RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION 1

What is on My Plate?

Kelly Burkhead

National University

In partial fulfillment for the requirements for TED 635

Professor Elizabeth Cruickshank

December 3, 2016
RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION 2

Abstract

Diversity in the classroom today goes well beyond race, culture, or class. “Many teachers find

that their classrooms are populated by English language learners, gifted students, students with

disabilities, and students who are culturally diverse” (L, 2016). It is vital to maintain the same

set of academic standards and goals for all students, while including various learning levels,

abilities, and styles. Various instructional strategies and modifications for culturally diverse,

linguistically diverse, and exceptional needs learners will be implemented as necessary with

respect to standard 1.3.G for health and nutrition in the first grade. Students in this lesson will

learn to identify a variety of behaviors that promote healthy growth and development with regard

to making healthy food choices through various hands on activities.

RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION
_____________________________________________________________________________________
11255 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037-1011 • Phone (858) 642-8320 • Fax (858) 642-8724 • www.nu.edu
Lesson Plan Design
Subject: Science Grade: 1st Lesson Topic:
Candidate’s Name: Kelly Burkhead
Site Supervisor: Diana Barcelos
Date: 12/7/2016
1. Introduction: (Identify Grade Level K12 Academic Content Standard(s), rationale, focus learner, create
bridges from past learning, behavior expectations)
.
Grade: 1st Grade
Content Standard: (With regard to Health)
Growth and Development:
1.3.G Identify a variety of behaviors that promote
healthy growth and development.
Purpose: Students will be able to name the 6 food groups
and their relative recommended portions per meal
according to the My Plate model (ChooseMyPlate.gov –
My Plate dietary guidelines, 2009).
Students will be able to correctly identify most foods into
their appropriate food groups. Students will gain the
ability to create a nutritiously appropriate lunch.
Prior Learning: The Berenstain Bears series is one book
series students have used in class read alouds. The
Berenstain Bears Too Much Junk Food describes how the
bear family tries to adopt a healthier lifestyle through diet
and exercise. Students are interested and ready to learn
more information on what they may do to make healthier
meal and snack choices.
Behavioral Expectations: Mrs. Barcelos is excited to
share the basic food groups with students since they seem
to love the Berenstain Bears. She says her students are
generally very motivated to learn and are generally fully
engaged. The students all typically work well together,
but there is one student who is a bit aggressive so she
expects that to be displayed.
Students are fully aware of classroom rules with regard to
respecting others and the property that belongs to
classmates and the school and therefore will use materials
provided with proper handling instructions.
3
What is on My Plate?
ID # 023697838
NU Supervisor: Professor Elizabeth Cruickshank
Rationale:
Standard 1: Essential Health Concepts: All students
will comprehend essential concepts related to
enhancing health.
Rationale: To successfully meet the required
California State Standards in Essential Health
Concepts. Understanding essential concepts about
the relationships between behavior
and health provides the foundation for making
informed decisions about health- related behaviors
and for selecting appropriate health products and
services (Aschwanden et al., 2009).
Students in the first grade are just learning to become
increasingly independent, which includes selecting
their own snacks and meals. Knowledge of the 6
basic food groups and their proper portion sizes will
better allow students to make nutritious choices.
Students at this age are also increasingly more
coordinated and able to prepare themselves simple
meals such as sandwiches. Therefore, knowing what
ingredients to use to fuel their bodies will help them
make the best choices for themselves. This will also
provide a level of accomplishment in taking steps
towards contributing to one’s own nutrition and
overall health.
Setting healthy examples and teaching healthy habits
young have a higher association with these students
making healthy choices as they grow into adulthood
(CDC, 1996). “School-based nutrition education can
improve dietary practices that affect young persons'
health, growth, and intellectual development” (CDC,
1996).
RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION
2. Learner Outcome(s)/Objective(s): (What will students learn from this lesson? How will you measure
mastery of the outcome?)
Purpose: Students will be able to name the 6 food groups
and their relative recommended portions per meal according
to the My Plate model (ChooseMyPlate.gov – My Plate
dietary guidelines, 2009).
Students will be able to correctly identify most foods into
their appropriate food groups. Students will gain the ability
to create a nutritiously appropriate meal using the knowledge
of daily guidelines for each food group and their portions.
Mastery: Mastery will be reflected in student interaction in
