Lesson
It Ain’t Just Bananas
Through writing, drawing, mapping, and researching a chosen fruit, students will become more familiar with the often complex history of food and how people access it.
Level
Grades 8–12
Type
Informational, Poetry
Commitment
1 Session: 120 Minutes
What Your Students Will Learn
In this lesson, students map the journeys various fruits take around the world, charting these networks and histories through research, illustration, and poetry.
Common Core Alignments
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.10
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3.C
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3.C
Use a variety of techniques to sequence events so that they build on one another to create a coherent whole and build toward a particular tone and outcome (e.g., a sense of mystery, suspense, growth, or resolution).
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3.D
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3.D
Use precise words and phrases, telling details, and sensory language to convey a vivid picture of the experiences, events, setting, and/or characters.
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.6
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.8
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.8
Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
What Your Students Will Produce
Students build an understanding of the complex relationship between fruit and the world’s access to fruit through research and notetaking, reimagining what they learn with illustrations, maps, and poetry.