Craft Lesson 5

Yum! MmMm! Que rico! Americas' Sproutings; Mora, Pat. Illus. Lopez, Rafael. Lee & Low Books, Inc. New York, New York. 2007.

What a great way to integrate Native American culture, eating well and writing!

During a lesson on Native Americans, third and/or fourth graders are introduced to this book. While reading, the teacher guides students into a discussion on eating healthy. Students discuss their favorite foods and how they compare to the foods in the book—"What other foods do we like to eat with corn?" "Other than butter, what can we add to it?" "What other food is brown and has a hard shell?"

In addition to the discussion, the students are introduced to the type of writing used in the book, "Haiku". After the class creates various poems, students are asked to choose their favorite Native American food and write a poem about the food.

As a closing activity to the lesson on Native Americans and poems, students display their poems for parents along with a tasty sample of their favorite food.