Spring 2016

ECED372

LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

TITLE OF LESSON The Importance of Eating Healthy (Read Aloud and Activity)

CONTEXT OF LESSON

The YCP is a project-based classroom that is currently focused on the students interest with
food. As a result, I have chosen to read a book about the importance of eating healthy and the
results of eating too much junk food. The book I have selected is, The Bernstein Bears and Too
Much Junk Food. In addition, I have chosen to do an activity afterwards that requires teamwork
from the students where students can volunteer to help make a fruit salad and take turns cutting
the various fruits and placing them in the bowl. I believe they will be interested in this activity
because the students enjoy read alouds that take place during class and become especially
excited when the librarian comes to read aloud to them. This lesson plan fits in the curriculum
sequence because it involves foundation blocks that include but are not limited to: responsible
behaviors and literacy.

OBJECTIVES AND ASSESSMENT

Developmental Objectives Assessment

1. The students will explain why it is
important to eat healthy.
2. The students will discuss the results of
eating junk food.
3. The students will be able to explain
what nutrition facts are and where they
are located.
This developmental objective will be discussed after the book through a
large class discussion. I will know that they are capable of understanding
this developmental objective by having them discuss different reasons
that they learned about from the book as well as having them brainstorm
their own ideas that are relatable to the overall theme of junk food vs.
healthy food. I will know that they fully understand this when I hear
phrases, such as It is important for your body and so you do not get
sick. If they do not come to this conclusion, I will guide them to the
answer by saying, Is it easier to stay healthy when you eat foods that are
good for you?
This developmental objective will also be proven through discussion. I
hope to guide the conversation from why it is important to eat healthy to
the results of eating junk food. I will know that the students have
comprehended this part of the lesson by listening and participating in the
conversation and bouncing off each of their ideas.
This developmental objective will be observed through discussion. I will
listen for phrases, such as this food is unhealthier because it has bad
fats. If the students are having trouble grasp this concept, I will ask
how do we know if a food is unhealthy or what tells us that food is
unhealthy?

COLLECTION OF ASSESSMENT DATA

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For this assignment, I will collect data by using a recording device to record my read-aloud and the
conversations that take place. As a result, at the end of the activity, I will be able to type out the dialog,
who participated and what happened throughout. In addition I will also be able to further emphasize the
re-statement tool using this method of data collection. The re-statement tool is commonly used in
the YCP, especially in terms of recording dialogue. For example, if Student A states, I think this is
where the nutrition facts are on the box, then I will repeat, Student A thinks the nutrition facts are
found on the side of the box. As a result, it will be easier to understand who said what in the recording
and each student feels like they are being fully heard in the class discussion. For the number three
assessment specifically, I will have them show me on the sample boxes that I bring in, where the
nutrition facts are located and I will ask what the information tells us. I will look for answers such as, It
tells you if something is healthy or not.

RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (K & 1) OR FOUNDATION BLOCKS (Preschool)

Virginia Literacy Foundation Block 1 Oral Language

a.) Listen with increasing attention to spoken language, conversations, and texts read aloud.
b.) Make predictions about what might happen in a story.
c.) Use complete sentences to ask and answer questions about experiences or about what has been read.
d.) Engage in turn taking exchanges and rules of polite conversation with adults and peers,
understanding that conversation is interactive.
e.) Listen attentively to stories in a whole class setting.
f.) Follow simple one- and two-step directions
Virginia Mathematics Foundation Block 1 Number and Number Sense
c.) Count the items in a collection of one to ten items and know the last counting word tells how many.
Virginia Health and Physical Development Foundation Block 6 Nutrition
c.) Distinguish food and beverages on a continuum from more healthy to less healthy.
d.) Demonstrate an understanding that eating a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables with lots of
different colors helps the body grow and be healthy.
Virginia Personal and Social Development Foundation Block 5 Social Problem Solving
c.) Allow others to take turns
d.) Increase the ability to share materials and toys with others over time.
e.) Include others in play activities.

