OBJECTIVE

Students will explore the process of seed to fork through the lens of corn. Students will understand the cultural significance of corn, while learning new Spanish vocabulary.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Where does corn come from? How does eating corn affect the world?

MATERIALS NEEDED

• La Tortilleria, by Gary Paulsen and Ruth Wright Paulsen (Spanish or English version)
• La Tortilleria text print-outs
• La Tortilleria sentence strips
• Poster board (optional)
• Glue
• Scissors
• Crayons, colored pencils

PROCEDURE

Introduction: Today we are going to learn about the traditional process of growing corn and making it into tortillas that began with the Maya, and is still done in Mexico today.

Activity 1:
• Read La Tortilleria, by Gary Paulsen and Ruth Wright Paulsen
• Discuss the story, and the process of making tortillas.
• What does this story tell you about Mexican culture?
• Ask students to identify the new vocabulary, circling unfamiliar words
• Ask students to highlight the verbs on their text print-out
• Pair students to work through the new vocabulary together

Activity 2:
• In pairs, students sequence La Tortilleria by pasting the sentences in order, and decorating with their own illustrations of the different steps of the process.

Assessment:
Students complete their representation of the life cycle of corn, from seed to fork.

FOLLOW UP & EXTENSIONS

Lesson: Tortilla Factory
Lesson: Corn and the Columbian Exchange