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Voices from the Middle, Volume 10 Number 4, May 2003
Smith with Hickey | Menu Magic!
Menu Magic!Susan H. Smith with Bethany Hickey
It’s common knowledge—the way toany adolescent’s heart is through hisor her stomach! “Menu Magic!”
and think about possible designs. Ultimately, we decidedour theme would be “surfing,” and the menu we createdwould be for the “Surfer Shack” restaurant. [See menubelow.] The next day we were all surprised to realize thateveryone had actually done their part of the work, whichwas rare. All suggestions for the menu were considered,and our group’s cooperation was amazing! On the thirdday, once again, everyone had completed his or her share ofthe self-assigned homework, and we were ready to colorand design the menu. We all worked together as a team,and our menu really began to shape up. That night thehomework was simply to bring in agreed upon supplies forthe next day. The amount of homework was really smallfor each of us because we had been working, really work-ing, in class the past few days. On the fourth day, we com-pleted all the finishing touches, and, compared to some ofthe sloppy, careless work that is often found on less interest-ing homework and class work assignments, our menu, as
provides this route while helping eighthgraders review the power of adjectives.Students eat up this project that promisesto deliver the opportunity to analyze,synthesize, and evaluate while givingstudents the chance to work in cooperativegroups. All in all, it’s an appetizing way toget kids focused on descriptive writing.
The “Menu Magic” project begins with a reviewof adjectives. Students copy rules that we’ve re-viewed into their language notebooks. Next, wediscuss the descriptive role adjectives play in lan-guage as we attempt to explain to a friend whatwe thought of a recent class, sports game, movie,or book without using any adjectives. Then, wetalk about all the places we see adjectives in every-day writing, ending up with a look at restaurantmenus. After this brief review of adjectives, I thenpresent the directions for the “Menu Magic!”project on a detailed assignment sheet (see Figure1) and show the students the evaluation rubric (seeFigure 2). An easy extension of this project wouldbe to let students bring to class one of their menucreations as we create a classroom smorgasbordof menus and food.
To actually see how well students enjoyed theproject, I asked one student, Bethany, to write areflection of the activity. In part, she wrote:
Everyone honestly seemed happy to be doing this project.Our team planned and then assigned each other the home-work, which was for us to each create a part of the menu Bethany’s team attracts the surfing crowd.
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Voices from the Middle, Volume 10 Number 4, May 2003
Smith with Hickey | Menu Magic!
MENU MAGIC!Starring ADJECTIVES!
Your mission (which you must choose to accept) is to create with your cooperative group members the most interest-ing, delicious, scrumptious, mouth-watering, tantalizing, colorful, tasteful, tempting restaurant menu you can imagine!
You must complete each of the following items to receive full credit:
EVALUATION
Item Points
Successful completionof all required items _____/20
Adjective usage (underline orhighlight adjectives) _____/20
Neatness _____/20
Creativity _____/20
Spelling, grammar, and punctuation _____/20
Total _____/100
Figure 1. Assignment sheet for Menu Magic! project
Figure 2. “Menu Magic” evaluation rubric
1. Design a colorful, interesting cover.2. Include a game or puzzle for the back cover of your
menu to entertain children.3. Write an interesting story detailing how your restaurant
began. You may include photos/drawings of the originalowners!
4. Include at least 20 adjectives that appeal to your senseof taste to describe menu items. Use at least 10additional adjectives for the remainder of the menu.
5. Include the following items:a. appetizersb. soup(s) of the dayc. salads and/or salad bard. entrees/main dishese. side orders (which may include breads)f. beverages (non-alcoholic, please!)g. desserts
6. Earn bonus points by including the following:a. Chef’s Specialsb. Special(s) of the Dayc. Early Bird Specialsd. Dieter’s/Lo-Cal Specialse. Vegetarian Specials
7. Consider creating a menu targeted at one of thefollowing specific groups:
a. bankersb. doctorsc. firefightersd. hula dancerse. parentsf. plumbersg. skateboardersh. surfersi. teachersj. teens
8. Try creating a menu for a specific type of restaurant.Ideas to consider include:a. Sandwich Shoppeb. Waffle Housec. Ice Cream Saloond. Crepe Shope. Sausage Hutf. Avocado Pitg. Pizza Palaceh. Hamburger Haveni. Seafood Shantyj. Yogurt Bark. Onion Housel. Steak Stop
9. You must include realistic prices for all items on yourmenu.
well as the menus of all of our classmates, was phenom-enal! We had become great at describing things! The menuwork brought cooperation, fun, hard work, and happinessto the classroom. It still amazes me how a one-week projectcould be so uplifting in our classroom! And, besides learn-ing loads about adjectives, we learned how to work togetheras a team.
As you can see, “Menu Magic!” helps studentsthink about adjectives. They will probably neverperuse a restaurant menu in the same way againafter they’ve created their own menus. More im-portant, they’ve learned about cooperation, plan-ning, and descriptive writing. Not bad for a week’sworth of schoolwork!
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Voices from the Middle, Volume 10 Number 4, May 2003
Smith with Hickey | Menu Magic!
Susan H. Smith teaches eighth-grade language arts at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle Schoolin Melrose, Massachusetts. She can be reached at [email protected]. Bethany Hickey is an
eighth grader in Ms. Smith’s English class.
This descriptive menu used lots of tantalizing adjectives. This team incorporated the restaurant’stheme and history into their cover.
This team knew what kids like to eat and what theylike to do while waiting for it.
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