True Food

This week, Emmarose's group joined together to collect information on as many different kinds of restaurants as they could. They made restaurant observations and worked in groups to complete some restaurant research. They focused on theme, interior design, menu offerings, and whether the restaurant provided a good experience for consumers.

Last week, students brainstormed favorite memories and found common themes that they believed were essential for a good experience. Some of these are: good food, adventure, suspense, time with friends and family, and movement. They believe that if producers of experiences (like restaurant owners), offer these options, their consumers are more likely to want to return. But as W.B. pointed out, "experiences can change! You could go to Disneyland one time and it could be great. Then you could go again in a week with a little cousin and it could not be fun."

Next, the students got a chance to visit a restaurant and have their own experiences! On a field trip to True Food Kitchen in Santa Monica, students examined menus, taste-tested cold-pressed juices, and observed the various interior design elements that contributed to the restaurant's overall theme.

Students loved that they were able to see the kitchen and make many choices when ordering new food! Besides the pleasant decor and delicious food, students observed that the interactions between people, really impacted the kind of experience that they had:

- The servers said welcome!

- The servers were nice and communicated well.

- We were able to spend time with friends.

Stay tuned as these experiences inspire the students’ own restaurant designs! They have a "Fiji" themed restaurant, a "Hawaii" themed restaurant, and a "world" themed restaurant!

Emmarose's Week at a Glance

Communication Literacy

Restaurant research on iPads
Menu observations and choosing an item to order on the field trip
Giving evidence/reason for your choice
Working on final drafts of spring break writing
Checking punctuation, capitals, and spelling

Patterns and Modeling

Finding factors of larger numbers using manipulatives and drawings
Showing skip counting on the number line
Odd/even
Patterns
Exploring the relationship between factors as they are represented on a number line