Grade 2- Let's Eat Healthy!
Knowledge and Skills
Knowledge:
Recognize that specific behaviors are directly related to developing strong and healthy bodies:
What we eat
The air we breathe
What we drink
How much we move
Investigate the human body: parts of the digestive system
Identify how the human body uses food and water
Identify influences on individual food choices: taste, sight, aroma, texture, and culture
Investigate food items associated with cultural groups
List the five food groups and provide examples of food from each group
Describe the importance of eating a variety of foods using My Plate as a guide
Explore the significance of eating fruits, vegetables, protein, dairy, grains, and water to our health
Describe how color can be used to guide our selection of fruits and vegetables to eat
Investigate the importance of eating a nutritious breakfast
Skills:
Analyzing influences: Investigate cereal displays that influence breakfast choices
Goal-setting: Plan to eat a nutritious breakfast each morning
Decision-making: Choose a nutritious breakfast from a breakfast menu
Session 1: How Can We Keep Our Bodies Strong and Healthy?
Goal:
Students will recognize that specific behaviors are directly related to developing strong and healthy bodies: what we eat, the air we breathe, what we drink, how much we move, and how much we sleep.
Session Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Describe five things the human body needs every day to work properly
Materials/Resources:
Counselor/instructor Preparation:
Using Handout 2-1-1, prepare slips of paper for Charades (one for each group)
Procedure:
Introduce the Unit "Let's Eat Healthy!":
Provide a short overview of the sessions and activities that students will engage in over the next six weeks as they learn about nutrition and healthy eating.
Activity:
Tell the students that you are going to look more closely at five things our bodies need. Give each student a slip of paper (see handout, “Charades: What Our Bodies Need”) indicating one thing that our bodies need. Introduce the game “charades.” Ask if any students have ever played the game before. Invite students familiar with the game to describe it and share rules with other students. After a brief conversation, review the rules for charades before getting started.
Rules of Charades:
Each student has a “secret” word that his or her teammates don’t know.
During his or her turn, the student will act out their secret word so that their teammates can guess what the secret word is.
No talking! Actors cannot make a sound or move their lips! They can only move their bodies.
The teammates try to guess the word.
Students should get only two minutes to work on their charade so they should keep it simple. After a minute, bring the students back together. Have each student present their charade to the rest of the group while the other students guess the secret word. Write the correct answers on the board. Discuss why our bodies need these things and write key words on the board (underlined below).
Food: Provides our body with energy
Air: Provides our bodies with oxygen that is needed by organs, such as our brains, to function. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide through the process of respiration.
Water: Helps to keep our body temperature normal and our blood flowing
Exercise: Helps to keep our muscles strong, especially our hearts
Sleep: Gives our bodies a chance to rest and prepare for another day of activities
Assess:
Ask students to share one thing they learned today about keeping their bodies strong and healthy. Record on chart paper or share orally.
Session 2: How Does Our Body Use the Food We Eat?
Goal:
Students will investigate the parts of our bodies that break down food to be used for energy.
Session Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Identify the major parts of the digestive system
Describe the job of each part
Materials/Resources:
Markers/Crayons
Counselor/instructor Preparation:
Duplicate handouts
Gather materials
Procedure:
Introduce:
Today we will explore how parts of the human body take the food we eat and use it for energy so that we can move, grow, think, and stay healthy.
Discuss:
Give each student a copy of the handout 2-2-1 “Digestive Diagram.” Review the following parts of the digestive system as students follow along on their handout. Discuss each part of the digestive system. Tell students you are going to follow the food as it travels through their digestive system.
Mouth/ Teeth ‐ grind food; mix with saliva
Esophagus (food tube) ‐ passageway for food to get to your stomach
Stomach ‐ mixes up food, turns food into liquid
Small Intestine ‐ allows the very small parts of the food to get into other parts of your body so the food can be used for energy
Large Intestine - parts of the food not used by the body are turned into waste.
Read:
As a group, read the book What Happens to a Hamburger. Discuss the following questions:
How does food move through our bodies?
What body parts do we use to chew food?
Do you know where the food goes after we chew it?
What do you think happens to the food once it gets to the stomach?
If time, allow students to color the Digestive Diagram handout.
