This ELL lesson features a new take on pizza. Students activate prior knowledge by describing the typical qualities of pizza and then re-imagine the timeless food. Students write about, discuss, and do short presentations about their new product.
Language Level: Intermediate
Time: 50 minutes
Topic: Pizza But Not
I. Warm-up (5 min)
- Seat students in groups of 4.
- Write on the board:
“93% of Americans will eat ____________________ at least once in the next 30 days.” - Have students shout out guesses and then reveal that the answer is pizza.
- Have a whole class chat about:
- What % of Koreans they think will eat pizza at least once in the next 30 days
- What % of Koreans they think will eat kimchi at least once in the next 30 days
II. Presentation (10 min)
- Tell students that we are going to talk a lot about pizza today, but first we should know about the typical qualities of pizza.
- Hand out Blank Typical Qualities of Pizza and have students complete in groups.
- See Completed Typical Qualities of Pizza to guide struggling groups.
- Students share answers with whole class and compile lists for each category
(Basic Ingredients, Colors, Size/Shape/Form, and Other) on the board.
III. Practice (15 min)
- Tell students that we will need to keep these basic qualities of pizza in mind for our next activity.
Hand out Pizza But Not directions to students and explain their task:
You own a restaurant, but it is failing! You need a way to attract more customers and make more money so you can stay in business. You ask your friend for some advice. She says, “Everyone loves pizza! You should create something similar, and maybe people will love it.”
With your group, create a new version of pizza. Your new food product should be innovative, but it should retain some of the typical qualities of pizza. Use your imagination!
Name your creation, and illustrate it. Then present it to the class.
Presentations will be very short: 2 minutes. Everyone should speak at least one sentence.
- What is the name of the new product? Why?
- How is it made? What are the ingredients / cooking method?
- How much will it cost? Why?
- Why will customers love this new product? Explain.
- Students brainstorm together with their groups, answer the questions, illustrate their new products, and plan their presentations.
IV. Production (20 min)
- Using a document camera to project their illustrations onto a screen, each group presents its new version of pizza to the class.
- At the end of all the presentations, put illustrations on board with magnets and give students stickers to vote on their favorite pizza innovation.
Materials:
– Blank Typical Qualities of Pizza handout
– Completed Typical Qualities of Pizza handout
– Pizza But Not handout
– Document Camera
– Stickers
Student Samples:
Busan Teacher 