Classroom Theme of the Week: Pizza

They’re on nearly everyone’s dinner table at least twice a month, maybe even twice a week. In fact, Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day. What can you do with a pizza? Even a student-made cardboard one?

Study food groups – what healthy combination of food groups can go on a pizza and still taste good? How about on a dessert-type pizza? A breakfast pizza? Can traditional dishes be adapted to a pizza – like bacon & egg pizza?

Make cardboard pizzas – the sky’s the limit on decoration. Cut out photos and make a collage or make your own “toppings” out of decorated paper. Make a pizza-puzzle where the slices are cut out and rearranged to form a picture. Make your own pizza boxes too after dissecting one to see how they are cut and folded.

Pizzas are a natural for introducing fractions – fourths, sixths, eighths. Add a certain number of pepperoni pieces per slice and you have a simple multiplication lesson. For upper grades, how do you divide an eight-slice pizza so 6 or 11 people get an even amount? Which is bigger or cheaper: round or square? What is the best value: small, medium or large?

After making your own cardboard (or real) pizzas, make a complete nutrition guide based on the existing model. And remember that Pizza Hut® still sponsors the Book-It! reading program at

Social Studies
Research on the internet or interview relatives for variations of how pizza-type foods have been made. How have they used local ingredients? Trace the history of the pizza – how did it become what it is today? How many different styles of pizza can you find? For a link to industry and farm-related sites which play a part in pizza making see