Welcome to the Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen school partner portal.
This site is a “one stop shop” created exclusively for schools that have received a grant to implement Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen. In this portal, you will find tips and tools to support the instruction and implementation of your program. If there is a resource you cannot find or if you have feedback on this portal please share it with us by contacting programs@emeril.org.
Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen is a national education initiative that integrates culinary gardens and teaching kitchens in schools to create interactive learning environments centered on food. The program has four key pillars, which guide the overall goals and desired outcomes of its implementation.
Pillars
Goals
Outcome
Appreciation for the source of food
To instill in children a respect for and understanding of the source of their food.
Children gain knowledge of how food grows and where it comes from, leading to a deeper understanding and reverence for the ground-to-plate process.
Development Of Life Skills Through Food
To develop in children self-confidence, a foundation of self-reliance, and other life skills through the rigors of gardening and cooking.
Children acquire and understand the importance of life skills such as discipline and diligence, leading to increased engagement during school and improved academic performance scores.
Understanding of Nutrition and Healthy Eating
To impart in children the values and benefits of healthy eating and influence their families and communities to adopt healthy lifestyles.
Children gain knowledge of healthy and nutritious eating habits, leading to increased engagement at home as they share their knowledge and experiences with family.
Development of Culinary Skills
To teach children culinary skills that give them the ability to cook for themselves.
Children acquire the skills necessary to prepare meals for themselves, their families and communities, nurturing their self-reliance and confidence.
Instruction
Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen curriculum includes an outline (scope and sequence) of the program standards, learning objectives and the recommended teaching order for grades K-8 garden and kitchen lessons; one complete lesson plan per grade for garden and kitchen; editable lesson plan templates for instructors to create their own lesson plans; and an appendix of resource materials to support instruction.
Scope and Sequence
The scope and sequence includes 18 suggested lesson activities per grade for both the garden and kitchen courses of instruction. All activities support the program’s standards, meet the program’s learning objectives and are aligned to national academic standards.
Program Standards
The program standards include anchor standards and grade-level standards. Anchor standards are broad end point goals that span a grade cluster (a series of grades): K-2, 3-5 or 6-8. The anchor standards are further supported by specific grade level standards. Instructors working with varied student readiness have the flexibility to adjust within the program by referencing the program standards.
Instruction Methodology
Lessons are designed to last approximately 45 minutes and can easily be adapted for instructional needs. If a lesson requires more time, it is indicated on the scope and sequence for instructors. There is one type of garden lesson and two types of kitchen lessons—cooking concept and cooking. All lessons begin with a brief engaging activity and end with time for students to reflect and discuss what they learned and/or experienced. Garden lessons and cooking concept lessons follow the 5E Instructional Model from the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS). Cooking lessons follow one of Emeril’s recipes to guide the instruction sequence. The 5E model is a student-centered approach that sequences instruction using the following terms: engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate. Students become the center of their learning experience through hands-on activities, develop their own understanding of a concept and then relate their understanding to other concepts. Lesson plan templates for garden and kitchen that follow the instruction sequence are included in the Appendix of the program implementation playbook and in the Resources tab of this portal for instructors to use when creating their own lesson plans.
Implementation
There are several tactics for fully integrating the program curriculum across all grade levels. Remember to start slow and set realistic goals for the school. Below is an example of a suggested implementation timeline, beginning with the grade K-2 cluster. Each year one additional grade can be added from the other two grade clusters. Using this approach, the curriculum will be fully integrated across all grades in 5 years, creating institutional knowledge among both students and staff.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K-2 | K-2 | K-2 | K-2 | K-2 | K-2 |
| 3-5 | 3-5 | — | 3 | 3,4 | 3-5 |
| 6-8 | — | 6 | 6,7 | 6-8 | 6-8 |