The Grub Project

A Global Network Classroom Module:

Examining Our World through the Food We Eat
Erin Adelsberger
EDTC 645, Summer 2014
7/15/2014

Introduction
According to Ho, "global and multicultural education should prepare students to live in an increasingly culturally integrated global society
and teach them how to address issues of diversity beyond their boundaries of the nation state" (Ho, 2009). With this being said, it is
important to thank about all of the facets in lens through we can experience and perceive other cultures. For example we can explore
another culture by learning about their religion, political systems, gender roles and stereotypes, but this project challenges us to think
examine other cultures through the lens of food.

This global network classroom module stems from the Grub Project supported through Taking It Global for Educators. Participating in this
project will help students explore another culture through the lens of food and food systems. Students will learn about not just what students
from other culture eat, but why they eat certain foods and how cultural values are reflected through the foods we eat.

Summary: Goals and Objectives

Through participating in this global network module, students will gain global perspective on another culture through the lens of food.
After participating, students will be able to:

Describe the scale of the obesity epidemic in American and how it compares to obesity rates in other countries.

Articulate their own motivations for eating specific foods.

Think critically about how the food that we eat reflects our cultural values

Discuss how the foods that at least one other culture (through a collaborative activity with a partnering classroom) eats reflects their
cultural and societal values.

Essential Questions

Where does our food come from?

Why do we eat the foods that we eat? What motivates us to eat the way that we do?

How does what we eat compare to what students in other countries eat?
Are reasons and motivations the same for eating?

What do our eating habits tell us about our values as a culture?

Background
As a Special Education Specialist for Connections Academy schools I support teachers and special education directors across our schools
in 25 states. I provide instructional support and guidance for teachers serving special education students with various disabilities including,
but not limited to Specific Learning Disability, Autism, Other Health Impairment, Intellectual Impairment, and Emotional Disturbance.

This global network classroom module will be piloted with an inclusive general education classroom in a selected Connections Academy
school. This general education classroom includes students without disabilities, as well as students with Specific Learning Disability and
Other Health Impairment. There are no ESOL students in this class.

Subject and Grade Level

This classroom module is designed to be used with 6th grade Reading/Language Arts students. As many of the Common Core State
Standards build upon each other, this lesson module would likely be appropriate for any level middle school Reading/Language Arts
students.

Time Frame
This lesson module is designed to be taught over the course of a 6 week period with 2 LiveLesson(r) sessions per week (12 synchronous
sessions total). These sessions will represent the synchronous instruction provided by the teacher, as well as the real time collaboration
between peers in the Connections Academy class. Students will complete additional work asynchronously between sessions and with our
partner class for Unit 2.

Rationale
This lesson plan will stem from the idea presented in the tiged.org project called GRUB. GRUB is a thematic classroom and content project
available for teachers to adapt on the tiged.org platform. This material guides students through global learning through the perspective of
food. I personally find this a very interesting and intriguing lens. Working inside the themed classroom students will explore information
about food beliefs and food systems in our American culture, as well as work with a partner classroom to learn about food systems and
food beliefs in another culture.

Resource: http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/projects/grub/

Global Network
Teachers and students will use platform Taking IT Global for Educators (tiged.org) to both locate other classrooms and facilitate learning
activities.

Key Challenges
As with planning for any type of instruction, we must take into account some of the key challenges that will be faced with implementing this
unit.

We will need to be hyper vigilant about carefully planning student small groups and pairs to ensure that there is
meaningful participation for our students with disabilities. This can be overcome with careful planning and graphic/visual
opportunities for response.

In addition, we need to take into account that our students are used to working with peers in the virtual synchronous environment in
the presence of a teacher. Clear guidelines and norms will need to be set for the students where participating in
the asynchronous discussions in the TIGed platform discussion area.

