Theme: Food

This unit offers food-related stories and activities such as using table manners, types of healthy and unhealthy food, food hygiene, where food comes from and how certain food is made (e.g. bread).

It is vital for teachers to understand the Ziptales 10 stage Reading Scheme, which governs how reading groups can be formed in a way which matches children’s abilities to the appropriate texts. To check on this essential resource - click here.

The 10 Zip Stages cover all levels of reading ability, from Foundation/Prep/Kindergarten through to Year 6. This scheme underpins the whole Themes module.

Learning Components

Focus Stories Comprehension Conventions Writing Speaking & Listening Extension
Zip Stage 1
Yum, Yum, Yum
(Short Vowels –
Easy Readers) 		Classify the things in the story as Food and Not Food. Worksheet #2:
Ordering Words 		Write your own sentences using the same format as the story. Worksheet #1:
Counting Syllables.
Clap the syllables in the words together. 		Using a paper plate, draw or paint your favourite meal.
Zip Stage 1
Charlie the Chatterbox
(Simple Digraphs –
Easy Readers) 		Worksheet #1:
Answering Questions 		Find all the rhyming word pairs. Which pairs are spelt differently at the end? Worksheet #2:
Good Manners 		In a small group, talk about your family’s eating rules. Draw Charlie before and after he learnt the rule about eating with your mouth closed.
Zip Stage 2
The Sparkly Starfish
(Vowel/Consonant Digraphs –
Easy Readers) 		What caused the starfish to feel sick? Write a sentence to explain it. Worksheet #1:
Small Word Hunt 		Write your own story about an animal that eats too much. In pairs, complete Worksheet #2 then read new stories aloud to an audience. Worksheet #2:
Extra Activity
Zip Stage 3
The Mouse Deer and the Cucumbers
(Stories from Long Ago –
Junior Readers) 		Worksheet #2:
Story Focus 		Worksheet #1:
Spelling/Grammar Focus 		Write your own story about a cheeky animal trying to steal food from a farmer. Use the script to perform this story to an audience. Classify fruits and vegetables into the 7 colours of the rainbow.
Zip Stage 3
Fun Facts About Food
(Fun Facts –
Junior Readers) 		Worksheet #2:
True or False? 		Worksheet #1:
Wonderword 		Write a funny explanation about how a food was created by accident. With a partner, write or draw all the food you would take on a trip to outer space. Draw and label a diagram showing where different fruit and vegetables grow.
Zip Stage 4
Jack Likes Jam
(People) 		General Worksheet #2:
Ways to Stop Crying 		Brainstorm synonyms and antonyms for the word ‘like’. Create a menu for a ‘Food Feast’ using your favourite foods. Survey others about their favourite food then graph the results. General Worksheet #1:
Funny Foods
Zip Stage 4
The Bogeyman
(Scary) 		General Worksheet #1:
Sequencing 		General Worksheet #2:
Verbs 		Write an acrostic poem using the word ‘CHOCOLATE’. Role-play the story to the class. Plant different herbs and record their growth over a period of time.
Zip Stage 5
Delicious!
(Yucky) 		Explain what gave the main character the idea to feed his family dog food. General Worksheet #2:
Definitions and New Words 		Imagine the family finds out what they really ate. Write the next chapter of the story. In pairs, research the causes and effects of a famine. General Worksheet #1:
Family Dinner Favourites
Zip Stage 5
Spaghetti Face
(Yucky) 		Describe how the main character is feeling on each page of the story. Compare ‘ace’ words as in ‘face’ with ‘ase’ words as in ‘chase’ Write a narrative that uses a food in the title of the story. General Worksheet #2:
What Would You Do?
Share responses. 		General Worksheet #1:
Poster Design
Zip Stage 6
Slime Soup
(Yucky) 		Write about how you think the main character reacts to Sybil’s last request. Study letter patterns that make a long i sound using 'slime' as an example. General Worksheet #1:
Slime Soup Recipe 		General Worksheet #2:
Chanting
Read chants aloud. 		List ways to identify whether or not certain foods are fresh.
Zip Stage 7
The Bread Thief
(Mystery) 		Describe Jake and his relationship to the other characters in the story. Use ‘thief’ to study the spelling rule i before e except after c. General Worksheet #2:
Holiday Fun 		Present an oral report about the process of baking bread. General Worksheet #1:
Lost Pets
Zip Stage 8
Instant Spew
(Yucky) 		How is Tyson caught?
What are the consequences of his behaviour? 		General Worksheet #2:
Words and their Meanings 		Write your own recipe for ‘Instant Spew’. Small Group Discussion
General Worksheet #1:
Using Initiative 		Create an informative chart about the digestive system.
Zip Stage 8
Maggots
(Yucky) 		Write a detailed description of each character in the story. General Worksheet #2:
Descriptive Words 		Design an advertisement for a truly disgusting food. Partner Activity
General Worksheet #1:
Just Desserts 		Design a poster about the importance of food hygiene.
Zip Stage 9
Get Away
(Comedy –
Advanced Library) 		Worksheet #1:
Cause and Effect 		Create a glossary for
10 - 15 food items eaten by Australian bushmen in the early 1900s. 		Worksheet #2:
The Beauty of Ballads 		What is mutton? In pairs, research and describe the origin of meat sold in a butcher shop. Creatively present a research project about Aboriginal ‘bush tucker’.
Zip Stage 10
Serendipity
(Information –
Advanced Library) 		Reread 'Corn Flakes'. Design a flowchart describing how they were originally created. Add a prefix to 20 words in the text to create the opposite meaning e.g. unlucky. Worksheet #1:
Accidental Food Inventions 		Imagine you have accidentally invented a new food product. Try to sell it to an audience. Draw a current healthy eating pyramid showing the different food groups.
Zip Stage 10
Animal Rights
(Argument –
Advanced Library) 		Identify 3 reasons each author has used to support his/her opinion. Locate 10 examples in the text where a comma is used for an introductory phrase e.g. pg 1 One day, Worksheet #1:
Using Emotive Language 		Work collaboratively to complete the Worksheet #1 Extension Activities Research the causes of food poisoning and how it can be prevented.