discussions and lecture, through the KWL chart, and a My
Plate Art creation. Teachers will be listening to the students
collaborate and discuss the food groups as they complete
their assignments will indicate knowledge of material.
Students must be cognitive about each step in producing a
visually appealing, and nutritiously appropriate plate for the
“My Plate” art project. Students are handed a blank paper
plate canvas to create an entire meal from magazine and
grocery ad clippings. Every detail must be thought out from
where to place the food item, to how much. Students must
also think of examples from each food group that
appropriately represent that group clearly.
3. Pre-assessment Activity: (Determine students’ abilities to achieve the learner outcome and prescribe
instruction accordingly. Consider: linguistic background, academic language abilities, content knowledge,
cultural and health considerations, interests and aspirations, physical development, social development,
emotional development.)
Linguistic Background: There is currently one ELL
student in the class who speaks primarily Mandarin at home.
Academic Language Abilities: The majority (90%) of the
class is performing at grade level. A few students are
performing above grade level and may be gifted.
Content Knowledge: Students are enthusiastic about
learning about nutritious foods, as reflected in their
engagement in the book Too Much Junk Food.
Cultural Considerations: The majority of the class is of
East Indian and Asian (Chinese) decent. Most are active in
personal cultural activities outside of school on the
weekends.
Health Considerations: All students maintain regular
attendance and are healthy and active. There are no students
with physical disabilities in the class currently.
Interests and Aspirations: Interests are developmentally
appropriate, few extracurricular activities, but there exists a
4
Rationale:
Learner outcomes satisfy the requirement
for California State Standards in Essential
Health Concepts for public schools.
Students will be able to acquire new
knowledge surrounding the 6 food groups
and their related portion sizes through
various engaging and creative activities.
“A KWL chart may be used as a short
introduction to a lesson, to stimulate prior
knowledge, or at the start of a research
paper or project. This can help students
push beyond their existing comfort zone to
learn new and different material” (Using
‘KWL’ in the Classroom, 2000).
Rationale:
The ELL student will be encouraged to
work with others who speak the same
native tongue at home in addition to
English. Also, additional KWL chart
examples will be provided for samples for
the ELL student to see and use. Large,
colorful print graphics will be used through
the lesson, which will especially enhance
this student’s learning process by
providing visual support. A list of
vocabulary terms related to this lesson will
also be provided to the class which
contains the words, their definitions, and
pictures to help learn new terms. Realia in
the form of plastic food models will be
used to assist in visual representations for
examples of foods from various food
groups.
Gifted students may be provided with
additional, but creative assignments such
as analyzing the school cafeteria’s lunch
menu for one week and classifying the
RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION
high motivation to read, write, and complete assignments in
general.
Physical/Social/Emotional Development: Some students,
about half of the class are active in sports programs after
school and on weekends. Students are all very social, one
student tend to be more aggressive towards classmates, but
Mrs. Barcelos is uncertain why. A handful of students prefer
to sit and finish their assignments at recess and need to be
reminded that it is time to go outside and get some fresh air.
Socioeconomic Considerations: The class is made up of
students with parents who are generally college and graduate
school educated, and therefore their parents have set very
high expectations for their children. This is reflected in the
high drive that a few students have to do schoolwork even
when it is time for recess.
4. Differentiation, Adaptation & Accommodation Strategies: (Based on the pre-assessments, modify
Learning Activities based on learner characteristics to meet the needs of ELL & special needs students,
highly achieving students and low achieving students)
ELL: Pictures provided with vocabulary words on a
handout, realia in the form of plastic models of foods,
partially filled out KWL charts, partner work with another
student who speaks Mandarin, but is also fluent in English.
Special Needs: There are no special needs students at this
time. However, adaptations would be made according to the
specific need presented. General adaptations may include a
handout of examples, including clear rubrics, frequent
checking on to ensure understanding, partner work, and
general safety guidelines such as using caution with the
scissors and glue sticks.
High Achievers: If students complete their tasks early, they
may choose to analyze the school lunch menu and divide
each meal into its relative food groups. Another exercise to
offer is to have students write a pretend letter to the school
board asking for more nutritious meals while providing
examples that they design for suggestions. They will further