Prior Knowledge
Students will need to be familiar with using the TIGed virtual classroom platform. While the students are already familiar with working the
virtual classroom environment, they will need specific exposure to the TIGed platform. In order to facilitate this we will work on a series of
practice projects with another classroom locally before completing the collaboration project with a global partner. Students will demonstrate
proficiency for pre-requisite skills by making sample blog posts, participating in a sample discussion, etc as we work through learning the
platform. This is will also help the students to gain pre-requisite skills in understanding what is expected of them in both the synchronous
and asynchronous virtual classroom.

Common Core State Standards

This classroom module is designed to meet the following Common Core State Standards for 6th grade RELA.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.2

"Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the
selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content"

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.6

"Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with
others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting."

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.7

"Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when
appropriate."

National Education Technology Standard for Students (NETS)

This classroom module will meet many of the current ISTE standards for students including:

Creativity and Innovation

Communication and Collaboration

"Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop

innovative products and processes using technology.
a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
c. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
d. Identify trends and forecast possibilities"
"Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work
collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to
the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety

Research and Information Fluency

Technology Operations and

Concepts

of digital environments and media

b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a
variety of media and formats
c. Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of
other cultures
d. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems"
"Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from
a variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the
appropriateness to
specific tasks
d. Process data and report results"
"Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and
operations.
a. Understand and use technology systems
b. Select and use applications effectively and productively
c. Troubleshoot systems and applications
d. Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies"

Global Theme
The American Forum for Global Education has developed 1o key categories of topics that are critical for students to study
in light of global issues and challenges. These categories include: Conflict and Control, Economic Systems, Global Belief
Systems, Human Rights and Social Justice, Planet Management, Political Systems, Population, Race and Ethnicity,
Technocratic Revolution, and Sustainable Development (http://www.globaled.org/guidelines/page5.php).

This collaborative project will allow students to study the area of planet management from the perspective of management

of human capital. How do we manage ourselves as members of this planet? How does what we eat and our food systems
relate to the world around us? In addition, students will also be tasked critically about access to food as a human rights
issue touching on the topic of Human Rights and Social Justice.

Pre-Module Steps
There several considerations that must be taken into account before beginning instruction with this global network
instructional module.

Thematic classroom must be set up and established within the tiged.org portal. Teachers will need to decide which
resources from the teacher packet they would like to use and what they would like to provide themselves as
additional resources and materials.

In addition, we must locate a partner classroom that is interested in working on the same content. The teacher will
need to build rapport with the partnering classroom because the partnering teacher will need to be simultaneously
teaching lessons in Unit 1 in order for both classrooms to effectively participate in the collaborative activities in Unit
2.

In order the participate in this acitivity, Connections Academy students will need to return a signed parent consent
form allowing participation. This consent form is needed because we will working not only within our learning

management system, but also the TIGed.org virtual classroom platform. This will take students outside of our
internal learning management system and we must inform parents.

Module Kick Off Activity

Students will be presented with several statistical topics with the number removed. As a class students will brainstorm
what they think the numerical value should be. The teacher will reveal 1 or 2 actual data points to help students begin to
bring their estimates into perspective (It is most likely that the student estimates will be much lower than the actual
statistic). This will help students begin thinking about the scale of the obesity epidemic in our country, as well as the world.

Below is an example data sheet that could be used to spur teacher ideas for statistics they want students to investigate.

The Grub Project

Unit 1: Understanding Our Food Systems

Week 1

Duration: 3 weeks, 6 synchronous lessons total

Lesson Topic
Session 1: By the Numbers
Following the kick off activity, students will research
and explore the actual statistics related to obesity on
the United States.

Activities
Activity 1: Students will be divided into small groups of 2-3 students. These groups
will research to find real assigned statistics for their given topic.
Activity 2: Students will create a brief 3 slide presentation displaying their findings.

Session 2: Revealing the Reality

Students will reveal the results of their findings about
obesity statistics to the class and reflect on their
impressions.

