Standards Correlations

R.1, R.2, R.3, R.4, R.6, R.7, R.9, W.1, SL.1, L.4, L.6

Learning Objective

Students will synthesize information from two texts about foods that are irresistible.

Key Skills

synthesizing, text features, vocabulary, author’s craft, problem and solution, key details, critical thinking, argument writing

Complexity Factors

Purpose: The first text explains how scientists make snacks addictive; the second discusses the history and appeal of potato chips.

Structure: The texts are mainly informational.  

Language: The first text uses the first-person plural.

Knowledge Demands: The texts mention early human societies.

Levels

Lexile: 600L-700L 

Guided Reading Level: T 

DRA Level: 50

Lesson Plan: Are These Chips Too Delicious?/Love at First Crunch!

Essential Questions

  • How do we decide what to eat? 
  • Is there a limit to how far companies should go to make their products appeal to consumers?

Literature Connection

  • Nonfiction: Chew on This by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson

1. Preparing to Read 

Activate Prior Knowledge (5 minutes)

Engage students with the topics of the articles by inviting them to describe the perfect snack, using the five senses. They can do this as a virtual or socially distanced pair-share by writing their ideas on a shared document or slide.

Preview Text Features (15 minutes)

Guide students to locate the articles. Then preview the text features by asking the following questions:

  • Read the title of the first article. Why might chips be too delicious? Sample answer: They might be so delicious that you can’t stop eating them. Eating too much of anything can lead to health problems.
  • Read the title and subtitle of the second article, and predict how the focus of this article will be different from that of the first. Sample answer: The second article seems to focus on the invention of the potato chip, whereas the first article seems to discuss the science behind a variety of foods.
  • Read the caption pointing to the girl’s tongue in the first article. What are the five flavors you can taste with your tongue? The five flavors are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

  • Point out the vocabulary box. Read the terms (irresistible, preservatives, edible, crave, devour) aloud and discuss their definitions.
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow.

Make a Plan for Reading

Before students start to read, walk them through a reading plan: 

  • Set a purpose for reading by telling students that the articles discuss how food companies make foods—especially snacks—irresistible. 
  • Tell students that after they read, they’ll synthesize information from the articles to better understand the work that goes into making popular snacks.

2. Reading and Unpacking the Text

Guide students to read the articles. Once they understand them well, discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (20 minutes)

  • Reread the first paragraph of the first article. How does the author grab your attention? (author’s craft) The author begins the article by describing a secret and valuable project that scientists are working on. This makes you wonder what they are creating. 
  • Based on the section “Fixing a Problem,” how did food start to change in the 1950s? What did food flavorists do as a result? (problem and solution) In the 1950s, processed food arrived in grocery stores. This food could be shipped across the country and sit on store shelves for weeks or even months without going bad. But it wasn’t as tasty as fresh food. So food flavorists tried to make it taste better. 
  • In the section “Slimy Pink Blob,” what are three details you learn about how you taste food? (key details) The section tells you that you have thousands of taste buds on your tongue, that the tongue can taste five different flavors, and that the sense of smell also plays an important role in tasting food.
  • In the section “Crunch Craving” of the second article, what details help you understand why crunchy potato chips are a popular snack? (key details) This section explains that people naturally crave crunchy food. Crunchiness was a sign to early humans that the food was fresh. Today, researchers have found the exact amount of noise people tend to like in a crunch. With this information, potato chip companies can make chips that will be popular with customers.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

  • Both articles tell you that companies put a lot of work into creating tasty, irresistible snacks. Do you think this is a good thing, a bad thing, or both? Explain your answer. (critical thinking) Answers will vary. Students may say that it’s good that companies create delicious food. After all, everyone prefers snacks that taste great. By putting a lot of effort into creating tasty treats, companies can give us better options. Others may say that the efforts food companies make don’t have the customers’ best interests in mind. Instead, companies want to make as much money as possible by making snacks that people can’t stop eating. Often the ingredients that make snacks delicious, like sugar, fat, and salt, also make them unhealthy.

3. Skill Building and Writing

  • Have students work in pairs or small groups to complete our Synthesizing Skill Builder.  (Click here to view all of your Skill Builders.)
  • Writing Prompt: At the end of the first article, the author asks whether it’s up to us to know when we’ve had enough of a food. What do you think? Who is responsible if we end up eating too many chips? Has reading these articles changed the way you think about snacking and when it’s time to stop? 

Learn Anywhere Activity

An enrichment activity to extend the learning journey at home or in the classroom

Study a Snack

Choose a packaged snack and create a “Snack Facts” page for it. On a computer or on paper, write the name of the snack at the top of the page. Below that, add the following questions. Then write the answer below each question, using information from the package when you need to.

  • What is the serving size?
  • How many servings are in a container?
  • How much sugar is in a serving?
  • How much salt is in a serving?
  • Do you think people usually eat the serving size listed on the container? If not, do you think people eat more or less than the package suggests?
  • What are some ingredients you recognize? Are there any ingredients you don’t recognize?
  • If the snack has ingredients that are not familiar to you, choose one and look it up. Can you figure out what it is and why the company uses it in their product?

Language-Acquisition Springboard

Teach the suffixes -ist and -est to boost fluency.

After reading the article, ask students how they think people came up with the word flavorist. Explain that the prefix -ist is added to the end of a noun to change its meaning. When you add -ist to a noun, you get a new noun that refers to someone who does, works with, or believes in whatever the original noun means. 

Explain that the suffix -est can sound very similar to -ist, but the meaning is different. Adding -est to an adjective means the thing you’re describing deserves that adjective the most; for instance, -est changes old into oldest. 

Now say each sentence below aloud, emphasizing the underlined word. Ask students to guess which suffix each underlined word contains and what the word means.

  • My sister is a really talented artist. (someone who makes art)
  • It’s dark in the basement, so bring your brightest flashlight. (most bright)
  • I want to be a cartoonist when I grow up. (someone who draws cartoons)
  • Why are we at the beach on the coldest day of the year? (most cold)
  • Our music teacher is also a guitarist in a band. (someone who plays the guitar)
  • My neighbor is a successful novelist. (someone who writes novels)
  • This is the softest blanket I've ever felt. (most soft)
  • Eric is the tallest kid in his class. (most tall)
  • My grandmother took me to a concert hall to see a famous violinist play music. (someone who plays the violin)
  • My mom is the youngest of my grandmother’s children. (most young)

Looking for more ELL support? Download our full lesson plan and scroll to p. 5 to find questions that will help your ELLs respond to the text at the level that’s right for them.

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Text-to-Speech