benefit by working independently on their My plate art
project since it allows them to use their creative expression
and critical thinking.
Low Achievers: There are no low achievers in the class
currently.
5
menu by food group. Another activity for
the gifted may be to write a letter to the
schoolboard to offer more nutritionally
sound choices for students.
Rationale:
ELL: A partially completed graphic
organizer allows for scaffolding. Graphic
organizers may be seen as a scaffolding
tool which much like training wheels on a
bicycle, help organize student’s thoughts in
order to apply them (Alber, 2011). Also,
the KWL chart is helpful to ELLs
especially if repeated post lesson to help
“reinforce and synthesize lesson content”
(Broadcasting, 2015). Repetition is also a
helpful strategy in reinforcing concepts for
diverse learners in particular
(Broadcasting, 2016).
High Achievers: Knowledge prior to the
lesson will be assessed via the KWL chart.
This is to ensure high achievers do not
grow bored since they potentially already
know the information presented. High
achievers may be challenged through
offering additional tasks which require a
deeper understanding of the material.
Allow high achievers to select an
assignment that will further show what
they know and understand. Some
examples of options include asking deeper
questions and to get creative (Challenge
your, no date).
High achievers may also work with any
students who may be struggling on this
lesson to help encourage and model
completing the task.
RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION
5. Resources: (Identify materials needed for this lesson accounting for varying degrees of skill level)
Pre-assessment Activity: Read aloud of The Berenstain
Bears and too much Junk Food to engage students and
review the relevance of selecting healthy food choices.
Materials:
 Technologies: A computer is used to show nutrition
video as attention grabber to the class on the white
board via a projector.
 Resources: Magazine and newspaper grocery
advertisements.
 Makeup of the furniture: Desks arranged in 6
groups of 4 for 24 students total.
 Materials: Paper plates, glue, scissors, colorful food
pictures from advertisements, KWL charts, pencils,
markers.
6. Learning Activities: Explicit Teacher Instruction - (Explain, model, demonstrate, check for
understanding)
Explanation: The lesson objective will be stated and
explained so the goal is clear. Students in this lesson will
learn to identify a variety of behaviors that promote healthy
growth and development with regard to making healthy food
choices through various hands on activities. The lesson’s
main objective is to gain a better understanding of the 6 basic
food groups in order to make more nutritionally sound meal
and snack choices. Students will be provided with a preface
that they will be guided through various hands on activities
to ensure food group understanding has been achieved.
Modeling: Demonstration and modeling takes place during
a brief lecture as examples of different foods are held up and
students are encouraged to volunteer which food groups they
belong to. Also guidance is provided through guiding
students in producing their own “my Plate” model artwork,
including their relative correct portion sizes.
Shared Lesson: KWL charts will be filled out together.
Students will be given a few minutes to fill out what they
think they already know about nutrition. A lecture using
realia of food models and My Plate documents of a model
plate will be displayed on the white board using a doc cam.
Students then provide input on the KWL chart while the
teacher uses a doc camera to fill it in. Students fill their own
in as ideas are discussed. The read aloud of Berenstain Bears
too much Junk Food follows.
Check for Understanding: Teachers observe student input
during discussion of KWL chart and lecture of basic food
groups based on MY Plate model. Also KWL charts are
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Rationale:
A familiar and enjoyed book is read to
introduce students to eating healthy and the
concept of nutrition. The students can
relate to the Berenstain Bear family to see
what happens when people eat too much
junk food. This activity also engages
students as it will be read by Miss
Burkhead, a new teacher helper.
Rationale:
Students should receive a clear
introduction in order to prepare them for
what is expected of them. Any questions
may be asked before the start of the lesson
to clarify any concerns. Once expectations
are set appropriately, students may prepare
for each aspect of the lesson to come.
Modeling is vital in order to provide
students with an example of both what lies
ahead and what is expected of them.
Exposure to this information helps to set
the foundation for learning.
Group lecture allows all students to be
exposed to the same material at the same
time. This allows for ample discussion on
both the food groups, realia, and KWL
charts. Sometimes information heard from
others point of view helps one to learn and
see things in a different perspective. The
read allows students to learn as a group
while making predictions on what happens
next, as well as maintaining engagement.
Checking for understanding provides
teachers with feedback on how effective
the lesson is up to each point. Based upon
RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION 7