Activity 1: In the LiveLesson virtual classroom, students will upload their

presentation and explain what they found to their classmates.
Activity 2: Students will post a brief reflection in the discussion area of the TIGed
virtual classroom. Students will be required to respond to at least two other student
posts.
Activity 1: In our LiveLesson virtual classroom, students will work in small breakout
groups of 2-3 students to identify personal and environmental factors that affect
their health.
Activity 2: Students will be rotated to a different breakout group where they will
review what another group has brainstormed. Students will create a Wordle of key
phrases represented.
Activity 1: Each small group of students will share their Wordle. As a class we will
identify and discuss any trends, commonalities, differences, etc that we see in each
Wordle.
Activity 2: Students will identify one environmental and one personal risk factor that
they find to be most significant to them. Students will post this reflection in the
asynchronous discussion area of the TIGed virtual classroom. Students will respond
to at least two other students reflections.
Activity 1: Teacher will model for students the process for analyzing a photo of a
food or something related to food.
Activity 2: Students will practice analyzing sample photos provided by the teacher

Week 3

Week 2

Session 3: Identifying Risk Factors

Students will work together in small groups to
identify personal and environmental risk factors that
affect their health and weight.
Session 4: My Significant Risk Factors
Students will examine risk factors presented by the
group and think critically about their most significant
personal and environmental risk factors.

Session 5: Analyzing What We Eat

Students will practice analyzing photos of food
and/or some aspect related to food using sample
images provided by the teacher.

Session 6: Preparing to Document

Activity 1: As a group in the LiveLesson session students will brain storm ideas for
images that they want to capture. Students will develop a list of photos they want to
take.
Activity 2: Students will share two or more ideas for images they would like to
capture in the discussion area of the TIGed virtual classroom. Students will respond
to at least two other classmates to provide feedback on their ideas for images.

The Grub Project

Unit 2: Understanding Food in a Global Context
Duration: 3 weeks, 6 synchronous lessons total

Week 2

Week 1

For this second unit of the global networks instructional module based on the Grub Project, students will now be joined in the discussion forums
with peers from their partnering classroom. Each set of students will post images
Lesson Topic
Session 1: Picture Taking Progress
This lesson will serve as a check in and
troubleshooting session to support students with
taking images.

Activities
Activity 1: In small breakout groups, students will discuss their progress with
gathering and capturing images.
Activity 2: The teacher will meet with each small breakout group and determine any
needed next steps so students are prepared for collaboration.

Session 2: Posting our Findings

Students will post their images to the TIGed virtual
classroom discussion forum in order to prepare for
collaboration

Activity 1: The teacher will introduce and model for the students how to post their
images to the discussion forum in the TIGed virtual classroom.
Activity 2: Students will post their images (at least 3) to the TIGed virtual virtual
classroom discussion forum.

Session 3 & 4: Discussing our photographs

Using the TIGed discussion forums, students will
engage in asynchronous discussion about the images
they have posted. This will the opportunity for
students to engage in critical thinking about what
images related to food mean to them.

Activity: Students will have the remainder of the week to engage in asynchronous
discussion with peers about the images they have captured. Students will be
discussion not only their own images, but images produced by our partnering
classroom. This is wi

Week 3

Session 5: Culminating Activity (Discussion)

Students

Session 6: Culminating Activity (Recordings)

Activity: Students will be paired with a student from the partnering classroom. Each
student will select a single photo (a new photo that has not been shared yet) to
discuss with their partner.
-Students will post and discuss their reflections on their own photo, as well as their
reflections on the other students photo.
Activity: Each student in the partnership will make a brief screencast recording
showcase their reflections on their own photo, as well as the photo of their partner
(ideally we would like them to make the recording together in the LiveLesson
classroom, but this may be constrained by time zones based on the partnering
classroom.
-In their recording students will document their initial reflection, as well as how the
perception has changed after discussing the images with their partner.
-Recordings will be uploaded to the classroom library area for all students in both
classes to see (how these will be watched will be up to the discretion of the teacher).

