Simply Salad Poems

Simply Salad Poems lesson plan

Serve up some vegetables with imaginative poetry.

  • 1.

    As a group, list lots of vegetables. Chart how many people have tasted each one. Discuss how different types of vegetables grow (roots, leaves, fruits, flowers, tubers) and why these foods are essential for health. Feel the surface textures and colors of several samples such as squash, eggplant, and broccoli. During the discussion, listen for descriptive words (hot, crunchy, smelly, squishy, prickly).

  • 2.

    Cover a table with recycled newspapers. On construction paper, paint a large vegetable with Crayola® Washable Paints and Brushes. Mix colors to make it as realistic as possible. Dry overnight.

  • 3.

    Add details with a Crayola Washable Marker. Show texture and layering, such at the little roots and rings around a carrot, or the layers of an onion's skin. Use your imagination to bring out your vegetable's personality with eyes, nose, and mouth. Cut out your vegetable with Crayola Scissors.

  • 4.

    Jot down descriptive words about your vegetable's personality, including adjectives from the class discussion.

  • 5.

    Compose a poem about your vegetable. Display the poetry with the vegetables for Simply Salad Poems.

Benefits

  • Children identify various vegetables, study how they grow, and recognize their nutritional value.
  • Students paint large, realistic vegetables and add details to reveal the vegetables' personalities.
  • Children write creative poetry using adjectives to describe their imaginative vegetables.

Adaptations

  • Focus on a specific type of vegetable, such as those high in vitamin C or green leafy kinds. Celebrate International Onion Day each November. Slice onions or tomatoes in different directions to study the patterns. Conduct a taste and texture test before p
  • Write a group play that includes the vegetable characters. Or glue vegetables to cardboard. Cut away extra cardboard. Attach a craft stick to the back of each vegetable and perform stick puppet plays.
  • Sculpt vegetables out of Crayola Model Magic and then paint them. Display them in a gigantic clear bowl.