examined frequently as student fill them in to assess this information, teachers may either
knowledge gained. proceed or review any parts that need more
time.

7. Learning Activities: Guided Practice/ Collaborative Practice (Check for understanding and provide
feedback and re-teaching)

Guided Practice: Students will view and identify together
the various realia provided by food group and item. They
will also fill out their KWL charts and share with one another
ideas and concepts.
Collaborative Groups: Groups of 4 students will work
together to write a small essay on the different food groups.
Also, students are encouraged to work together sharing art
supplies for the My Plate art project.
Rationale: It is important for students to
discuss ideas while learning to share
perspectives. Also beneficial is repeated
exposure in alternate methods to increase
and maintain the learning process.
Collaboration is an essential tool in the
learning process, especially across diverse
linguistic, cultural, and learning abilities.

Check for Understanding: Teachers will be listening to the
students collaborate and discuss the food groups as they
complete their assignments will indicate knowledge of
material. Students must be cognitive about each step in
producing a visually appealing, and nutritiously appropriate
plate for the “My Plate” art project.
Teacher observation of student activity and
participation is a helpful formative method
to gauge student understanding as a lesson
progresses.

8. Independent Practice: (Provide practice that supports the learning outcome. Note: Independent activities
are assigned assuming that students understand the concept well enough to work on their own.)

Rationale:
Independent Practice: Students will work independently By allowing students to work
in an educational game called “My Plate match game” found independently on an educational game,
in the Healthy Eating website. Students will match a food in they will be motivated to practice what
the proper food group (California and Reserved, 2016). they learned in a fun and safe environment
Check for Understanding: while receiving feedback on their
During independent practice, the teacher will walk around performance. This will will help them
the students to see how they are completing the educational master the concepts.
game. If students do not match correctly the food with the
proper food group a sound will be played and they will not
be able to continue to the next level of the game. On the
contrary, when student match correctly the food with the
proper food group, a sound will be played and they will
move forward to the next level of the game. The teacher will
know if the student understood the concept or not depending
on what level of the game they are situated.

9. Assessment and Evaluation: (Describe how you will assess and/or evaluate the students’ learning.
Describe differentiating assessment strategies you will use for ELL, special needs students, highly achieving
students and low achieving students.)

Students will be informally assessed during this lesson. For Rationale:

instance, during the lecture and class discussions the teacher
RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION 8

will observe students’ responses which will be recorded to
use as assessment. Additionally, students will be assessed
based on their KWL chart and their essay. Furthermore,
students will be assessed based on their successful
completion of their My Plate art project.
These types of assessments allow ELL students, high
achieving students, and low achieving students to
demonstrate their knowledge on the topic.
These types of assessment will determine the degree to
which the ELL students achieved the learning objective of
this lesson.
“Ongoing assessments are particularly important for English
language learners (ELLs). Standardized tests in English do
not usually reflect ELLs' true content knowledge or abilities.
Yet informal assessments can provide a more well-rounded
picture of their skills, abilities, and ongoing progress”
(Broadcasting, 20012).