Assess:
Ask students to share one thing they learned about the human digestive system. Record on chart paper or share orally.
Session 3: What Foods Should we Eat to Keep Us Strong?
Goal:
Students will understand that to be healthy and strong, it is important to eat a variety of foods from the five food groups.
Session Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
List the five food groups and provide examples of foods from each group
Describe the importance of eating a variety of foods using My Plate as a guide
Materials/Resources:
Glue stick
Large pictures or models of food from different food groups
Handout 2-3-2: Food Group Worksheet: Eat Smart with MyPlate for Kids (See Resources Below)
Counselor/instructor Preparation:
Duplicate handouts
Cut out pictures from handouts
Print MyPlate graphic
Procedure:
Introduce:
Today we will explore the different kinds of food we eat and the importance of different kinds of food to growing up strong and healthy. Talk about the many food choices that we have and the different types of food we should eat to stay healthy.
Note: As appropriate, post these questions for students to see.
Describe:
Using food models or large pictures of food, introduce students to the five food groups. Provide multiple examples of foods in each group. Ask students to name additional foods that they are familiar with and place them in a food group. Introduce students to MyPlate using the graphic provided by ChooseMyPlate.gov (USDA, 2011). Have students think about what types of food go on their plates (or in your cup or bowl) when they sit down to eat. Key points include (translate into children’s language):
MyPlate illustrates the five food groups that are the building blocks for a healthy diet using a familiar image—a place setting for a meal. Before you eat, think about what goes on your plate or in your cup or bowl.
The overall message of the place setting is to:
Eat a variety of foods, choosing foods from all food groups (colors)
Eat more of some foods and less of others (size of sections)
Enjoy your food but don’t eat too much
Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
Activity:
Give each pair of students a MyPlate coloring sheet to color and have them complete the Food Group Worksheet Eat Smart with MyPyramid for Kids. Go over the correct answers as a group when students are done.
Assess:
Ask students to share one thing they learned today about the five food groups. Record on chart paper or share orally.
Session 4: Why Eat Veggies and Fruits?
Goal:
Students will be able to describe the role of fruits and vegetables in keeping us healthy.
Session Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Identify many different fruits and vegetables
Describe the importance of fruits and vegetables in our daily eating plan
List how many servings of fruits and vegetables we need to eat per day
Use color to guide their choice of fruits and vegetables
Materials/Resources:
Basket with pieces of colored paper (red, green, yellow, orange, blue, purple, and white)
Handout 2-4-2: Fruit and Vegetable Diary (See Resources Below)
Counselor/instructor Preparation:
Prepare basket with colored paper pieces
Duplicate handouts
Procedure:
Introduce:
Engage students in a discussion of the role of fruits and vegetables in our diet. Refer to the MyPlate poster to remind students of the prominent role fruits and vegetables play in our diet. Begin by focusing on an apple. Ask students, “When might you eat an Apple?” (for breakfast, lunch, snack, in a salad, anytime) and “What ways can we eat an Apple?” Have students raise their hand if they have eaten an apple in the following ways:
A whole apple, peel and all (but not the core!)
Applesauce
Apple pie
Baked apple
Apple butter
Caramel Apple
Ask students:
Can you think of any other ways to eat an apple?
What do you think is the most nutritious way to eat an apple? Eating fresh fruits and vegetables are best!
Describe:
Discuss the importance of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.
They give us vitamins and minerals to keep our eyes and skin healthy
They keep us feeling well and help our body fight illness
Explain how many servings of fruits and vegetables the students need to eat per day (at least five) and discuss the importance of washing fresh fruits and vegetables.
Activity:
Place pieces of colored paper (red, green, yellow, orange, blue, purple, and white) in a basket. Tell students it can be helpful (because different colored fruits and vegetables each have different vitamins) and fun to think about a range of colors when eating fruits and vegetables. Pass the basket around and let students select a color and name a fruit or vegetable in this color group. Suggest that eating five colors of fruits and vegetables each day helps us to stay healthy; our plates should be colorful.
Provide students with a Team Nutrition Daily Diary (Handout 2-4-2) to record the fruits and vegetables they eat each day over the next week. Challenge students to eat at least one thing in each color during the week (red, green, yellow, orange, blue, purple, and white).
