You are viewing 6th grade curriculum

Lesson Title: Symbolism in Chinese food

Goals for lesson

Standard met in Social Studies curriculum / Concepts and themes

Activity 1

  1. Talk with class about the Chinese food in general.
    Relevant reading: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/foodandchineseculture/
  2. Ask the students to have discussions on food and culture. Have students help make a list of some traditional festival food or dishes that people eat here in the US? For example turkey for Thanksgiving, chocolate eggs for Easter, candies for Halloween, etc.
  3. Talk with class about symbolism in food culture in China. People tend to eat certain kinds of food for some special events because of the meanings or the good wishes that the food represents. Refer to Symbolism section in Background Information in this unit. Next to that list created in #2, write down what each food may symbolize. Add to the list some of the symbolic Chinese foods listed in the Symbolism in Chinese food section of this Strand.
  4. Give each student a stack of blank index cards (10-12), and ask them to write down their favorite food from the list. Students can choose to write different food/dish on every card, or they can write the same one on more than one card.
  5. Give the students 10-15 minutes to walk around the classroom and exchange with other classmates their “good wishes” represented by the food or dishes. After returning to their seats, they look at the food that they received, and summarize in writing what fortune they were given by the symbolic food cards.

Activity 2

  1. Talk with class about the Chinese food in general.
    Relevant reading: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/foodandchineseculture/
  2. Ask the students to have discussions on food and culture. What are some traditional festival food or dishes that people eat here in the US? E.g. turkey for Thanksgiving, chocolate eggs for Easter, candies for Halloween, etc.
  3. Talk with class about symbolism in food culture in China. People tend to eat certain kinds of food for some special events because of the meanings or the good wishes that the food represents. Refer to the Symbolism in Chinese food section in Background Information in this unit. Next to that list created in #2, write down what each food may symbolize. Add to the list some of the symbolic Chinese foods listed in the Symbolism in Chinese food section of this Strand.
  4. Tell the students that they are now chefs in a fine Chinese restaurant. Divide the “chefs” into groups of 4-5, and give each group a task to accomplish. Some ideas of the tasks include:
    • Design the menu for a Chinese New Year banquet
    • Design the menu for a Chinese wedding banquet
    • Design the menu for a Chinese birthday banquet for a friend
    • Design the menu for a Chinese birthday banquet for grandma
  5. Give each group time to discuss among them selves, and present to the rest of the class what their menus are and why they come up with those dishes.

Key Questions