Formative assessments take place throughout the lesson

based upon each task, how it is completed, and the progress The results of the assessment will be used to guide further
made to completion. instruction.
Summative assessment takes place through evaluation of the
group essays and the My Plate art projects. These tasks
require students to use their newly gained knowledge to
create an accurate representation of concepts understood.
Also, students must build upon information learned
throughout the lesson to create their own nutritionally
appropriate meals, which requires metacognition.

There are no special needs students in this class. The type of

assessments will vary depending on students’ need. Some
assessments can be done through observations, sample of
students’ work, among others.

10. Closure: (Describe how students will reflect on what they have learned.)

Rationale:
At the completion of the lesson, students will complete their
By allowing students to use KWL charts they will be writing
KWL charts. Students will then share with two partners
what they learned in the lesson and they will be comparing
their favorite part of the lesson and their most challenging
their responses with responses from before the lesson. This
aspect. They will also share with one another what they
helps to ensure students are aware of what they will be taking
learned from their KWL chart, as well as one concept they
away from this lesson.
would like to learn more about.
"Closure is an opportunity for formative assessment
while helping the teachers to decide if additional practice is
needed, whether to re-teach, or move forward with the next
lesson” (Lesson closure, 2009).

11. Lesson Reflection/Assessment: (Collect student learning data to determine: What went well? What needs
to be changed? Were learning outcomes met? What activities will you add, change, modify in the future?
What can be done to follow up on the learning from this lesson? Who needs additional help? Who needs
enrichment or higher-level work?)

Upon arrival, this candidate was greeted with the most enthusiasm by so many young and
eager faces. The initial visit to plan the lesson proved to be helpful, as on the second visit, the
students were more familiar with this candidate. Mrs. Barcelos introduced me as Mrs. Burkhead
and a brief introduction was provided. The students were informed that when you want to be
RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION 9

something when you grow up, you have to go to school for it. They were told this teacher helper
was studying to become a teacher herself and was in college doing homework that required a
class to be taught. A brief overview of the fun activities and learning exercises planned was
discussed and outlined on the white board. Next, the lesson on nutrition began and there were
many aspects which worked, some that could be improved, and some things that might be
modified in the future.
What went well was that students were excited to learn about the food groups since they

all adore the Too Much Junk Food story. Also, from moment that they viewed the video, they

became increasingly engaged and excited. They also were elated during the reading of

Berenstain Bears and Mrs. Barcelos thinks it is because there was a new person reading to them.

They particularly enjoyed the way the book was read, as it is also a book this candidate reads to

her own children. The story is familiar and all of the parts where extra emotion belongs were

amped up. It also was a success the use of KWL chart since students could reflect on their

learning. Students also were engaged during their independent practice using an educational

game called “The My Plate match game”.

What could have been changed is a few things related to collaboration with the group

essay. During group essay, some students were distracted, others were not provided any ideas

for the writing. The teacher will need to make the groups smaller, maybe pairing students will be

enough for them to equally work and help each other during this learning activity.

Learning outcomes were met. This was a successful lesson, students were able to meet

the learning goal since they successfully used their learning by creating healthy food choices

during a learning activity. The KWL charts were very complete and many students had quite a

bit of prior knowledge about nutrition and the food groups. The lesson helped to better organize

their thoughts as far as what little information they had informally. Most of the students knew

that fruits and vegetables were important food groups, but were uncertain about the other basic
RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION 10

groups.

In the future, the learning activities would be kept the same since all students were able to

learn effectively. The only big change would be the group essay into a pair activity. Other

dynamics that would be altered would be dependent on the diversity of the students as far as

needs. For example, there were no special needs learners, and that is something that would

require specific adaptations dependent on the necessity of the student or students.

Follow up learning from this lesson could be accomplished by every now and then, the

teacher can have a class discussion about what they have for breakfast, making connection with

their lives with their knowledge about nutrition. For instance, during holidays such as Christmas,

the teacher can ask students about what they think will be a healthy Christmas dinner.

