3rd Grade Nutrition Unit Blueprint—Helpful Teacher Tips

Helpful Teacher Tips

The following resources were used in the creation of this Nutrition unit:

• “My Pyramid for Kids” Levels 1, 2, and 3 booklets by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
• “The New Food Label: There’s Something In It For Everybody” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the International Food Information Council Foundation

PDFs of all the lessons are available under "Teacher Resources" on the electronic blueprint.

Lesson 1: My Pyramid for Kids

Review the lesson by going to the "Teacher Resources" section of Lesson 1 on the electronic blueprint.

The major thrust of the lesson is to introduce students to the food pyramid, which is accomplished through a written dialog in the Teacher’s Guide . To enhance the dialog, a student script, A Conversation with the Pyramid Pals, is available under the “Teacher Resources” section on the electronic curriculum. The students can read the dialog as a quasi class play—the teacher section has been removed from the student script. Places for student discussion and sharing are clearly delineated in the script. The teacher will benefit from consulting the original script in the Teacher’s Guide—it provides examples and points to interject during the dialog. Please note that the dialog/quasi play is only a vehicle for stimulating specific discussion on food groups and the food pyramid. The script alone is not enough—it’s the class conversation that is really the essence of the lesson. Through discussion, the teacher can begin to assess students’ prior knowledge, concepts, and misconceptions about nutrition. The lesson can be handled in a variety of ways—stop the dialog and discuss each point as a class, have students write ideas on mini white boards/paper, have students discuss stopping points in groups, etc.

Under "Teacher Resources," a video is linked that provides a 2 minute animated summary of the food pyramid. It is useful to show the students. In particular, it refers to the old food pyramid and quickly shows how it was transformed into the new pyramid.

The “Group Activity: Pyramid Pal Cartoons” is optional. The directions are at the bottom of the last page of the script (teacher version). The activity has the potential to be a meaningful vehicle for students to show new information they learned from the dialog/script. However, if it is not well structured, it has the potential to become solely an art project.

Supplementary Resource: The library contains a series of books on the food groups according to the new food pyramid. They are quick read-alouds that can be used at the conclusion of Lessons 1 or during Lessons 2 or 3.

Lesson 2: Delving into the Food Pyramid

***Advanced preparation: Have students collect grocery store flyers.

Student groups of 2-3: Using pictures from magazines, newspapers, and grocery store flyers, have students find samples of foods that represent each food group. Enlarge the blank MyPyramid sheet from Lesson 1 onto 11 x 17 paper. The pyramid should be large enough to accommodate pictures the students find. However, students may need to write the names of some foods in place of posting a picture.

During the piloting of this unit, it became quite evident that many students do not know which foods belong to which food group. Thus, a day or two simply focusing on food groups is essential. The outlined lesson is designed to be open-ended and forces students to really search through all types of samples of food and assign them to the correct food groups. The lesson also provides an opportunity to uncover students’ understanding of better food choices. For example, do students place ice cream as an example of dairy? While ice cream does contain dairy, it is a food item that should be eaten sparingly. In the next lesson, the students will have an opportunity to revisit the food pyramid and focus on the bottom and top of the pyramid—foods that should be eaten often versus sparingly. Use Lesson 2 as an opportunity to see what types of foods students use as examples for each food group.

Lesson 3: Getting the Most Nutrition from Your Food

Review the lesson guide by going to the "Teacher Resources" section on the electronic blueprint.

The first portion of the lesson focuses on the food pyramid and deepening students’ awareness and knowledge of good food choices within each group. Page three of the teacher’s instruction suggests displaying the table (without the “explanation” section) on the board. An alternative is to project the food pyramid and list the food examples from the table. Ask the students to decide where each food item belongs. Another option is to provide a food pyramid sheet to pairs of students and have them write the listed foods into the correct sections of the food pyramid. These alternative lesson suggestions allow the teacher to confirm knowledge of the food groups and see if the students recognize healthy versus unhealthy foods for each food group.

