Thanksgiving Dinner

TIPC Ratings

Students used the Internet for comparative shopping. The teacher allowed students to find grocery adds online for items they wished to purchase. Students were encouraged to comparison shop at multiple sites to find the best price. Student had to decide where to purchase their items in order to make the most cost effective decisions within their budget.

A component which could be included in this lesson to increase the level of Research and Information Fluency is a requirement to compare different grocery stores representing different market groups (ie. Food Lion, Wal-mart, Martin’s, Whole Foods, Elwood Thompson, local farmer’s markets). Students could also investigate market share in the local area for each of the grocery stores and use that information as part of their reflection. Finding coupons is another aspect where using advanced search techniques could be a possible addition to the overall project.

While all strands of the TIPC are important and should be addressed, this lesson does not focus on Communication and Collaboration. There are ways to increase the level of Communication and Collaboration but they may not tie as closely to the learning outcomes focused on in this lesson.

The teacher allowed partners to work together during class toward the common goal of creating a budget for their Thanksgiving menu. The students worked together to plan and decide on a menu. Individually students calculated the quantities and costs associated with specific menu items then reviewed their partner’s work. The students then reviewed the data and determined which items to purchase at which stores.

A component which could be included in this lesson to increase the level of Communication and Collaboration is the use of Google Apps. Students would be able to contribute equally without having to depend on the partner’s presence. Student could be responsible for researching the cost of all items at one grocery location to contribute to the team data. Students could then use the Google Apps environment to have a discussion concerning the shopping decisions for the final project and reflect with each other on why the decisions were correct for their team.

The teacher provided feedback to the students in the form of guiding questions to help them make decisions regarding choices during the project. Teacher facilitated a discussion with students on strategies for making decisions pertaining to cost decisions at grocery stores. The students used their data to solve the budget problem using the cost analysis as their decision-making justification.

A component which could be included in this lesson to increase the level of Critical Thinking and Problem Solving is a requirement to compare different grocery stores representing different market groups (ie. Food Lion, Wal-mart, Martin’s, Whole Foods, Elwood Thompson, local farmer’s markets). Also bringing additional cost considerations into the budget such as transportation costs for going to multiple stores or only one. Students could use a directions website such as Google Maps or Google Directions to determine route length and figure the costs based on gas prices and mileage in the family car or using public transportation. Additional consideration concerning the benefits of shopping at one store, a particular store or several stores based on individual student preference for convenience, cost savings or store atmosphere. These shopping attributes would affect the student decision for where to shop and also should be included in a student reflection relaying the rationale behind all the purchasing decisions.

Adding a real-world application to this project is another idea. Freedom House is a homeless shelter and soup kitchen in the local Richmond area. The task could become managing the holiday meal for the kitchen using the same concept but rather using a larger budget and number of people.

Students were asked to create their own Thanksgiving menu. They had to use their critical thinking and research skills to determine the best menu given the assignment parameters. All students presented their final menu along with supporting data and information using Microsoft Word. The teacher was able to show student through this project that fractions and decimals impact daily life through the lens of a holiday meal.

A component which could be included in this lesson to increase the level of Creativity and Innovation would be allowing student to decide on the method for presenting their final menu and information.