Additional assistance may be provided to higher achieving students. These students will

need more diverse and metacognitive strategies. It was amazing that so many students were such

high achievers. The variety of activities really helped engage and simulate all the different

learning styles and strengths. This candidate was reminded again that this class has very high

goals and expectations because their parents expect perfection.

Enrichment or higher-level work again could be provided to the high achievers. Also, the

ELL student would benefit from vocabulary enrichment in regards to nutrition. Perhaps more

Mandarin to English vocabulary relationships would be helpful. Also, in general ELL students

could work with other students who speak the same native tongue. In this case, there were a few

other students who spoke Mandarin at home in addition to English who provided assistance.

Feedback from Mrs. Barcelos was positive and encouraging. She indicated the read

aloud was completed very appropriately for her class. The book was read with emotion and

feeling while held up so students could see the pictures. At certain points, this candidate stopped
RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION 11

to ask students to predict what would happen next. Mrs. Barcelos also commented on the

enthusiasm that was brought to her class in learning about nutrition. The lesson plan co-taught

and co-planned was admired and impressive according to the master teacher. Improvements

could be made in the pace at which the lesson was taught, and general classroom management

skills were obviously lacking. Some students were not quite as focused as they should be, and it

was awkward to try to discipline students while their teacher was watching. There was a fear for

crossing the line, so any issues observed were reported to Mrs. Barcelos directly. Mrs. Barcelos

ensures this candidate that it was perfectly acceptable to step in where necessary.

This experience was enjoyable since it provided true hands on interaction with students

from beginning to end. This candidate was excited to test her lesson planning skills and then

present the lesson to real students. It helped that the teacher who hosted this candidate was very

helpful and encouraging. First grade is the grade this candidate would like to teach someday,

and this experience further solidified that desire.

RUNNING HEAD: LESSON PLAN AND TEACHING NUTRITION 12

References

Alber, R. (2011) 6 scaffolding strategies to use with your students. Available at:

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/scaffolding-lessons-six-strategies-rebecca-alber

(Accessed: 30 November 2016).

Aschwanden, J., Bersin, A., Chan, Y., Jones, G., Lopez, D., Noonan, K., Williams, J. and Liu,

M. (2009) Health education content standards for California public schools kindergarten

through grade Twelve. Available at:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/healthstandmar08.pdf (Accessed: 2 December

2016).

Berenstain, J. & Berenstain, S. (1985). The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food. New

York: Randhom House Books

Broadcasting, W.P. (2012) Comments. Available at:

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/using-informal-assessments-english-

language-learners (Accessed: 7 December 2016).

Broadcasting, W.P. (2015) How to Develop a Lesson Plan that Includes ELLs. Available at:

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-develop-lesson-plan-includes-ells

(Accessed: 30 November 2016).

Broadcasting, W.P. (2016) Speaking & listening skills for ELLs. Available at:

http://www.colorincolorado.org/speaking-listening-skills-ells (Accessed: 23

November 2016)

California, D.C. of and Reserved, A.R. (2016) My Plate - food group match game. Available at:

http://www.healthyeating.org/Healthy-Kids/Kids-Games-Activities/My-Plate-Match-

Game.aspx (Accessed: 7 December 2016).

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CDC (1996) Guidelines for school health programs to promote lifelong healthy eating. Available

at: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00042446.htm (Accessed: 2

December 2016).

Challenge your top students (no date) Available at:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/challenge-your-top-students (Accessed: 4

December 2016).

ChooseMyPlate.gov - MyPlate dietary guidelines (2009) Available at:

http://www.foodpyramid.com/myplate/ (Accessed: 2 December 2016).

Lesson closure with examples or 40 ways to leave a lesson (2009) Available at:

http://www.stma.k12.mn.us/documents/DW/Q_Comp/40_ways_to_leave_a_les son.pdf

(Accessed: 7 December 2016).

Using ‘KWL’ in the Classroom (2000) Available at: https://www.teachervision.com/graphic-

organizers/skill-builder/48615.html (Accessed: 2 December 2016).