Standards Met:
VA5MC.1 The student engages in the creative process to generate and visualize ideas.
VA5MC.2 The student formulates personal responses to visual imagery.
VA5CU.1 The student understand the visual arts in relation to history and culture.
VA5C.2 Develops life skills through the study and production of art.
M5N2. Students will further develop their understanding of decimals as part of the base-ten number system.
M5N3. Students will further develop their understanding of the meaning of multiplication and division with decimals and use them.
M5N4. Students will continue to develop their understanding of the meaning of common fractions and compute with them.
M5P3. Students will communicate mathematically.
M5P4. Students will make connections among mathematical ideas and to other disciplines.
M5P5. Students will represent mathematics in multiple ways.
Lesson Plan:
After viewing and discussing the artifacts in the traveling trunk, students will be asked to focus on the different types of teas (chamomile, etc.) that the upper class would have had in the afternoon, which will be one of the artifacts in the trunk. The class will view the tea set and talk about what each piece is for, and how it was used. Then, as a group, we will brainstorm how a Victorian society host a tea party, and together we will plan our own, including china, flatware, tablecloths, dresses, and of course, food.
Once we have decided upon the details, including but not limited to invitations and place settings, the class will discuss what fingerfoods they would like to have. Each child (or group of children, depending on the size of the classroom) will select a food to prepare outside of class, and include its serving utensils. (If there are any children who do not want to take on this outside of class project, they can be in charge of heating, steeping, and helping to serve the tea, as well as preparing the area of the tea party.)
On the day of the party, students should be prepared to serve the rest of the class with their recipe, as well as have baking/preparation steps listed, complete with ingredients.
An alternative to the out-of-school project: if the teacher or classroom has access to their own baking tools, the entire activity can be done during school hours.
