Healthy Bodies

Activity 1 (of 3): Food Pyramid BINGO

IL State Learning Standards:

1.B.1a Establish purposes for reading, make predictions, connect important ideas, and link text to previous experiences and knowledge.
22.A.1b Identify methods of health promotion and illness prevention

Activity:
First, teacher will read “Good Enough to Eat” by Lizzy Rockwell, aloud to the class. After completing the read-aloud, discuss with the students what they learned. Draw their attention to the different food groups and the food pyramid.

Second, pass materials out for Food Pyramid Bingo. Playing this game with familiarize students with the different food groups and what food belongs in each one. When students have completed a “BINGO”, the student should call the food first and then the group it belongs to.

Resources:
Good Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell (Call Number: IMC 613.2 R6844)
Food Pyramid Bingo (Call Number: IMC 3-D Game #309)


Activity 2 (of 3): Food Pyramid Bead Activity

IL State Learning Standards:

23.B.1 Identify healthy actions that influence the functions of the body

Activity:

First, provide students with string and different colored beads. (suggested: clear, white, green, red, brown, purple, yellow) Students can decide what they want each color to represent (example: white=Dairy) and how many they need to put on their bracelet/bookmark as recommended by the food pyramid. Students could refer to the http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/kids-pyramid.html website for additional information.

Resources:
String
Beads (different colors)


Activity 3 (of 3): Taking your Pulse


IL State Learning Standards:

22.A.1b Identify methods of health promotion and illness prevention
20.B.1 Describe immediate effects of physical activity on the body


Activity:
First, read the story Oh the Things You Can Do That Are Good For You! by Tish Rabe. Second, have the school nurse or another guest speaker come and demonstrate how to take ones pulse and the importance of being able to do this. Next, have the students take their pulse at a relaxed rate. Each students should record their own heart rate. Then, have the students jump rope for 2-3 minutes. Have the students take their pulse again. Recording the active heart rate. Discuss what changes happened to their heart rate, breathing, and other observations.

Resources:

Oh the Things You Can Do That Are Good for You! by Tish Rabe
School Nurse or other Guest Speaker
Class set of jump ropes

Food, culture and nutrition around the world

These activities are intended for ELLs in late elementary school. That is the reason why, even though the topics suggested for anaylisis and discussion belong in that level, the reading materials are of a lower level of difficulty. Students will have already been introduced to general ideas on food and nutrition.

Learning Center 1 (of 3): What children eat around the world. Reading

Illinois Learning Standards

1. A. Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections.

1. B. Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.

13. B. Know and apply concepts that describe the interaction between science, technology and society.

17. A. Locate, describe and explain places, regions and features of the Earth.

17. C. Understand relationships between geographic factors and society.

Items Needed

Copies of Hollyer, B. (2003). Let’s eat. What children eat around the world. New York: Henry Holt in association with Oxfam. (IMC 394.1 H746L).

Paper, pens.

Activity

1. As a whole class, students will make predictions about the content of the book based on their reading of the texts and images in the contents page. The teacher will elicit the students’ predictions with general questions about their previous geographical and social knowledge of the countries and peoples involved.

2. In groups, students will read the book paying attention only to the regular days and not on the special days sections of the book. They will be asked to highlight all the regular activities that they children do during the day and to compare them with their own daily actions. The teacher and the students will make lists of those activities on the blackboard in order to revise the verbs connected with daily routines. A discussion of the ways in which the children’s lives compare and contrast will ensue.

3. Students will concentrate on food, then. With the assistance of the teacher, they will produce reader generated questions (RGQs) on food in the different cultures present in the text. Ideally, for this activity, the teacher will foster the questions he or she will already have in mind, but will not have them printed beforehand so as to give way to the questions students may have. Students will be asked to draw a graphic organizer with their questions and to look for the answers in the text. A final group summary of all the data the students will have gathered from the text would be advisable in order to highlight the differences or commonalities between the cultures under examination.

Learning Center 2 (of 3). The food pyramid.

Reading. Presenting.


Illinois Learning Standards

1. B. Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.

4. B. Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

15. A. Understand how different eco­nomic systems operate in the exchange, production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.

15. B. Understand that scarcity necessitates choices by consumers.

17. C. Understand relationships between geographic factors and society.

Items needed
Access to MyPyramid.gov.

Copies of Hollyer, B. (2003). Let’s eat. What children eat around the world. New York: Henry Holt in association with Oxfam. (IMC 394.1 H746L).
Colored construction paper, colored markers, crayons, pencils.


Activity

1. In groups, students will browse the sites for one of the food groups in the pyramid and make their own notes about them. They will prepare a short group presentation on the food group to be shared with the rest of the class.

2. In groups, students will choose one of the meals described in the the book they will have read (e. g. grilled beef, corn on the cob, puthu, madumbes and amasi) and determine how the food groups are represented in it. They will be able to use the food galleries for each of the groups in MyPyramid.gov for visual help. They will also have group discussions about how healthy the meal is in view of what is recommended by American government. Finally, they will make a poster on the meal they have worked on and present it to the rest of the class.

