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Lesson Plan

Objectives

  • Students will understand what an archive is. 

  • Students will be able to navigate an online archive.

  • Students will read recipes created, published, or made in Ann Arbor from 1899 to 2017.

  • Students will analyze the text and images associated with these recipes.

  • Students will have the opportunity to extend their knowledge through the creation of metadata and/or the process of making a recipe. 

 

Materials

  • Ann Arbor Culinary School online archive

  • Paper or electronic device to answer independent or group questions

 

Common Core State Standards (9-10 and 11-12)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5: Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.5: Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.

 

Opening Class Questions

  1. Do you have any favorite family recipes? Or a favorite meal at a restaurant? 

  2. How would you store these recipes if you wanted to keep them for generations?

  3. The Society of American Archivists defines archives as “the permanently valuable records—such as letters, reports, accounts, minute books, draft and final manuscripts, and photographs—of people, businesses, and government. These records are kept because they have continuing value to the creating agency and to other potential users. They are the documentary evidence of past events. They are the facts we use to interpret and understand history.” Have you ever used an archive before? Does it remind you of any other kind of institution? 

 

Independent or Group Questions

Go to the home page by clicking on “Project Description.”

  1. Can recipes be copyrighted? Why or why not?

  2. Who is the target user group? Why do you think it is important to consider this when creating an archive?

 

Click on “Browse Recipes.” Scroll down and click “Browse all.” (Please note: This website is hosted alongside the archives from other groups, so if you explore other search functions, you will find the names of sets like “Circuses” and “The Crucible.” They are not available to users through our archive.)

  1. At the top of the screen, there is the option to sort by title, ascending or descending. Which feels the most intuitive to you? Why do you think both options are offered?

  2. There is also the option to do an advanced search. In “Search full-text,” type “pie.” What comes up? 

  3. Type in a different food-related word, such as an ingredient. Write down the word you typed in and which recipes come up. Have you tried any of them before?

 

Find the Borscht Story and Recipes I - III.

  1. Name five of the tags used, then list and explain the two dates of publication.

  2. Read the story. What do you think “waggoner” means? How does this connect to Yudel’s appetite?

  3. Now turn to the three recipes. Are they all written in a similar manner? How does their structure compare to modern recipes you have seen?

 

Find and read How to Preserve a Husband.

  1. Humor, like food, is an important aspect of community. Who do you think would have written this faux recipe — was “Aunt Hannah” a real person or a pseudonym? Who was the audience?

  2. If you are able to read the other recipes in the image, how does How to Preserve a Husband compare to the real recipes? Does it have a similar sentence structure?

  3. What would you write a humorous recipe about? Write down your title (“How to…”).

 

Select any other recipe. 

  1. What is the title of your selected recipe?

  2. What is the source?

  3. What do you notice about the image of the recipe? Is it typed or handwritten? Does it look like it is part of a professional cookbook that you could find in a bookstore, or is it a simpler publication? 

 

Click on “Map.”

  1. This map of Ann Arbor shows where the recipes found in this archive were published or where they originated from. Click on one of the circles with the number in the middle. What happens?

  2. Select one of the recipes you find when clicking one of the circles and write down its name and approximate address.

  3. Write down the approximate address for Chicken Parmesan.

 

Click on “Tag List.”

  1. What are three of the largest tags?

  2. What happens when you click on a tag?

  3. Why do you think tags are useful for organizing archives? 

 

Closing Class Questions

  1. Did you think that the archive was intuitive? What were some challenges? 
  2. What was your favorite recipe?
  3. What do you want to know more about? 

 

Extension Projects

  1. Choose one of the cookbooks found in the archive and check it out or find it online. Pick a different recipe and practice typing the metadata (title, description, source, and subject). You can use the recipe metadata on the archive as a template. 

  2. Choose one of the recipes in the archive and research aspects such as the ingredients, the organization which published it, and cooking methods. Write a brief response about what you learned. 

  3. Make one of the recipes in the archive, and take a picture of the dish and submit it to aglclark@umich.edu to have it featured on the online archive. Did anything surprise you about the experience? Would you make it again?

  4. Ask friends and family who live in Ann Arbor if they have any treasured recipes. Interview them about why this recipe is important to them, and write down the transcript of the recipe, which cookbook it came from (if applicable), the name of the person who created or wrote down the recipe, the year this was done, and the tags. Ask for their permission to submit the recipe and metadata to aglclark@umich.edu to have it featured on the online archive.