Our Kid Tea

April 9, 2014

Materials:

• Kid Tea by Elizabeth Ficocelli
• tea cup
• tea bag
• water
• microwave oven (to warm the water)
• bottled glue
• glue sticks
• lined paper with space for a picture
• pencils
• crayons
• black yarn
• small rectangles of white paper folded in half (to make the tea tags)
• bathtub cartoon pictures for each student

Lesson Implementation: 

We began our lesson by discussing how to make tea.  I showed students a tea bag and they each took turns holding it and smelling it.  We talked about how the name of the tea was on the tag which was attached to the tea bag by a string.  I then prepared to show the students a cup of clear warm water.  Prior to bringing the cup to our table I ensured that I had their attention and explained that we would only be looking at the cup but NOT touching it because the water was hot.  As they looked at the clear water I asked them if they thought the water would change colors once we put the tea bag inside the cup.  They were all in agreement that the water would change colors but they had differing opinions about what color the what would change to.  To all of our surprise, the water changes to a red color because we were using Trader Jo's Pomegranate White Tea.  I then put the lid on the cup and showed the students how the tag hung off of the side of the cup.   

I felt it was important to provide this opening for the students because many of them have not seen tea made before.  Also, I loved the way the illustrator of this book, Glin Dibley, placed the title of the book on a tea tag that was protruding from a bathtub.  I wanted to be sure the students understood what that tag was and why it was being used on the cover of the story.  

After going to our first grade classroom, we read the story Kid Tea and guessed what color tea would be made each day.  After completeing the story we read the writing prompt 

"Today I made ________ kid tea!" 

The students and I then reviewed our color chart that is posted on our board.  I encouraged the students to include a color in their sentence.  Many of the students were enthusiastic about including a color AND a flavor to the name of their kid tea.  We also discussed whether or not we wanted to use an "excited mark" (exclamation mark) or a period for this sentence. I explained that I was excited about my tea so I chose to use an "excited mark".  

After the students completed their sentences they read them aloud and began coloring their picture.  I gave each student a picture of a bathtub to cut out and glue onto their picture.  (I have been trying the encourage the students to add more detail into their pictures which is why I included a picture of a bathroom window in my sample. I hoped that by providing a sample, students would be more inclined to add appropriate details to their picture.)

As each student completed their picture I brought over the bag of tea tags and black yarn that we would glue onto their page.  While I did ask each students to write "Kid Tea" on their tag, I gave them the freedom to choose whether or not they wished to color their tag.  

Student Samples: