorite at home meal is, possibly one that mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, or auntie cook. After they tell you this, send home a request for a recipe of their dish. When all the recipes are collected, ask each child to read the recipe to you. The younger the child, the more adorable the story. Children will go on and on about their favorite foods, and while they are talking, write down what they are saying. It will go by quickly, but saving these thoughts makes a beautiful ending product. Children can really relate to a favorite food. It has a history, a story that they would love to share and tell the class about. Having them relate the text of their parents writing to a recipe that they probably know pretty well, can be great for their written literacy development. At the end of the process, put together the family recipes, children's version of the recipes, and a drawn picture of each. Send this book home with all the families, and it will be cherished. Ideas like this can build community while tuning early literacy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Having recipe books within your classroom can excite children about literacy in a new way. Children may want to do some cooking projects after looking at a recipe book. This is a good example of a type of print that children use other than books.
ReplyDeleteI really like your post because I also think having recipe books are a really good idea for children to learn about new words, activity, and rules. Also, as children cook with parents, teachers, and peers, they can learn how to interact with other people. As children have a responsibility in their part of cooking, they will learn what they have to do when they have their job.
ReplyDeleteReading recipes is a great way to experience a new kind of reading, which incorporates other academic areas, such as math. I love the recipe book idea because, as you said, it is great for early literacy as well as community building for your class families. It also shows children that their words (describing their recipe) have meaning, and I am sure they would be very excited about creating the book.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea! Recipes are a great way to incorporate so many new things into a child's day. Recipes bring in new vocabulary and activities that children can be involved in. It also is able to add aspects of math into their day and start teaching them about numbers being big or small. Creating their very own recipes is even better!
ReplyDeleteRecipe books are such a great thing to have in the classroom. They can be used to inspire children in so many ways across multiple centers. Children can write their own recipes, use them in the dramatic play center, follow the recipes in the cooking center, and so much more! This reminds me of the movie Freedom Writers when they read the recipe books in the park- such a beautiful literary experience!
ReplyDelete