Table Manners

Grade Levels: 3 - 5

Objectives

• Students will use vocabulary related to table manners.
  
• Students will use dramatize information learned about table manners.
  
• Students will use evaluate information based on prior experiences and newly-acquired knowledge.

Procedures

1. Introduce key vocabulary: appetite, edible, conversation, manners, pleasant, proper, tasty
   
2. Have students brainstorm a list of table manners. Then invite them to explore websites that focuses on table manners for children. As they view the sites, they can compare and contrast their list with the information there.
   
3. Let students gather in small groups to dramatize a dinner table scene, acting out things people should or should not do at the dinner table. Encourage discussion of the behaviors depicted.
   
4. Pairs of students can evaluate the importance of certain table manners by completing answering the following questions.
   
   1. What table manners do you think everyone should obey?
   2. What table manners do think are not necessary in our culture?
5. Set up a time for students to discuss their answers to the questions.

Assessment

Use a rubric to assess students' ability to gather information and form opinions about table manners.

Extension Activities

• Have students learn about dinner table customs in another country. Draw a Venn Diagram on the board and ask students to identify the similarities and differences between Chinese and American dinner table customs.
  
• Have students talk with their families about dinner table manners and customs practiced in their own homes. Each student can make a "Top Tens at My Table" poster to share with the class.

Standards
Standards for the English Language Arts
Students:

• Read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world.
  
• Participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literary communities.

National Educational Technology Standards
Students:

• Practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software.
  
• Use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.