LESSON PLAN :
Module Kick Off Activity and Unit 1: Week 1: Session 1

Lesson Title:

By the Numbers

Grade Level/Subject
Area:

6th Grade/ RELA

Concept/Topic:

Students will participate in a short research project identifying statistics and key information concerning the obesity
epidemic in America.

Length of Lesson:

1- 60 minute synchronous session in the LiveLesson virtual classroom. Students will need to complete final
research and presentation asynchronously outside the classroom before coming to Session 2 (see Unit 1
Outline)

Standards Addressed:
(Local or National
Standards)

Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.7

"Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when
appropriate."
Resource: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/6/7/
NETS-Communication and Collaboration
"Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to
specific tasks
d. Process data and report results"
Resource: http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf

Lesson Goals:

The goal of this lesson is for students to gain understanding of the scale of the obesity epidemic in America.

Objectives:

After participating in this lesson, students will be able to:

-describe the scope of the obesity epidemic in America
-identify reliable resources for statistics
-articulate how their perception of obesity in America has changed since the module kick off activity.

Introduction:

The teacher will engage students in the module kick off activity.
In the whole group virtual classroom, students will be asked to provide an estimate for each of the following statistics.
-What is the approximate number of adults in the world that are overweight?
-What is the approximate percentage of adults in the world who are predicted to be overweight by 2015?
-What percentage of the US population is currently overweight?
-What percentage of the US population is currently obese?
-What percentage of US children (ages 2-17) are overweight?
-What percentage of US children (ages 2-17) are obese?
Initial student estimates will record after students have presented their findings.

The teacher will review the world and United statistics to hook students into thinking about how high the numbers
actually are.

See handout 1.1 (pg 11) from http://store.takingitglobal.org/files/GRUBTeachersToolKitV1.pdf

Procedures:

-After complete the kick off activity, students will be divided into small groups of 2-3 students.
-Students will now be tasked with locating statistics for other countries around the world. (Teacher will select countries
he or she would like the students to investigate).
-Each group of students will be sectioned into an individual breakout room, wherein there will be located the questions
that they will be asked to answer. Questions inside each breakout room will ask the students to locate information about
obesity statistics in several countries. Each breakout room will also have suggested links to help guide students in
beginning their research.
-Within the collaborative breakout session space, students will discuss strategies for locating needed information.
-Students will work together to locate needed information.
-Once the needed statistics have been gathered students will create a brief 3 slide presentation presenting their
findings, their reflections on how the statistics for their given country compare to what we know already in the United
States, as well as why they think there is a difference (if applicable).
-Students will have their presentations prepared and ready to share before Session 2.

Technology
Requirements:

Students will need to have access to the LiveLesson classroom through Connections Academy.
Students will use Microsoft PowerPoint to create a brief 3 slide presentation to share their data with the class.

Resources/Materials:

Computer (provided by Connections Academy)

PowerPoint software (provided by Connections Academy)
Access to teachers LiveLesson room (link provided by Connections Academy Teacher)

Resource Links:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/
http://www.who.int/topics/obesity/en/
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2228rank.html
http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Health/Obesity

Assessment

Students will successfully complete the presentation project as measured by the rubric.

Follow-Up:

Any additional follow up needed for the students to prepare their presentation can be conducted using the internal
Webmail system.
During Session 2, students present their findings to the class and reflect on what they have found through investigating
various countries.

Accommodating
Students with Learning
Differences

During the LiveLesson sessions, the special education learning support teacher will push into the lesson with the
general education teacher and provide direct support to breakout groups that contain students with learning differences.

Comments / Notes:

Students with learning differences should be partnered with a general education peer and simply partnered together.
This gives students maximum exposure to interaction with their general education peers.

LESSON PLAN :
Unit 2: Week 2: Sessions 3&4
Lesson Title:

Discussing Our Photographs

Grade Level/Subject
Area:

6th Grade/ RELA

Concept/Topic:

Students will participate in peer discussions with classmates, as well as peers from the partnering classroom to gain a
deeper understanding of the students motivation and reasoning for eating certain foods.

Length of Lesson:

2- 60 minute synchronous session in the LiveLesson virtual classroom. Students will need to complete final will
discuss posted photographs following the parameters of the discussion rubric.

Standards Addressed:
(Local or National
Standards)

Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.2

"Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection,
organization, and analysis of relevant content"

Resource: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/6/2/
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.6
"Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others;
demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting."
Resource: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/6/6/

NETS-Communication and Collaboration

"Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry

b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to
specific tasks
d. Process data and report results"
Resource: http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf
Lesson Goals:

The goal of this lesson is for students to gain deeper understanding about their own food as a reflect of our culture, as
well as the food of others as a reflection of their culture (this will be the culture of the classroom with which the teacher
partners).

Objectives:

After participating in this lesson, students will be able to:

-Articulate how they feel what they eat is a reflection of our cultural values
-Discuss how what students from another eat reflects their cultural values
-Analyze and think critically about how our cultures differ, simply through viewing them through the lens of food.

Procedures:

-Students will initially meet in the whole group setting in the virtual library.
-The teacher will model use of the discussion boards and expectations for participation.
-Students will now be tasked with actively reflect on the images they posted, as well as engaging in asynchronous
discussion with students from the partnering classroom about images they posted.
- At the end of the weeklong asynchronous discussion, students will post a one page reflection in the response to the
question:
How would you describe the food that we eat as a reflection of our culture?
-This activity will prepare students for the culminating activity where the work with a single student from the partnering
school and develop a reflection on an original image that each student presents. (See Unit 2 Outline, Week 3)

Technology
Requirements:

Students will need to have access to the LiveLesson classroom through Connections Academy.

Students will also need to have access to the TIGed.org virtual classroom platform to engage in discussion
board conversations with students from the partnering school. Connections Academy students and students
from the partnering school will work together inside the TIGed.org virtual classroom platform.

Resources/Materials:

Resource Links
Assessment

Follow-Up:

Computer (provided by Connections Academy)

PowerPoint software (provided by Connections Academy)

Access to teachers LiveLesson room (link provided by Connections Academy Teacher)

None needed as this time, as the links will be specific to the teachers LiveLesson room within Connections
Academy, as well as specific to the TIGed.org classroom that the teacher will set up.
Students will actively and successfully engage in discussion as measured by the discussion rubric.

Following this class wide discussion, the lesson module will culminate with a discussion between two individual
students. Students will culminate their experience with a recording about what they have learned and how their
perspectives have changed since the beginning of this project. They will include reflection about how they feel their
image reflects their culture, as well as what they learned about how their partners image reflections his or her culture.
(See Unit 2, Week 3).

Accommodating
Students with Learning
Differences

During the LiveLesson sessions, the special education learning support teacher will push into the lesson with the
general education teacher and provide direct support to breakout groups that contain students with learning differences.

Comments / Notes:

Students with learning differences should be partnered with a general education peer and simply partnered together.
This gives students maximum exposure to interaction with their general education peers.

This learning support teacher will also be present and have an active role in the discussion board conversations.

Resources
Ho, Li-Ching (2009, November/December). Global multicultural citizenship education: A Singapore experience. Retrieved
from http://www.hci.sg/admin/uwa/MEd7_8678/Global_Multicultural_Citizenship_Education-A_Singapore_Experience.pdf

"English Language Arts Standards Writing Grade 6." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2014. <http://www.corestandards.org/ELALiteracy/W/6/>.
"ISTE Standards For Students." ISTE Standards For Students. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 June 2014. <http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-forstudents>.
"TakingITGlobal - For Educators / TIGed." TakingITGlobal - For Educators / TIGed. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2014.
<http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/?npc>.