MATERIALS NEEDED

The Bernstein Bears and Too Much Junk Food

Copies of Nutritional Facts
Strawberries
Grapes
Bananas
Blueberries
Kiwi
(These are sample fruit, and can be replaced with what is available)
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I can supply the book, copies of nutritional facts, and will coordinate with CT
as to what fruits are at the YCP and what I will need to provide.
2 spoons to mix fruit will be provided by YCP

PROCEDURE

Preparation of learning environment- There is no necessary set up for the read aloud.
However, for the fruit salad portion of the lesson plan, I will have a few plates set up with knives so the students
are able to cut the fruit and two large spoons so two students will be able to mix the fruit at one time.
Furthermore, I will have a large bowl for all the fruit to be mixed in. Additionally, the fruit will all be on the
table, as well. Additionally, I will have copies of what nutrition facts look like and show them where to find them
on the items they buy in the grocery store. This way everybody will stay engaged at the cooking table and they
will be able to learn new vocabulary such as saturated fats, trans fat, and monounsaturated fats.
Engagement and introduction of the lesson- I will first engage the students by asking
how many of them eat their fruits and vegetables at home and what their favorite fruits and veggies are. I will
then ask if the students know what the difference is between healthy food and junk food and why it is important
to not eat a lot of junk food. This question I will also ask at the end in order to see what they have learned from
the book similar to a KWL chart, but this will be judged orally. I will then explain that we are going to read a
book about the consequences of eating junk food. After this, I will talk about how we will prepare healthy snacks
after reading the book. I will then introduce the book title and author and begin reading it.
Implementation of the lesson- After morning meeting, I will announce that I will be
doing an activity for the students. I will ask each child to find a spot on the rug where they will be able to see the
book we are reading. I will then ask, How many of you eat fruits and vegetables. I will respond appropriately
to their response. If a lot of students say they eat fruits and vegetables, I will say how awesome that is. However,
if not a lot of students raise their hands, I will say, Well we are about to talk about why it is so important. I will
then ask. Does anybody know why eating fruits and vegetables are important to eat? Again, I will respond
based on the students responses. I will then begin to read the book. I will ask questions throughout the book
based on what the students are talking and the frequency at which they are asked will depend on if the students
are losing or gaining interest. After the book, I will ask again, So now that we have read the book, does
anybody know why it is important to eat healthy? I will then ask, Who knows the consequences of eating
healthy? I will then discuss the purpose of nutrition facts. I will say that they are found on the containers of the
food that we buy and are on the majority of everything that we buy in the grocery store. I will then explain how
to tell the difference between unhealthy food and healthy food. For example, I will state There are good fats and
bad fats. Good fats are healthy for us and make us feel good and help us grow However, the bad fats slow us
down and we will have less energy. I will ask the follow up question, Do you think buying foods with bad fats
is a good idea? in order to confirm that they understand the difference. I will use the poster of different foods
illustrated on it that I will bring in and ask them to help me determine which foods have good fats and which
have bad fats. In other words, which are healthy and which foods are not. I will have pictures of foods like
avocados. I will then pass out example nutritional facts for students to look at and once they have had the
opportunity to do this, I will pass out sample food boxes. For example, I will pass around an empty cheerios box
and ask them to find the nutrition facts on it. Afterwards, I will announce that we are going to make a healthy
snack all together that everybody can eat for afternoon snack. However, before starting the cooking, I will ask,
What is the difference between healthy food and junk food and why is it important to not eat a lot of junk
food? I will then ask what healthy snacks they eat and then explain that next we are going to make a healthy
snack together so we can all eat it for afternoon snack! As we transition into the seats at the snack table I will

