I picked up a copy of a magazine called Chop Chop “The fun cooking magazine for families” at a local New Balance shoe store. I have to say the magazine looks great. High quality content. It would be a great place to go after reading Rah, Rah, Radishes: a Vegetable Chant and the upcoming Go, Go, Grapes: a Fruit Chant. So kids’ veggie and fruit enthusiasm can move into the kitchen. Here’s Chop Chop magazine’s site: http://www.chopchopmag.org/
What a BBC Show Inspired Me To Do
In 2006 I watched British chef Jamie Oliver’s 4-part BBC documentary, “Jamie’s School Dinners,” in which he interviewed children and found that many didn’t know the names of vegetables. As a girl who grew up picking vegetables on her grandparent’s farm, that shocked me. I had to do something. Continue reading “What a BBC Show Inspired Me To Do”
Calling All Collard Greens
Just about the only time we ate collard greens, specifically, was on New Years Day. Then, it was a good luck food, along with black-eyed peas. I grew up in South Carolina and this is a southern U.S. tradition. It also shows up in other countries and cultures, too. Collard greens are a healthy, everyday, part of soul food meals beloved in the South. Continue reading “Calling All Collard Greens”
Garden Storytime
This handout of garden activities, created by librarian Heather Acerro of Ft. Wayne, goes well with Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant. It is used with her permission. Click to access this pdf. Sayre ALA 2011 BookTalk Handout2
Performing Rah, Rah, Radishes: a Vegetable Chant
Act It Out!
Divide students (or teachers) into pairs or small groups. Have each group write out and learn a stanza (four lines). They can decide how to perform it. Here are some aspects of the chant that performers have tried in the past:
saying the entire chant in unison
saying only part in unison
alternating speakers for each word
popping up then sitting down for each speaking turn
adding claps, snaps, and arm shapes
making poster art for each vegetable
bringing real vegetables to show when each is mentioned
Audio samples to help in teaching and reading Rah, Rah, Radishes: a Vegetable Chant and April Pulley Sayre’s other chant books (Trout, Trout, Trout: A Fish Chant; Ant, Ant, Ant: An Insect Chant; and Bird, bird, Bird: a Chirping Chant) are available on the front page of www.aprilsayre.com or athttp://www.aprilsayre.com/2011/04/07/the-chant-books-read-taste-teach/
Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant Extensions
Here are some concepts to explore during small group and one-on-one readings of Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant:
Colors and shapes. Engage young readers in discussing what they observe about vegetable colors and frame colors. Study other qualities such as bright, dark, and shiny.
Patterns. Quantities. Are the vegetables dumped straight onto a table? Are they organized in any way? How? Why do you think they are in boxes, piles, and small groups? Who do you think organizes them and why?
Different and the same. Which vegetables are the same? Which are different? Which show up in several parts of the book? Be a vegetable detective!
Vegetable identities. Are there any vegetables your students cannot identify? Research to find other photos of them and compare to the chant photos. (See other books and websites such as the author’s for additional photos.) Even better, bring in the real veggies for hands on study, cross section, drawing, and tasting. Encourage students to use all their senses!
Vegetable math. Encourage readers to count the vegetables. Advanced students might calculate or discuss how much it might cost to buy three baskets, four boxes, and other amounts of vegetables in photos that have prices.
Vegetable art. One of the best ways to know something is to draw it. Why not bring in some live vegetables for children to draw so they can study vegetable colors and shapes?
For garden, harvest, and vegetable book pairings and activities, see the
“In My Garden” handout prepared by children’s librarian Heather Acerro of Allen County, IN.
Celery Root, Sorry!
Celery root, also called celeriac, is one of the vegetables I did not include in my upcoming (June, 2011) book, Rah, Rah, Radishes: A Vegetable Chant. It wasn’t an intentional oversight. It just didn’t fit the rhythm/rhyme. This, well, homely veggie isn’t on the top of my shopping list but perhaps I should give it more of a try. A family member made it for Thanksgiving dinner in a lovely salad and it was delicious. So, here are some celery root photos for you to enjoy. Yes it’s knobbly! See also celery root along with other root stars such as parsnips and beets at the Hovenkamp’s Produce stand in the South Bend Farmer’s Market.
Celery root, or celeriac is a variety of celery grown for root size, not the stems we normal see as “celery” in the stores. (Regular celery did make it into the chant, by the way.)
What it is
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-celery-root.html
How to prepare celery root
A good salad recipe for it:
http://gregcarver.com/blog/2009/the-ugly-vegetable-celery-root/
A soup recipe for it:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/celery-root-and-potato-puree-recipe/index.html
June 14, 2011 book release:
