Literacy Prop Box

Role: Chef
This role immediately stuck out to me, because in my practicum placement
(YCP) the students are all about food, cooking, eating, etc. so I feel like it is something
they would be interested in. Also, all students eat, so all students could find a
connection to food and making food.

Objectives:
• Students will learn to choose books that are related to food and cooking.
• Students will learn how chefs connect to literacy (menu’s, recipes, etc.).
• Students will learn and use words that relate to food and cooking.
• Students will recognize common ingredients and what letters they start with.
• Students will learn about where food comes from, and how food is labeled.

Vocabulary:
• Verbs that are used in cooking, such as stir, whisk, bake, cook, sprinkle, chop, etc.
• Parts of the kitchen: Stove, oven, refrigerator, pantry, cupboard, drawer, table, etc.
• Parts of the grocery store: Shelf, aisle, checkout, can, etc.
• Common ingredients in cooking and baking: flour, sugar, butter, tomato, bread, rice,
beef, etc.
• People who work with food: Chef, cook, waiter, grocer, baker, farmer etc.
• Tools used in cooking: whisk, bowl, pan, spoon, grater, peeler, knife, etc.
• Adjectives about food: spicy, salty, gooey, hot, cold, yummy, etc.

Props and materials:

• Utensils: spoons, bowls, whisks, spatulas, potato mashers, rolling pins, etc.
• Play kitchen, or blocks to create oven, stove, etc. if play kitchen is not available
• Paper, pencils, pictures of foods, to write shopping lists
• Recipe cards to write recipes
• Plastic foods
• Chef coat, hat, pants
• Apron
• Ingredients to make a simple recipe (like cake from a box) as a class
• Plates, napkins, silverware to either actually eat (see cake above) or pretend to eat
• Pots, pans, foil baking pans
• Empty cans, boxes, egg cartons, etc.
• Coloring pages of food

Questions:
• What are you going to cook today?
• How do you make that?
• What ingredients are you using?
• How could you get those ingredients?
• What utensils would you use to cook that?
• How do you know how to make that?

Songs and fingerplays:

• Apples and Bananas http://bussongs.com/songs/apples-and-bananas.php
• Let’s Make Some Pizza http://bussongs.com/songs/lets-make-some-pizza.php
• Could easily be adapted to hand motions or finger play about rolling the dough,
spreading the sauce, sprinkling the cheese, etc.
• On Top of Spaghetti http://bussongs.com/songs/on-top-of-spaghetti.php
• I Love Waffles! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uYVze-bzvA
• “Chef” Songs about Professions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaotaXr54M4

Book List:

Barrett, J., & Barrett, R. (1978). Cloudy with a chance of meatballs. New York: Atheneum Books
for Young Readers.

Berenstain, S., & Berenstain, J. (1985). The Berenstain bears and too much junk food. New
York: Random House.

DePaola, T. (1978). Pancakes for breakfast. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

DePaola, T. (1975). Strega Nona: an old tale. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Dooley, N., & Thornton, P. J. (1996). Everybody bakes bread. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books.

Ehlert, L. (1989). Eating the alphabet: fruits and vegetables from A to Z. San Diego, CA:
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Gourley, R. (2009). Bring me some apples and I'll make you a pie: a story about Edna
Lewis. New York: Clarion Books.

Katzen, M., & Henderson, A. (1994). Pretend soup and other real recipes: a cookbook for
preschoolers & up. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.

Kozlowski, B., & Wood, L. (2016). Cook me a story: a treasury of stories and recipes inspired by
classic fairy tales. Lake Forest, CA: Walter Foster Jr., an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group
USA.

Reynolds, A., & Bogan, P. (2005). Chicks and salsa. New York: Bloomsbury Children's Books.

Rockwell, L. (1999). Good enough to eat: a kid's guide to food and nutrition. New York:
HarperCollins .

Rubin, A., & Salmieri, D. (2012). Dragons love tacos. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.

Todd, M. (2014). Food trucks! Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.