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ask, Does anybody have a favorite healthy snack? After this, I will take volunteers for cooking and give each
student a different job. For example, one student can cut the strawberries, another can cut the banana, two can
mix the fruit in the bowl, etc. While at the cooking table, I will have discussions about comparing the different
nutrition facts and which are healthier than the other. Furthermore, I will explain that while fruit containers do
not have nutrition facts on them, the majority of items you buy at the grocery store will have nutritional
guidelines. I will then ask, does anybody remember where the nutrition facts are found on most items? I will
wrap up by explaining that the fruit salad we all made today which is a healthy snack will be used for snack
in the afternoon and thank all the students for helping make the classroom a healthier environment!
Closure- As we finish the fruit salad and the last of the contents are mixed in with the
spoons, I will ask the students if they think eating healthy can taste good and how they think it will make them
feel. I will end the lesson plan by asking if they are excited to eat the afternoon snack.
Clean-up

DIFFERENTIATION

While nobody has any allergies I will need to account for, there are students with different learning styles
as well as different ELL students. In order to accommodate the ELL students I will be sure to emphasize
the pictures of the book after reading each page. In addition, I think the activity differentiates for students
with different learning abilities by having a reading section that involves active participation, and two
hands on activities that consist of looking at nutrition facts as well as making a fruit salad. However, for
students who need more of a challenge, I will prepare information on nutritional vocabulary. I will talk
about the different types of fats and how there are good fats and bad fats. For children struggling with the
objectives, I will try to make it more relatable to what I have observed them eating at lunch. In addition, I
can relate it to holidays and how Halloween gives kids lots of candy, which isnt necessarily good for
children like themselves. I will also talk about how sugar can make them hyper and crash and maybe they
have experienced that.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT IT?

It is possible that students will not be interested in the book. However, I will be sure to ask questions
before, during, and after in order to keep their interest. I have also learned from the reading center
throughout practicum and more specifically from my read aloud, that students like when the teachers are
silly. For example, what caught the attention of my case study during the re-telling assignment was when I
started to read the book and tried to read it upside down. She recognized this mistake right away, laughed
and fixed it, and I had her full attention after that. In addition, another incident that could go wrong is
errors with making the fruit salad. I will be sure to make this go smoothly by establishing rules prior to
making the fruit salad. For example, I will explain how to handle the fruit and the knives and how to place
the fruit not throw it in the bowl. I will also explain the importance of sharing the materials, working
together, and how to not spread germs.

Lesson Plan Reflection

As soon as possible after teaching your lesson, reflect on the experience. Use the questions/prompts below to
guide your thinking. Be thorough in your reflection and use specific examples to support your insights.

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A. How did your actual lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes you made & explain
why you made them. Be thorough & specific in your description.
According to my lesson plan, I was supposed to use a poster that had pictures of the bad foods (i.e.
doughnuts) and have the students decide whether or not they were healthy. While I made the poster and
brought the poster with me, I think if I also ended up using the poster, the amount of materials in front of
the students would have overwhelmed them; especially since they already the two boxes to find the
nutrition facts on, and printed out nutrition facts. Instead, I remembered what foods I had printed out on the
poster and asked them verbally whether or not they thought those foods were unhealthy or healthy. I also
did not include the second learning assessment, where I was supposed to ask the students how junk food
affects you negatively. I only asked how healthy food positively impacts their life. This was my first lesson
I was ever given full responsibility for, it was all hectic and there was a lot going on and I completely forgot
to assess this aspect of the lesson plan.

B. Evaluate the impact of the lesson based on your plan for assessing learning and the individual
data you collected on each objective. Cite multiple examples of student behavior & language that
document your conclusions.
While I did not notice them talking about eating healthy after the fact, I think that the students did gain
knowledge from the experience. Each student was eager to take a nutrition fact home so they could share
with their family. In fact, one student asked to take one for her sister, as well. However, in regards to the
assessing for learning, I do think the students took away knowledge from the lesson. For example the first
objective was, The students will explain why it is important to eat healthy. When discussing this during
the lesson plan, the students said statements such as, It is good for your body and so you can stay
healthy! They also demonstrated knowledge of what food was healthy for them and then stated, Healthy
food gives you energy like to hike! This particular example was taken from the book. Another objective is
as stated, The students will be able to explain what nutrition facts are and where they are located. I know
that the students understand this because I brought in boxes of food and had them locate the nutrition facts
on the boxes. The students struggled with this, and as a result I guided them with using the sample nutrition
facts they had and I asked, Does this picture match this side of the box, or this side? This helped them
understand and they were able to successfully locate it. As stated earlier the learning assessment that states,
The students will discuss the results of eating junk food, was completely forgotten in the moment of the
lesson plan.

C. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a better
or more thorough way if you were to present this lesson again.
In order to make this lesson more developmentally appropriate, I would take time in the beginning to
discuss vocabulary used. I noticed during my lesson that I would say nutrition facts and the students did not
know what the word nutrition meant. As a result, they started calling them healthy facts. If I could do this
lesson again, I would take the time in the beginning to go over the vocabulary, such as nutrition, that the
students may not be familiar with previously.

D. If you were the teacher in this classroom, what follow-up experiences would you plan? (Develop
your answer based on the data that was collected and your observations during the lesson.)
I would plan more opportunities to read books about healthy foods and the overall benefits of them. The
students had previously read the book I selected at their homes and reacted very excitedly when I pulled it
out of my bag to read. As a teacher in this classroom, I would take this opportunity to shift the classroom
project from food to healthy food. This would make it more specific. The students suggested other healthy
snacks they eat at home, i.e. ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins), and I would implement
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healthy and fun snacks like these into the other snack times. Additionally, I would incorporate more fruits
and vegetables in the kitchen area. In addition the students like to garden. I think it would be a great idea to
plant a garden of vegetables. They previously have watched wheat grow and now they could learn about the
life cycle of carrots and how they grow.

E1. Share something you learned about young children as a result of planning and conducting the
activity. Relate this new knowledge to principles of child development or appropriate curriculum
from your ELED 308 and ECED 372 courses.
I learned that children understand a lot more about nutrition than I expected. In all honesty, I thought this
would be one of their first times they had exposure to what being healthy means and what it does for our
body. Even though that I understand children are often underestimated, I still underestimated their
understanding of nutrition. I think in the future, in order to create a more appropriate curriculum, I will
allow them to choose the fruit that is used in the next fruit salad. In addition, to help the artistic
development of a child and allow them to be creative in their own, it would also be possible to create fun
snacks with their fruit. As one of the students made a mermaid, and another discussed his at home snacks,
like ants on a log, they could be given different fruits or vegetables and be given the task to create a fun
snack with them. This could be a create, and developmentally appropriate way for students to use art and
eat healthy!

E2. Share something you learned about teaching as a result of planning and conducting this activity.
Describe how you will apply this new knowledge to upcoming opportunities for developing learning
experiences for children.
I learned that despite the activity, the imagination of a child can take one statement anywhere. For example,
when passion out the fruits to cut and peel, one student made a mermaid with the fruit and for a bit of time
only wanted to talk about mermaids. I will definitely take this into consideration in the future for my lesson
plans. However, I think I will be more prepared for this now and be able to twist what the students say into
an idea that relates to the lesson plan. For example, in the future I would have said, Thats a cool mermaid,
Amber. You can make lots of fun snacks with fruits like the mermaid you made, or ants on a log with celery,
ants, and peanut butter. Fruit can be like art that we can eat! This would Segway the conversation about
mermaids back into the conversation about healthy foods.

E3. Share something you learned about yourself as a result of planning & conducting this activity?
I learned that while I have improved in helping students with conflict resolution, I still have a lot of room to
improve. While a lot of the lesson went well, sometimes the students would start fighting over who got to
mix the fruit with the spoon first. This incident in particular, I was able to resolve quite quickly with the
cooperation of the students. However, some of this conflict required additional help because the students
would not always listen to me, such as when deciding who had the opportunity to take a sample nutrition
fact home.

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