Palatable Pleasure: A Recipe For Descriptive Writing Success Gina Lindahl Middle School Life Skills Teacher Frederick County Public Schools gina.lindahl@fcps.org

Rationale Just like cooking, students need a recipe to follow when writing descriptively. We as teachers must model and provide resources that will guide students through the process of writing descriptively. Students throughout the grade levels and content areas need to become successful evaluators. Acquiring skills needed for descriptive writing assists students in communicating their point of view.

Objective: We will identify the descriptive language used when writing a food review. Formative assessments will guide participants in the descriptive writing and reflection process. Warm-up: With your group, read through the chart of “Food Critics’ Vocabulary.” Afterwards, discuss with your team additional descriptive words to be added to the bottom of each list. Be prepared to share with the class.

Food Critics’ Vocabulary A food critic strives to create a personal experience for their readers. They do this with descriptive words that give the reader a vivid picture and an emotional experience of the food being described.

Your 5 Senses When critiquing food, you must be mindful of your body’s senses.

Sight Describe how the food looks on the plate. For example: the french toast was as golden brown as sunkist skin.

Smell Waft the aroma of the food towards you. Writing example may look like: the smell of freshly baked bread was intoxicating, reminding me of my grandma’s kitchen.

Texture The way the food feels to your fingers and the parts of your mouth. For example: the fried chicken felt cold and greasy in my fingers. Biting into the leg was as tough as biting through a leather boot.

Taste There are 4 parts to your taste buds, bitter (at the back of the tongue), sour (on each of the back and middle sides), salty (at the front two sides), and sweet (at the tip.)

Sound Sometimes there maybe a sound your food makes as it is being served or as you chew. A well known noisy food is Rice Crispy cereal. It is know for the noise it makes as you pour milk over the top; it “snap, crackles, and pops!”

Sample Food Critic Reviews Directions: 1)Choose one of the food critics’ reviews. 2)While reading through the text, use a highlighter or colored pencils to highlight where the author uses descriptive writing. 3)After reading the text use the senses chart to jot down the examples you have read.

Guided & Independent Practice Directions: Flip your page over to the “Your Turn to be a Food Critic”. Follow the chart as you do an authentic food sampling jotting down descriptive comments for each section of the work sheet. Please wait to begin; we will experience the food sampling process together. Use the MODEL section of the chart to jot down descriptive words and sentences of how the recipe appeals to your senses. After the first food sampling, you will need to use the second row labeled INDEPENDENT to repeat the food sampling process on your own, using the different dish provided.

Descriptive Writing Piece Food Critique You have built up your food critic’s vocabulary, reviewed a food critic’s critique, and participated in a food sampling to identify your senses. 1) Use the resources and skills you have acquired to write an actual food critique about the food sampled during your independent practice time. 2) On your table you have an additional resource “Descriptive Terms for Menus” that you may also use. 3) Last, please remember to use the rubric to guide you through the descriptive writing process.

Student Reflection Directions: Now that the writing piece is complete and before sharing it with others, each person needs to self evaluate the writing piece before presenting it to others. Use the self evaluation sheet to reflect upon your work.

Closing To have a top quality descriptive writing piece list 3 important things you must include in a food critique.