3. Once all the posters are displayed and presented, they will discuss as a class about the different stuff used to make up for the otherwise similar food groups around the world. They will also make connections about the availability of certain items depening on the geopgraphical region of the world in which the person lives. Comparison and contrast with their own geographical and social situation will be fostered.

Learning Center 3 (of 3). Jalapeno Bagels.
Reading. Presenting. Writing.

Illinois State Standards

1. A. Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections.

1. B. Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.

1.C. Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.

4. B. Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

5. A. Locate, organize, and use infor­ma­tion from various sources to answer questions, solve problems and communicate ideas.

5. C. Apply acquired information, concepts and ideas to communicate in a variety of formats.

Items needed

Copies of Wing, N. (1996). Jalapeno Bagels. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. (IMC EW769j)
Paper, pens.

Activity

1. As a whole class, students will make predictions on the content of the book based on its title and cover. The teacher will jot down all their suggestions on the blackboard so as to come back to them later, once they book will have been read. Then, the teacher will read the first passage of the book aloud (p. 3) and will ask the students to refine their guesses. Their new ideas will also be written down on the blackboard. Ideally, the teacher will guide them to the idea that the may problem in the book lies in the statement “My teacher told us to bring something from our culture.” On the basis of the material on the blackboard, the students will be asked to produce reader generated questions (RGQs) which, this time, will not be induced by the teacher.

2. Looking for answers to the questions they will have produced, students will read pp. 4 to 16 of the book in pairs. After that, they will be asked to make groups of four and discuss their answers. A class discussion will ensue in which they will retell the events in the story and check out their guesses. The teacher will explain why certain guesses where more appropriate than others and why some might not be plausible at all. Ideas about the structure of the story will be elicited. Based on that structure, the teacher will make a list on the blackboard containing all the bread items mentioned in the text (i. e. pan dulce, empanadas de calabaza, chango bars, bagels, challah, sesame-seed bagels, and jalapeno bagels). Students will be asked to describe each one of these items briefly. They will be advised to refer for help to the glossary on p. 21. Finally, they will be asked to predict the end of the story and their guesses will be jot down on the blackboard.

3. Students will be asked to form pairs different form the ones they have formed at the beginning of the lesson and they will read the end of the story. By the time they have finished, the teacher will have written on the blackboard the final passage of the book “Why Jalapeno bagels? -asked Papa. Because they are a mixture of both of you. Just like me!” He or she will ask the students to explain the meaning and moral of the story tracing back to the content of the story, i. e. the different bread items belonging in the Mexican and Yiddish cultures. As a way of connecting this learning centre to the previous ones, the teacher may ask the students questions about the food groups the items mentioned in the story belonged in and about their nutrition and health facts (Learning Center 2) or to spot the cultures where the parents in the story come from in a world map and make connections with the food produced in those regions (Learning Center 1).

4. Something from your culture. As a final step, the teacher will ask the students to brainstorm ideas to describe food items from which they consider to be “from their culture” and they will produce an outline of a writing/photograph/recipe/story project to be presented on the following class. That class will probably start with a vocabulary activity in which students will have to match the names of the different dishes learnt in this lesson to their corresponding descriptions. Ideas about the cultural globalization of food may be introduced on a subsequent class as well.

Fruits

Activity 1 (of 3)- Food Pyramid

IL State Standard:
3.C. 2a Write for a variety of purposes and for specified audiences in a variety of forms including narrative and persuasive writing.
Materials Needed:
My Food Pyramid by DK publishing, NutrFruit Heroes (IMC 3-D HEAL 250, 251), and real fruit
examples (including, but not limited to kiwi, mango, pear, blueberry, cherry)

Instruction:
Begin the activity by handing out a worksheet with various pictures of fruits where the students have to identify as many as they can. Have them turn it over when they are done. When students are finished then read pages 4-5 and 10-11 in the book My Food Pyramid by DK publishing. Have the students turn their papers back over again and then introduce the various fruits by using the NutraFruit Heroes to help. When this is complete discuss why they were able to recognize some fruits and why they did not recognize others.


Activity 2 ( of 3)- Nutra Fruit Heroes - Nutrients

IL State Standards:
5.A.2b Organize and integrate information from a variety of sources (e.g., books, interviews, library reference materials, web- sites, CD/ROMs).
5.C.2b Prepare and deliver oral presentations based on inquiry or research.
4.B.2a Present oral reports to an audience using correct language and nonverbal expressions for the intended purpose and message within a suggested organizational format.

Materials needed:
NutraFruit Heroes (IMC 3-D HEAL 250, 251), computer access or books that will provide the information students need to look for.

Instruction: Divide students into four groups. Give each group one of the four NutraFruit Heroes. Students will have to research the nutrients that are found in each fruit and why our bodies need those nutrients. They will then need to create a presentation for the rest of the class using the NutraFruit hero and giving the information they found. They must include in their presentation the nutrients found in the fruit, why our bodies need the nutrients, and what might happen or could happen if our bodies do not get these nutrients.

