Standards Correlations

R.1, R.3, R.4, R.5, R.7, R.9, W.2, SL.1, L.4, L.6

Learning Objective

Students will synthesize information from two texts about food waste.

Key Skills

synthesizing, text features, vocabulary, compare and contrast, author’s craft, making connections, informational writing

Complexity Factors

Purpose: The first text explains the problem of food waste. The second describes a teen’s efforts to reduce food waste in his community.

 

Structure: The texts are mainly informational.

 

Language: The language is conversational.

 

Knowledge Demands: No prior knowledge is needed.

Levels

Lexile: 600L-700L 

Guided Reading Level: T 

DRA Level: 50

Lesson Plan: The Rotten Truth About Food Waste/He’s Fighting Food Waste

Essential Questions

  • Can individuals’ actions solve global problems? 
  • How can we create change in our communities?

Literature Connection

  • Nonfiction: The Story of More (Adapted for Young Adults) by Hope Jahren

1. Preparing to Read 

Activate Prior Knowledge (5 minutes)

Ask students to recall their most recent meal. Then have them raise their hand if they threw away any part of the meal. Give students a moment to observe the raised hands in the room and discuss the following questions: Why do we put more than we can eat on our plates? What are situations in which we don’t control how much food we get? What can we do to reduce food waste?

Preview Text Features (15 minutes)

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

  • Read the title and subtitle (the text below the title) of the first article. What are the two meanings of the word rotten in the title? The first meaning is the literal one—decaying or spoiled, in reference to food. The second is the figurative one, meaning very bad. This is a play on words, since the article is about the very bad problem of food waste.
  • Look at the pie graph titled “Where Does Food Waste Happen?” Where does most food waste happen? Are you surprised by this fact? The pie graph shows that most food waste happens in homes. Students may express surprise that most food waste is created by individuals rather than businesses.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

  • Point out the vocabulary box. Read the terms (produce, consumers, resources, contributes, nonprofit organization) aloud and discuss their definitions.
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow.
  • Note: In our vocabulary box and slideshow, we highlight the noun produce. The verb produce, with its different pronunciation, also appears in the text (we mention the fraction of the food produced that gets wasted). Students may be more familiar with the verb, and it may be helpful to point out and discuss the difference between the two.

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 the problem of food waste and how people can fight it.
  • Tell students that after they read, they’ll synthesize information from the articles to better understand the problem of food waste.

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)

  • According to “The Rotten Truth About Food Waste,” how much of the food produced worldwide goes to waste? How much of the food produced in the U.S. goes to waste? (compare and contrast) Worldwide, about one-third of the food produced goes to waste. In the U.S., the figure is similar, at 35 percent. (Note that one-third is around 33 percent).
  • According to “The Rotten Truth About Food Waste,” what are three reasons that food waste is a problem for the planet? Which of these is the main reason that Nithin Parthasarathy (from “He’s Fighting Food Waste”) started the Zero Waste initiative? (synthesizing) Three reasons mentioned in the first article for why food waste is a problem are: It’s a waste of valuable natural resources; it contributes to global warming; the food could be used instead to feed hungry people. For Nithin, it was the hunger angle that motivated him to start the Zero Waste Initiative. He saw that people in his community were going hungry while bagel shops were throwing out their unsold bagels, and he wanted to do something about that.
  • Why does the author begin “He’s Fighting Food Waste” with a story about something Nithin saw when he was 7 years old? How does this story tie in with Nithin’s current work to feed the hungry? (author’s craft) When he was 7, Nithin saw a group of hungry kids outside a restaurant while food was being thrown out inside the restaurant. This image is one of the things that motivated him, at age 15, to start an initiative to collect food that would otherwise be wasted and bring it to the hungry.

Critical-Thinking Questions (15 minutes)

  • After reading “The Rotten Truth About Food Waste,” how do you think you might change your behavior so that you’re reducing your contribution to the food waste problem? (making connections) Answers will vary. Direct students to the last section of the article, “Cutting Back on Waste,” for helpful tips on how to avoid creating food waste.
  • In “He’s Fighting Food Waste,” you learned about Nithin’s work helping the hungry in his community. He says, “It’s important to learn about what people need.” Think about your own community. What do people need? What could you do to help them? (making connections) Answers will vary.

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: Create a poster that helps other students at your school understand the problem of food waste and what they can do to fight it. Include facts about how much food is wasted every year, how food waste does harm, and some ways to cut back on food waste. Ask the manager of your school cafeteria if you can hang up the poster in a visible spot.

Learn Anywhere Activity

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

Keep a Trash Log

For one week, keep a log of the food you and your family throw out at home. Look for patterns: Do you throw out unfinished food after a meal or ingredients that never get used? Then think about what changes you can propose to your family so that less food is wasted. Discuss your ideas with your family and make a plan for cutting down waste. The following ideas might help get you started:

  • Making a meal plan for the week
  • Setting time aside to organize the fridge and take stock of what’s going bad
  • Cooking smaller portions
  • Using leftover ingredients to create a new dish

Language-Acquisition Springboard

Teach homographs to boost fluency.

After reading the article, return to the word produce in the vocabulary box. Let students know that it’s one of two words that are spelled the same way. When the word is used to talk about fruits and vegetables, it’s pronounced PRO-duce. When it’s used to refer to making something, it’s pronounced pro-DUCE. 

Write this phrase on the board and ask students to decide how to pronounce the word produce in each sentence:

  • My company buys produce from a farm. We use it to produce jellies and jams. 

For more practice, try these phrases with the word project:

  • For my school project, I made a film. I’m going to project my film on the wall of the classroom.

To extend the activity, discuss the different meanings and pronunciations of bow, desert, tear, and wind. 

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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