Nutrition: The Importance of Keeping our Minds and Bodies

Healthy

Literature Focus UnitEDU 315

By: Karli Mann

Literature SelectionNonfiction• Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert• Chew on This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know about Fast

Food By Charles Wilson• The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan• What the World Eats by Peter Menzel• Why Should I Eat Well? By Claire Llewellyn• Garden to Table: A Kid’s Guide to Planting, Growing, and

Preparing Food by Katherine Hengel• Fruits on My Plate (What’s on My Plate) by Mari Schuh• Good for Me!: All about Food in 32 Bites by Marilyn Burns• Let’s Eat! What Children Eat Around the World by Beatrice Hollyer• The Edible Pyramid: Good Eating Everyday by Loreen Leedy

Literature SelectionFiction• Bee-bim Bop! By Lizzy Rockwell• The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food By Stan

Berenstain• Lulu’s Lunch By Camilla Reid• My Seaside Adventure: Nut Free By Hailey Phillips• My Zoo Adventure: Dairy Free By Hailey Phillips• Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog By Jeanne Willis• Dinosaur Diner By Annie Kubler• Eat Up, Max and Millie By Felicity Brooks• How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? By Jane Yolen

Theme Study• Students will take part in a thematic unit on the

five food groups and nutrition. This unit will integrate reading and writing with social studies, science, mathematics, art, music and physical education.

• Students will develop an understanding of the food groups and why it is important to eat healthy foods, maintain physical fitness and healthy hygiene practices, recognize agriculture’s importance in the world, and learn about healthy foods from other cultures.

Language Arts: Reading ActivitiesGrade 3 RI 10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science and technical texts.• Students will read various informational and story books about

nutrition doing silent reading, partner reading, small groups, and as a class.

• Students will read and research personal accounts of how nutrition has impacted the lives of people around the world.

• Students will read poetry, fiction and nonfiction books and other works about trying new foods and conducting a healthy lifestyle.

• Students will read nutrition labels from products they buy at home.

• Students will read about nutrition for different ages, where different plants grow.

Language Arts: Writing ActivitiesGrade 3 W.7: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience• Students will keep a “food journal” for a week and record every single

thing they eat and how much they eat.• Students will conduct small research papers on “my favorite food” in

which they research the health benefits and drawbacks about one specific food they like.

• Students will write poems about their favorite/least favorite foods and then determine if they are healthy or not.

• Students will collaborate as a class to compile a “healthy cook book.”• Students will write letters to politicians about healthy school lunches.• Students will write to other students about the importance of healthy

eating.

Language Arts: Speaking ActivitiesGrade 3 SL.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace• Students will read their poetry they have written aloud to

the class.• Students will discuss in small groups their food journals

about how easy/difficult it was to choose healthy foods and keep track of everything they ate.

• Students will share a story about a new healthy food they have tried and if they liked/disliked it.

• Students will share their nutrition journals with the class.• Students will share their research papers “my favorite food”

with the class.

Language Arts: Listening Activities

SL.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail• A nurse or nutrition specialist will come in to the

classroom to speak to the children about why nutrition is important (and about what they do as someone who deals with it everyday).

• Students will prepare questions for this specialist to ask during a Q&A session.

• Students will listen to various audio clips about healthy foods and what people like about them such as

http://www.elllo.org/video/0826/V834FredVeggies.htm

Language Arts: Viewing ActivitiesRI.7 Integrate information presented in different media or formats (visually)• Students will record their own video presentations as

small groups about nutrition and watch one another’s during class.

• Students will watch videos such as Supersize Me to learn about fast food and its adverse effects on the body.

• Students will watch videos about where our food comes from (from garden to plate).

• Students will watch a time-lapse of a bean plant growing to see how it grows day by day.

Language Arts: Visually Representing Activities

• Students will examine visual diagrams of the food pyramid as well as My Plate so they can see how many servings one needs per day as well as portion control.

• Students will find everyday objects to compare serving sizes with (ex. A serving of steak is the size of a standard deck of cards) and write about them in their food journals.

• The teacher will start a word wall filled with terms about nutrition that students can add to throughout the unit.

• Students will create a diagram of “My Plate” for the class to hang on the wall.

• Students will create artwork based on the theme of nutrition and be able to display it in the classroom as well as the hallways of the school.

• The class will make a KWL chart.

Science ActivitiesGrade 2 (2.7.1) Identify personal choices (e.g. personal hygiene, nutrition, physical fitness, safety) that contribute to individual wellness• Students will identify why nutrition is important for healthy minds with

and bodies with scientific evidence by reading informational text, watching videos, visiting interactive websites and talking to people outside of their classrooms.

• Have students grow their own alfalfa sprouts and eat them in a sandwich.

• Students will separate foods in a diagram by “everyday” and “once in a while” so they realize that unhealthy foods can still be eaten, just not everyday.

• Students will conduct an experiment to see how much sugar is in popular beverages by boiling out the liquid and seeing how much sugar is left behind. The students will then compare the measurements of sugar (tie into mathematics).

Mathematics Activities3.MD.1 Measure and estimate liquid volumes and masses of objects using standard units of grams, kilograms, and liters• Students will show the correct serving sizes of food by using

various measuring tools, scales and measuring cups.• Nutrition and geometry: what foods can you think of are

geometric shapes?• Give a lesson about parts of a whole, lines of congruence, or

fractions using a model a pizza or pie. • Show how food can be sliced into equal parts (using an apple-

cutter, pizza cutter, etc.)• With the science activity “how much sugar is in each beverage”

students will measure the sugar content of different popular beverages. They will make a poster displaying the information they have found.

