Pineapple Pizza by David Drew

Teaching ideas

This is an almost completely "silent" book. It has a title on each page, but the information is in the visual texts. These texts are called flowcharts. We read these texts by following the arrows.

Reading the book

Show the cover. Ask the children to guess what is happening in each of the pictures. But the steps are all out of order. We see a pineapple, a cow, a tomato bush, and a field of grain from which dough is made. Children can guess how all these steps might fit. Ask the children, "Why would we need a cow to make a pizza?"

The pizza dough (pages 2-3)

Cover this double-page with a sheet of cardboard so that only the top row of images can be seen. Say, "Let's follow the arrows to see what happens." Point out the harvester, the silo, the bags of wheat, and the truck.

Move the card down to show the next row. Follow the arrows which are now moving from right to left. We see the mill that makes the grain into flour, a different truck that delivers the flour in packets to a supermarket, and the same packet in a shopping basket. Finally the flour is on a kitchen table where dough is being made with water, salt, and yeast.

Reveal the rest of the double-page. We see the dough being kneaded and rolled, then put into a dish ready for the next ingredient to be added.

Flowcharts. As well as discussing the content, don't forget to point out that we are looking at a flowchart, and that to read a flowchart you follow the arrows. Sometimes you need to read "backwards" (from right to left). We did this in the middle row of the chart.

Enlargements. At the start of this chart (top of page 2) point out two curved arrows that each point to a circle that shows a detail enlarged, as if by a magnifying lens. These show that ears of wheat go into the front of the harvester and grains of wheat come out the back.

The tomato sauce (pages 4-5)

Turn the page. The next ingredient is tomato sauce. We see how to plant, water and grow tomatoes. Then the fruit is picked and cooked. The recipe includes garlic, herbs such as basil, and an onion. This is a home-made sauce that is preserved in jars. Only some of what is cooked is added to the pizza.

Ask children to look closely at the pictures. Can they find the butterfly? It will pollinate the tomato flowers.

The cheese (pages 6-7)

Now we find out why we need cows to make a pizza. This flowchart shows how mozzarella cheese is made. Lemon juice is added to the milk, which is left to stand and then combed. Rennet is added next. The cook tests the cheese for "stretchiness." He then drains the liquid whey while keeping the more solid curd (this step is not shown). The soft cheese is kneaded, then put into iced water to make the cheese firm. This kind of cheese must be kept fresh in a freezer. At home the cheese is grated and sprinkled over the tomato sauce.

As you read the book make a vocabulary list on a flip chart or whiteboard. Words like knead, yeast, curd, whey and rennet will be useful later.

The pineapple (pages 8-9)

The final ingredient is the pineapple. This is grown, trucked to a cannery, chopped then sliced and diced on a conveyor belt, then canned. At home the cook opens the can, drains off the juice and adds some pineapple pieces as topping to the pizza. Finally it goes into the oven.

What next?

Children can write an explanation or a set of instructions for one step in this process. They will need some of the words on your vocabulary list.

Or you can use this book as an example to refer to when your students need to make a flowchart explaining another process, such as how bread is made, or where your email goes when you send it.

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