Activity 3 ( of 3)- Fruit Salad

IL State Standards:
7.B.2a Determine and communicate possible methods for estimating a given measure, selecting proper units in both customary and metric units.
Materials needed:
Oliver's Fruit Salad by Vivian French, fresh pineapple, frozen raspberries, vanilla yogurt, bananas, chopped dates, and toasted almonds, also will need measuring utensils.

Instruction: Begin by discussing some of the various fruits or dishes that have fruits in them students have eaten before. Also discuss why or why not they eat many different kinds of fruits. Then read the book Oliver's Fruit Salad by Vivian French. After reading the book, discuss why they think Oliver wanted his mother to buy all of the different fruits, but would not eat them after she bought them. Have students get into groups of 4 after the discussion and have them make the Fruity Breakfast Parfait. The recipe will make 4- 6 oz. servings, so multiply ingredients as needed. The recipe calls for 2 cups of chopped fresh pineapple, 1 cup frozen raspberries thawed, 1 cups lowfat yogurt, 1 firm medium banana peeled and sliced, 1/3 cup of chopped dates, and 1/4 cup of sliced toasted almonds. In 6 oz. cups layer the pineapple, raspberries, yogurt, banana, and dates. Then sprinkle the top with almonds. Students can then sample their Fruity Breakfast Parfait.

Exploring Food with Anansi

Prior to these center activities, the teacher will have already read the book, Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock, retold by Eric A. Kimmel, to the students using Story Aid 260 (IMC, 3D Story Aid 260). The teacher will have also introduced the foods using real props.

Activity 1 (of 3): Science Center - Close Examination

Illinois Early Learning Standards

11.B.ECa: Use scientific tools such as thermometers, balance scales and magnifying glasses for investigation.

12.C.EC: Make comparisons among objects that have been observed.

Items Needed

Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock, digital microscope, (digital cameras or magnifying glasses could be used in the absence of digital microscope), computer, foods from book (watermelon, coconut, pineapple, bananas, yams, cantelope, and apricot), T-Chart made on large chart paper, and markers

Activity

1. Students will use the digital microscope to examine the skins of the foods in Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock. Teachers should consider asking the following questions to prompt both lower and higher order thinking as needed during this part of the activity: How could you hold the digital microscope to get an even better picture of what you are examining? What do you see? How would you describe that?
2. Students will create a book using the pictures they take with the digital microscope. Teachers should consider asking the following questions to prompt both lower and higher order thinking as needed during this part of the activity: What is that? What else could you imagine that it might be? What words would you use to describe what you see?
3. During closing circle, students will be encouraged to compare and contrast what they see in the pictures using a t chart of same and different. Teachers should consider asking the following questions to prompt both lower and higher order thinking as needed during this part of the activity: How are these items alike? How are they different? As more prompting is needed, the teacher may ask more specific questions, such as: Which ones are smooth? Which ones are bumpy? How would you describe the one in this picture? How is it different from the one in this picture? The teacher may also want to have the real objects present for those students who need to feel the objects again rather than just see the picture.

Activity 2 (of 3): Math Center - Weighing Food

Illinois Early Learning Standards

5.C.EC: Communicate information with others.
7.B.EC: Show understanding of and use comparative words.
10.A.ECa: Represent data using concrete objects, pictures, and graphs.
10.A.ECb: Gather data about themselves and their surroundings.
11.A.ECb: Collect describe and record information.
11.B.ECa: Use scientific tools such as thermometers, balance scales and magnifying glasses for investigation.
12.C.EC: Make comparisons among objects that have been observed.



Items Needed

Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock, foods from the book (watermelon, coconut, pineapple, banana, yam, cantelope, and apricot), balance (CMC, 3-D, SCIE, 480), chart paper, and markers


Activity

1. During circle time, students will predict which of the foods they think will weight the least and which of the foods they think will weigh the most. The teacher will record their predictions.
2. In the math center, students will use a balance to determine which of the foods weighs the least and which of the foods weighs the most.
3. Students will place the items in order from lightest to heaviest.
4. During closing circle time, the teacher will lead in a discussion about the activity and lead students to check their predictions.

Activity 3 (of 3): Cooking Center - Making Fruit Salad


Illinois Early Learning Standard

22.A.EC Participate in simple practices that promote healthy living and prevent illness.


Items Needed

Plastic or butter knives for each child, cutting boards, recipe for fruit salad, ingredients for fruit salad, measuring spoons, large bowl, mixing spoon


Activity

1. In the cooking center, students will prepare fruit salad with the assistance of an adult. The teacher may choose to use the following questions to promote higher level thinking and conversation throughout the activity: What does the recipe say we will include in our fruit salad? This fruit is big. What should we do to it to prepare it for our fruit salad? How many pieces have you cut your banana into? Have you ever made fruit salad? How does this smell? Does it remind you of anything? Do you think you will want to eat it? If you were making this at home, what else might you put in the fruit salad?
2. As an optional follow up activity, students may move to the computer and design their own fruit salad on Mia Mango's Recipe Inventor. Recipes may be printed and sent home. The teacher may also use the printed recipes to chart and facilitate a discussion about which fruits were chosen the most and the least.