Look closely at this image of a nine spice mix from the James Beard Foundation.
The following activities and questions are designed to help your students use their noticing skills to move through the poem and develop their thinking skills so they understand its meaning with confidence, using what they’ve noticed as evidence for their interpretations. Read more about the framework upon which these activities are based.
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Warm-up: (Teachers, prior to this lesson, ask students to bring in a recipe for a food they enjoy or that pertains to their culture. If you feel that your students have the means and resources, you might want to encourage those that can to bring in the item for others to share. However, a recipe swap works fine too.) Share your recipe with the class. What about this particular recipe is important to you personally? Are there any particular flavors or spices that make this dish flavorful or unique?
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Before Reading the Poem: Look closely at this image of a nine spice mix. What spices do you recognize? Which spices or flavors are new to you? Scroll down to read the recipe and description. What stands out to you about this recipe?
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Reading the Poem: Silently read the poem “Nine Spice Mix” by Zeina Azzam. What do you notice about the poem? Note any words or phrases that stand out to you or any questions you might have.
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Listening to the Poem: Enlist two volunteers and listen as the poem is read aloud twice. Write down any additional words and phrases that stand out to you. You may enjoy listening to the poet read the poem.
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Small Group Discussion: Share what you noticed about the poem with a small group of students. How might the resources from the beginning of class connect to the poem? What does this poem say about cooking and/or identity? How does flavor inform our food and our lives?
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Whole Class Discussion: Which images in the poem stand out to you? Why? What do these images convey about food and/or culture?
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Extension for Grades 7-8: Use the recipe that you brought into class to create a class poetry cookbook. Create illustrations for your recipe, and find more poems on cooking.
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Extension for Grades 9-12: Think back to the recipe you shared at the beginning of class, as well as what you shared about your own background. Choose a spice, flavor, or dish and write an ode to this dish. Share your odes with the class.
“I started journaling my five senses every day to recall at least small scraps of my day and keep a record of moments. Of the five senses—sight, touch, sound, smell, and taste—I often started with taste since I knew which memories to look for. As soon as I remembered a flavor from dinner, I would keep thinking about cooking and the smell of the onions hitting the butter in the pan, and the textures would come and I could feel the paper exterior of the garlic bulb.” Read “Eat Your Words: A Poetry Cookbook” by Traci Brimhall, the 2025 Poet-in-Residence at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.