The 3-Course Meal

Task Overview
This task takes about an hour.  It asks students to rank and draft food items to create the best possible 3-course meals.   


Task Outcomes

• Use food and cooking vocabulary in context
• Communicate in speaking
• Negotiate and choose 

Resources

• 1 hour
• Whiteboard

Set Up

• Write food categories on the board (Meat, Dairy, Fruit, Vegetables).
• Brainstorm with whole class foods for each category.
• Write around 10 foods in each category.
• Split students into 2-4 groups.

Team Goals

• Teams must create the best 3-course meal with the food they choose from a common list.

Actions


1.  Each team ranks foods in order of importance for creating a meal.

2.  Teams draft foods from the list.  

3.  After the foods are all chosen, teams create a 3-course meal, including an appetizer, main dish, and desert.

4.  Teams present their meal plans to the group.

5.  Other teams are allowed to ask questions.

Rules

• Teams are only allowed to use what they have chosen, except for basic kitchen items (salt, sugar, oil, spices, etc.) 
• Teams are allowed to use one food item more than once (e.g. strawberries in the desert and the appetizer)
• Groups must use all food items they chose.

Results

• Teacher chooses the best appetizer, main, desert, and overall meal.

Feedback and Reflection

Conversation Questions

• What criteria did you use to rank the foods?
• What food items would you add to the list?
• What item would you remove from the list?
• What challenges did your group face trying to agree on a meal plan?
• How could you have presented your plan better?
• What did the other groups shows that your group had not considered?

Task Variations

• The list of food can be prepared before by the teacher.
• Each team could have a  pre-determined focus (e.g. vegetarian, Italian, etc.)

Emerging Language

• When students rank the foods, they will use comparatives and superlatives.
• When students discuss the plan with the group, they will use opinion language (e.g. I think we should, What about if we, etc.)
• The teacher can control the language for the presentation.  It can be hypothetical ("If we were stuck, we would..."), real ("We will..."), or in the past ("We created a camp...")