Social Studies Activities2.1.4 Identify events on a simple time line• Students will create a representation of the time line food

goes through from ground, factory, store shelf, to table.• Students will participate in a food drive.• Students will look at maps and locate different places

where different foods can be grown.• Students will learn about other cultures and their healthy

foods around the world (bring some samples to make in class).

• Students will learn why certain regions have the food they have (climate, growing seasons, etc.)

• Students will learn about poverty and how some people go without proper nutrition everyday.

Art ActivitiesStandard 3 benchmark 4.3.1. Understand how a variety of subjects, themes, symbols and ideas are incorporated in a selection of works of art• Students will create their own My Plate craft.• Students will participate in an array of activities creating

works of art about food and crops using painting techniques, paper cutouts, and others such as a four food groups mobile, creating a paper refrigerator with healthy foods inside, making chef’s hats, etc.

• Students will create pictures displaying “healthy habits.”• Students will create posters to post around the school

about healthy habits (bathroom: washing hands, lunchroom: making healthy eating choices, etc.)

Music Activities

Standard 9: benchmark 4.9.3 Know various uses of music in daily experiences• Students will listen to various children’s songs promoting healthy

eating such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEhhPlR4lQI • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frN3nvhIHUk • Students will create their own songs about eating well and

keeping our bodies healthy/• Students will participate in an activity that promotes healthy

foods (students are given 2 noisemakers, one with a high pitch and one with a low pitch. They are shown pictures of both healthy and unhealthy foods and they make a *high pitched* sound when the food is healthy, and the *low pitch* when the food is unhealthy).

Physical Education ActivitiesStandard 4 Benchmark 8.4.1 Understand how to maintain a healthy lifestyle• Students will brainstorm ideas of activities to stay physically fit in their

own lives.• Students will make a schedule for daily physical fitness routines for

themselves and their families.• Talk about the play 60 campaign and how children should be active for

at least 60 minutes a day.• Discuss professionals (sports players, politicians, celebrities) who

promote play 60 (may get kids more interested to ‘be like their favorite NFL player’).

• Students will understand and be able to explain why physical activity is an important part of nutrition and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

• Students will participate in fund raisers such as ‘jump rope for the heart.’

Technology• www.eatright.org• http://www.choosemyplate.gov/kids/Games.html • http://

www.amazon.com/Childrens-Books-Good-Food-Nutrition/lm/R1ATWL7CRISL82 • http://www.choosemyplate.gov/physical-activity.html • http://www.littleparachutes.com/subcategory.php?sid=31 • http://www.dltk-kids.com/nutrition/crafts.htm• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frN3nvhIHUk• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEhhPlR4lQI• Supersize Me movie• Digital video camera to create videos• Nutrition videos • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1sh_XGKJ-Q • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSWPgFkUUeU • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O8oKLfAJl4 • Books, internet articles, audiotapes

Language Arts Strategies• Activating background knowledge: students will think of what

they already know about nutrition• Brainstorming: students come up with many ideas and foods

that are related to My Plate and the four food groups using their food journals

• Connecting: students will connect nutrition to concepts across the curriculum and take on the role of farmers or nutritionists to plan a healthy meal

• Playing with language: students will use creative language in their writing and poetry and food journals

• Revising: students will make changes to their written food journals and research papers

• Visualizing: students will draw pictures in their minds

Language Arts Skills

• Print: students will recognize words on the Nutrition word wall

• Comprehension: students will compare and contrast foods around the world and likes/dislikes of each

• Language: students will apply various language skills in their writing: stories, poetry, song lyrics...

• Reference: Students will use maps, diagrams, standard (and non-standard) measurements, internet and written sources

Grouping Patterns• Large Group: grand conversations, presentations,

videos, singing songs, sharing writings and videos, food drive, visit from a nurse/nutritionist, physical education activities, read aloud, KWL chart, word wall, healthy cook book

• Small group: creating nutrition videos, small group discussions, science experiments, measurement in mathematics, storytelling

• Individual: keeping food journal, conducting research paper, individual art projects, writing poetry, letters

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Language Arts Grand Conversation: Read aloud Why should I Eat Well? Discuss with the class the topic of nutrition

Prepare questions for nutritionist’s visitBegin word wall

Food journal small group discussion

Research papers on ‘my favorite food’

Healthy cook book favorite foods poetry

Writing letters to politicians about healthy lunches

Art/ Music View sample artwork Create four food group mobiles

My Plate craft

High/low pitch music activity

Students start brainstorming ideas and creating posters to put around the school

Paper refrigerator craftListen to songs about healthy eating

Make chef’s hats

P.E. Brainstorm ideas for “healthy schedule”

Create healthy schedule

Try out various exercises that are in the students’ ‘healthy schedules’

Play 60 discussion and inspirational videos

Jump rope for the heart

Math Measurements lesson

What foods can you think of that are geometric shapes? Geometry lesson

Parts of a whole lesson (using pizza, pie, etc.)

Begin science experiment with measurements of sugar

Compare and contrast sugar lab results

Science Plant alfalfa sprouts

Watch Supersize Me

Visit from Nutritionist

Continue experiment, record results

Create a poster comparing the sugar contents

Social Studies Give instructions for food drive, collect food all week

“from garden to table” timeline activity

Talk about the problem of poverty and insufficient nutrition

Continue planning and collecting food for food drive

Healthy foods around the world (bring samples to class)

Assessments• Portfolio of art work, participation in music and physical

education activities, small group participation, journal entries for food journal, math measurement activities and worksheets, formative assessments for class participation in math, reading, science and social studies activities, community involvement with the food drive.

• Be able to discuss in an interview with the instructor healthy and unhealthy foods and the particulars of what sets them apart (what makes them good for you, or just ‘once in a while’ foods).

• Checklist for food journal, measurement mathematics skills, science activities, social studies, narrative stories, geography skills, and participation in class

• Rubric for research paper, letters, and videos