Assessment Ideas

Spelling/Grammar
  • Make a list of different food and use the words as a spelling list e.g. lettuce, tomato, potato, pumpkin, celery, capsicum, apple, banana, spaghetti, chicken, eggs, milk, cheese, yoghurt etc
  • Use the Word Work and Spelling and Vocabulary Worksheets for the Reading Library genre stories to improve students’ spelling skills.
  • Study the different rules for making food ending in ‘o’ plural (e.g. potatoes, tomatoes, avocadoes/avocados, mangoes/mangos, tacos, burritos, nachos, pistachios etc).
  • Select a passage from one of the on-line stories as dictation assessing knowledge of capital letters and full stops.
Reading
  • Complete the Fill the Gaps and Multiple Choice questions at the end of the story (available for the Junior Readers, Reading Library and Advanced Library genre stories).
  • Use the Learning Support Worksheets for the Reading Library genre stories to practise a range of reading skills.
  • Design a flowchart of the events from one of the on-line stories.
  • Write a detailed description of one or more of the characters from one of the on-line stories.
Writing
  • Write narratives using the following topics:
    Too Much Food!
    The Party in the Fridge
    The Crazy Pineapple
  • Record the food eaten over the period of a week and write a reflection about the nutritional value of the meals overall.
  • Write a poem about your favourite foods.
  • Write an exposition text using the topic: Junk food should not be advertised on TV or YouTube.
Oral Language
  • Act out one of the on-line stories to the class.
  • In small co-operative groups, students classify a variety of foods using self-assigned headings such as fruit, vegetables and dairy foods. Present results to the class.
  • Create a slide show presentation about the types of foods required for the nutritional benefit of different parts of the body e.g. Bones require calcium which can be absorbed from dairy products such as milk, cheese and yoghurt.
  • In pairs or small groups, present an infomercial advertising a healthy new food product for kids.
Related Ziptales Activities:

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