LOOKING FOR A FUN WAY TO MAKE CULTURAL COMPARISONS RIGHT FROM THE START OF SCHOOL in your Spanish classes? How about doing a comparison of healthy lunches? After doing an extensive search on both Pinterest and Youtube, I've gathered together a set of authentic resources that can be used with multiple levels, and are a fantastic way to also spiral food vocabulary back into your lessons as well- I've pinned them all in the section entitled 'Loncheras saludables' in my 'Teaching Culture in the Target Language' Pinterest Board here. Read on for ideas on how to use them! *CREATE A VENN DIAGRAM: Yes, you know how much I love the Venn diagram and there's good reason! Even novice learners, and all age levels, can access a Venn diagram as it is simple and requires basic language to complete. Choose an image to project on your smart board from the collection on my Pinterest board, and take a moment to talk with your class about what is packed in the lunchbox. For students who have more language, you can ask questions about the foods (do you like __?, have you ever eaten _____? Is ____ sweet or salty? Is _____ healthy? Is ____ junk food? etc) Now talk about what you might find in the lunch boxes of your students... have kids generate examples of what is in theirs. You can list these on the board (in the target language) if you like or reference your word wall if you have cards related to food. Now pass out a Venn diagram template and have kids fill it out based on the photo you provided and a typical lunch of theirs. Kids can then do a 'Turn and Share' activity where they share each others diagrams with a partner. *PLAN A LUNCH MENU: As you may notice, several of the images I've pinned have days of the week on them (yay! a great way to practice days of the week in context!!). If you are able, you can print out the images (that are separate ones) with the days of the week on them, post them in the classroom or on the board (for you traveling teachers!) and talk about the lunches shown. Kids can then generate a description of their own lunches on each particular day. Again, you can ask questions about the foods pictures, as well as the foods yours students bring to school. (NOTE: I am always careful not to pass judgement on the lunches my kids bring, nor foster a discussion between students that might do the same, as my students do not have control over the dietary choices their parents make and I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable). This is a great one from Perú! Unfortunately, it did not have a back link so I can't credit the original creator. As an alternative to this activity, you could use play food to "create" a lunch as a hands on activity, particularly great for little learners! We have two sets of Printable Play food that would be ideal for this: Printable Play Food Set and Make a Sandwich Printable Props). Kids could even prompt each other in a partner activity to "Build a lunch" using the props- a great speaking & listening activity, and would make a good centers activity, too! EXTEND THE ABOVE CONVERSATIONS, depending on level, by making observations of what constitutes a typical lunch in each of the examples, including those of your students. Is there usually a "main food" such as a sandwich or other food, a fruit, a dessert, veggies? (I'm a big fan of not just showing differences but also highlighting similarities! I think it brings us all a little closer :) ). What foods are shown in more than one image or country? What would be your ideal lunch? What would you like to try that is shown in one of the images? There are lots of possibilities here! :) *LABEL PHOTOS OF LUNCHES WITH WORD CARDS: This is a simple literacy based activity, matching words (labels) to items in photos gleaned from my Pinterest board mentioned above. Simply print out several photos of lunches along with word cards, then instruct students, individually or in pairs, to "label" the photos using the word cards. For an extended cultural comparison, select photos from the pins that contain lunches from around the world-tie in a world map for even more fun and geographical reinforcement! LOVE THIS IDEA BUT WANT MORE? Grab our Mini Theme Pack 'El almuerzo de Pepita' which features a familiar scenario for kiddos- something that's packed in the lunchbox that they don't like, and so they trade it! Included in the mini pack is a Venn Diagram for comparing lunches, as well as story props including ones to extend the story, word cards, and more. AND, the food in both Pepita and Olivia's lunches are authentic- yupiii! I purposely designed the theme pack to go along with the above activities :) Click here to grab the Activity Pack in our shop!