Jennifer Lovill
9-28-07
Text talk lesson
“Gregory, the Terrible Eater”
Text Talk Resources:
This lesson focuses on plans designed to a text talk plan for “Gregory, the Terrible
Eater”.
Summary:
In the book, “Gregory, the Terrible Eater” Gregory is confused about what he should eat
as his family conflicts with him about what to eat. Gregory wants to eat things such
as fruits and vegetables, while his family continues to be in disbelief that he will not
eat things such as old shoes and buttons. After Gregory attempts to eat the foods his
family suggests he eats, he gets sick. So finally Gregory and his family decide to
come to a happy medium and compromise on his meals.
Focus:
The focus of the story is on foods that are healthy for you and what junk foods can
do, such as upset one’s stomach. Another focus is when Gregory and his family
compromise on foods eaten within the household.
Comments and Questions:
Cover:
Read and show the cover. Ask the children what they think the story will be about.
Ask why they think the cover has garbage on the cover. [Also inquire their knowledge
of the five basic food groups for further expansion. Review foods within the cover to
expand their knowledge of healthy foods and what they are.
Page 3
 Why do you think Gregory always got into trouble when he sat down to eat
with his family? (because they didn’t like what kinds of foods he ate)
 What kind of foods do you think Gregory ate? (their list of names)
Page 5
 Why do you think Gregory wouldn’t eat the tin can, box, piece of rug and
bottle cap his parents offered? (listen to their responses)
Page 7
 Why do you think his parents disapproved of the foods he liked? (because goats
like to eat garbage not good foods)
Page 11
 What do you think the doctor will say about Gregory’s eating? (listen to their
thoughts and experiences)
Page 17
 What is happening now?
 Do you think that Gregory was happy with eating the foods he liked with the
foods he don’t like? (listen to their responses)
Page 21
 Why do you think they went to the dump? (to get things for Gregory to eat)
Page 23
 What do you think Gregory will do now that he has a stomach ache? (listen to
responses)
 What do you think Gregory will think about or dream about when he lays
down? (listen to responses)
Page 25
 Why do you think Gregory was moaning and groaning in his sleep? (because
his stomach was still hurting, he was wanting his good foods, etc.)
Page 27
 Why do you think Gregory’s parents let him have the foods he wanted for
breakfast the next day? (because they knew he needed to have good foods so he
didn’t have another stomach ache)
 So what kinds of foods do you think that Gregory will eat now that his
parents see his needs? (good foods, bad foods, etc.- listen to responses)
Wrap-up:
What do you think of the foods Gregory eats? (Let children discuss the foods Gregory
eats and likes versus the foods his parents liked. Also begin to tie in the basic
knowledge of the basic five food groups and the food guide pyramid.
Vocabulary:
Revolting page 7
Rubbery page 16
Junk page 24
Revolting: In the story, Gregory’s father refers to the foods Gregory likes as revolting.
Revolting means to not like something or to think it is gross, disgusting or nasty.
Let’s say the word “Revolting” together…
I am going to name some items and I want you to say aloud if you think they
are revolting to eat or not. If you think they are revolting, say “revolting”, and
if you think they are good, then say “good”.
 Rocks (revolting)
 Ice cream (good)
 Shoes (revolting)
 Cookies (good)
 Dirt (revolting
Let’s say our word together one more time….”revolting”….
Rubbery: In the story, Gregory referred to his meal as “good and rubbery”. Rubbery
means that the meal was bouncy. Bouncy foods are types of foods that goats eat, an
example of this is the tires they kept eating throughout the book.
I am going to name so items and I want you to think about them and tell me
if you think they are rubbery or not. If they are rubbery then say “rubbery”. If
you think they are not rubbery then say “no”.
 Bouncy balls (rubbery)
 Tape (no)
 Rubber bands (rubbery)
 Carrots (no)
 Milk (no)
 Tires (rubbery)
Let’s say our word together one more time…..”rubbery”….
Junk: In the story, Gregory’s father says that Gregory ate “too much junk”. Junk
means bad or scrapes from something. An example of junk is when Gregory’s parents
went to the junk yard to get him some food. The junk yard is full of items that have
been thrown away by others (refer back to pages 20-23 to view the items obtained at
the junk yard for further explanation).
I am going to name some more items and I want you to tell me if they are junk
and would be found in a junk yard or not. If you think the item would be
found in a junk yard then say “junk”. If you think that it wouldn’t be found
in a junk yard then say “no way”.
 Old tires (junk)
 A broken door (junk)
 A brand new car (no way)
 A bowl of ice cream (no way)
 A used and broken mirror (junk)
 An old doll without its head (junk)
Let’s say our word together one more time….”Junk”….
Today we have talked about three new words and they are revolting, rubbery and
junk. Let’s do a quick review using our new words.
 Would you be more likely to eat something revolting or good? (good) (select
five children to name something good they like to eat)
 Would you be more likely to eat something rubbery or not rubbery? (not
rubbery) (select five children to name something rubbery)
 Would you eat something that came from the junk yard or not? (not) (select
five children to name something they would find in a junkyard)

Follow up- use their prior knowledge of healthy and acceptable foods and
introduce further work into the food guide pyramid. Do a follow up lesson on
such.