A modified version of the MyPyramid Worksheet (named MyPyramid Menu Worksheet) has been created and is available under "Teacher Resources" on the electronic blueprint. It provides more space for student writing.

A food scale has been added to the kit. Some time will probably need to be devoted to the idea of ounces and measuring food. Measuring cups have also been added to the kit. Again, these tools are available to help students visualize the amount of food that constitutes a serving. This is necessary for completing the menu activity within the lesson. While completing the menu activity in the pilot, the teacher also found that students did not understand the idea of physical activity. For example, they did not consider riding a bike to and from a friend’s house as physical activity. Some discussion will most likely need to occur about physical activity.

Lesson 4: Food Math

Review the lesson guide by going to the "Teacher Resources" section on the electronic blueprint.

Use the teacher-created menu (Food Math Choices) in place of the worksheet in the teacher booklet.  A menu grid for the students to complete (Food Math Menu) and reflection sheet (Food Math Reflection Sheet) have also been created for the lesson. The teacher-created materials are available under “Teacher Resources” on the electronic curriculum.

Have students work in groups to complete the menu; however, make sure to have each student complete the worksheets. Students do have a tendency to focus on what they like to eat and sometimes have difficulty creating a menu. At the start of the activity, emphasize that not all foods are on the menu. It does provide enough information so that students can make inferences about the number of ounces or cups that an alternative item might contain. It is important to focus on realistic amounts of food. For example, many students probably do not willingly eat 1 cup of “cooked greens.” To help students think in realistic terms, have a measuring cup available to help students visual the size of a cup. Cups have been added to your kit.

Assessment: Eat Smart with My Pyramid for Kids

Once the students demonstrate an understanding of the food groups, administer the Eat Smart with MyPyramid for Kids sheet and teacher-created question sheet (Eat Smart Assessment Part 2) as an assessment. Students should complete the assessment independently.

Lesson 6: Read Any Great Labels

This lesson is from The New Food Label: There’s Something in It for Everybody program. Review the lesson guide by going to the "Teacher Resources" section on the electronic blueprint.

Numerous empty food packages have been added to your kit for this lesson.

Step 3 of Learning Strategies in the lesson plan (page 8) directs the teacher to go over many parts of a label. The servings per container and serving size must be emphasized. Helping students read and understand the ingredient list is also beneficial. You do not need to go into calories, calories from fat, etc. You may want to point out the sodium and sugar section; however, it will probably be hard for the students to truly understand the idea of milligrams, grams, and % daily value.

Step 4 of Learning Strategies is optional. The activity is valuable but needs to be modified if completed. At this age, most students do not really understand calories, calories from fat, and percent daily value. So, if a label comparison/food substitution activity is completed, the students should be directed to focus on the ingredient list and simpler ideas such as sodium and sugar content.

Lesson 7: Get the Nutrition Facts

This lesson is from The New Food Label: There’s Something in It for Everybody program. Review the lesson guide by going to the "Teacher Resources" section on the electronic blueprint.

Complete Learning Strategies steps 1-3 on page 8. The following foods and supplies have been added to your kit.

• Food label colored overhead
• cereal
• penne pasta
• pretzels/chips
• dried beans or peas
• graham crackers
• plastic/paper plates & bowls
• measuring cups

***Please make sure to discard the food and mark it on the kit reorder sheet.

A worksheet (Comparing Serving Sizes) has been created to accompany this lesson. It is available on the electronic curriculum. Do not copy and distribute “Nutrition Facts—for ‘YO’!” as listed in the Materials list on page 11 in the lesson plan.

 Supplementary Resource: Portion Distortion DVD is available in the library. Use the main menu to skip the "obesity" section and start on section 2, Portion Size. While the "obesity" section contains good information, it draws attention to obesity within children, which can be a very sensitive subject. The rest of the DVD is effective in addressing portion sizes without causing some students to become sensitive about their own bodies. The DVD should be played after completing Lesson 7.