Food: Grammar, Spelling and Writing Lesson

Age: 7 years old   Length: 90 minutes

Materials

• Paper or a notebook
• Pencil, eraser and coloured pencils
• Word cards or small pieces of paper
• A plate, bowl or food package to use as a real-life object

Goal

The learner will practise food vocabulary, use capital letters and full stops, identify nouns and verbs, spell common food words, and write a short description or menu.

Lesson

1. Hook: What is in the mystery bowl? — 8 minutes

Place a bowl, plate or food package where the learner can see it, but cover it with a cloth or turn it around.

Say: “I am thinking of a food. You may ask me questions that I can answer with yes or no.”

After a few questions, reveal the object. Talk about it using questions such as:

• What colour is it?
• Is it sweet, salty, sour or spicy?
• Is it crunchy, soft, smooth or juicy?
• Do you like it? Why or why not?

Write three describing words the learner says, such as red, crunchy, sweet.

2. Show it: Food words and nouns — 12 minutes

Explain: A noun is a naming word. Food names are nouns because they name things.

Write these words:

apple, bread, carrot, cheese, egg, fish, grapes, rice, soup, tomato

Ask the learner to read the words. Explain that a noun can be a person, place, animal or thing. In this lesson, the food words are nouns.

Model sorting the words into two groups:

Explain that a tomato is botanically a fruit, but people often use it like a vegetable when cooking. For this activity, it can go in either group if the learner gives a sensible reason.

3. Do it together: Spelling food words — 15 minutes

Read each word aloud. Clap the syllables, then look carefully at the letters.

• apple — ap-ple
• banana — ba-na-na
• bread — one syllable
• carrot — car-rot
• cheese — one syllable
• chicken — chick-en
• potato — po-ta-to
• sandwich — sand-wich

Use the routine look, cover, write, check:

1. Look at the word.
2. Cover it with a hand or piece of paper.
3. Write the word from memory.
4. Uncover the word and check each letter.

Practise cheese, chicken and sandwich together. Point out:

• cheese has two es at the end.
• chicken begins with ch.
• sandwich has wich at the end.

Make three silly oral sentences using the words, such as: “The chicken eats cheese.”

4. Show it: Building a good sentence — 10 minutes

Explain that a sentence:

• starts with a capital letter;
• has words in an order that makes sense;
• ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

Write this sentence:

the hungry dog eats a crunchy carrot

Ask the learner to help correct it. Model the answer:

The hungry dog eats a crunchy carrot.

Identify the parts:

• dog and carrot are nouns.
• eats is a verb because it tells what the dog does.
• hungry and crunchy are describing words.

Read these sentences together. Ask the learner to circle the verb in each one:

1. The baby drinks milk.
2. Sam spreads butter on toast.
3. The rabbit nibbles a carrot.

5. Do it together: Make and improve sentences — 10 minutes

Write these word groups. Help the learner put each one into a complete sentence with a capital letter and full stop.

1. eats / Mia / an apple
2. the soup / is / hot
3. Dad / cuts / the sandwich

Expected sentences:

1. Mia eats an apple.
2. The soup is hot.
3. Dad cuts the sandwich.

Now improve one sentence by adding a describing word. For example:

Mia eats a juicy apple.

Ask: “Which word tells us more about the apple?”

6. Learner works alone: Food writing task — 20 minutes

Ask the learner to choose one task.

Choice A: Write a food description

Write 4–6 sentences about a food. The learner may use this planning frame:

• My food is __________.
• It is __________ and __________.
• It smells __________.
• It tastes __________.
• I like/do not like it because __________.

Remind the learner to use a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence and a full stop at the end.

Choice B: Create a mini menu

Make a menu with three food items. For each item, write its name and one describing sentence.

Example:

• Crunchy Carrot Sticks — These carrots are fresh and crunchy.
• Cheese Toast — The warm cheese melts on the toast.
• Fruit Salad — The colourful fruit tastes sweet.

Encourage the learner to add a drawing and a price if desired, but spelling and sentences are the main focus.

7. Check and edit — 8 minutes

Ask the learner to read the writing aloud slowly. Use this editing checklist:

• Capital: Does every sentence begin with a capital letter?
• Spaces: Are there spaces between the words?
• Spelling: Can the learner check food words against the spelling list?
• Stops: Does every sentence end with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark?
• Meaning: Does each sentence make sense?

Let the learner correct at least two things independently before offering help.

8. Quick recap and check — 7 minutes

Ask the learner these questions:

1. What is a noun? Give one food example.
2. What is a verb in this sentence: “The girl eats soup.”
3. What should a sentence begin with?
4. What mark usually ends a telling sentence?
5. Spell cheese.

Expected answers:

1. A noun is a naming word; examples include apple, bread or carrot.
2. eats.
3. A capital letter.
4. A full stop.
5. cheese.

Finish by asking: “What is one food word you can spell now, and what is one thing you know about a good sentence?”

Make it easier

Use only four spelling words: apple, bread, egg and rice. Let the learner dictate a sentence while the adult writes it, then have the learner add the capital letter, full stop and one copied food word.

Make it harder

Ask the learner to write a paragraph of six or more sentences, including at least three nouns, three verbs and three describing words. Challenge them to include one question about food and one exclamation sentence.