If time permits, complete Handout 2-4-1.
Assess:
Ask students to identify one thing they learned today about fruits and vegetables. Record on chart paper or share orally.
Session 5: Why Eat Grains, Protein, and Dairy?
Goal:
Students will be able to describe why eating grains, protein, and dairy is important to staying healthy.
Session Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Describe the importance of the grain, dairy, and protein food groups to health
Provide examples of food from the grain, dairy, and protein food groups
Explain how various foods fit into each of the five food groups
Demonstrate learning by designing a healthy pizza
Materials/Resources:
Food pictures or models of grains, dairy, and protein
Book: The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) (Sturges) , or Youtube animation of The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza)
Handout 2-5-1: Make Your Own Healthy Pizza (See Resources Below)
Counselor/instructor Preparation:
Duplicate handouts
Collect pictures or models of foods
Procedure:
Introduce:
Using the MyPlate poster, remind students that there are three additional food groups in addition to the fruits and vegetable groups and that it is important to eat from all five groups.
Describe:
Investigate the grains, dairy and protein groups with students using pictures and/or food models. Include information about a variety of foods in each group, tips for healthy eating in these food groups, and examples of “good” foods in each group (whole grain, low fat dairy, lean protein).
Read:
Read the book, The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza), to the group. Discuss how the ingredients the Little Red Hen uses fit into the different food groups (grains, dairy, and protein). While reading, reinforce whole grains, low fat dairy products, and lean protein (even changing the words in the story to emphasize these points). Ask students for other examples of foods that fit into these groups that they eat every day or on different types of pizza. Students may mention vegetable and/or fruit toppings to pizza; even though the focus of this lesson is grains, protein, and dairy, these foods can be highlighted as part of healthy eating.
Activities:
Engage students in making their own healthy pizza using handout 2-5-1, “Make Your Own Healthy Pizza,” with whole grains, low fat dairy products, and lean protein.
Assess:
Ask students to identify one thing they learned today about grains, protein, or dairy foods. Record on chart paper or share orally.
Session 6: What Foods Should We Eat for Breakfast?
Goal:
Students will investigate the importance of eating a nutritious breakfast.
Session Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Describe how advertisements for cereals influence our breakfast choices.
Describe why breakfast is important for good health and brain power.
Select foods from the five food groups to make up a nutritious breakfast.
Materials/Resources:
Cereal boxes or pictures of cereal boxes
Handout 2-6-1: Anna Skips Breakfast story (See Resources Below)
Counselor/instructor Preparation:
Duplicate handouts
Collect cereal boxes
Procedure:
Introduce:
Distribute the handout “Anna Skips Breakfast” and read the story to students. Ask students what happened to Anna when she did not eat breakfast.
How hungry are you when you wake up in the morning?
Why do you think it is important to eat breakfast?
How do you feel if you don’t eat breakfast?
Is it harder for you to concentrate in school when you don’t eat breakfast?
Do you ever feel grumpy when you don’t eat breakfast?
Do you have more energy to play when you eat breakfast?
Discuss:
Show students two breakfast cereal boxes. Give students a few minutes to compare the boxes and to think about the following questions:
Do you think you will like the cereal? Why or why not?
What do you see on the box that makes you think you will like the cereal(s)?
Have you ever bought a breakfast cereal (or asked a parent to buy a breakfast cereal) just because of what the package looked like? Explain.
Which cereal would you choose to eat? Why?
Discuss student responses. Briefly summarize how ads for breakfast cereals are often colorful and fun, even including a small toy or a game. The focus is on encouraging children to get their parents to buy the cereal. Ask about the best ways to make a decision about which breakfast cereal to buy. Have students recall what they learned over the past weeks that would help them ask questions about the cereal, for example, is it whole grain? Is it full of sugar?
Activities:
Review the five food groups in the context of the MyPlate poster. Tell students breakfast should include one serving from the grain group (whole grain is best), one serving of (lean) protein and/or dairy, and a serving of fruit or vegetables. Brainstorm a list of breakfast foods to choose from and instruct students to draw a healthy breakfast plate for Anna that includes a minimum of a grain, a protein/dairy, and a fruit or vegetable. Direct them to write the words for the foods next to the pictures of the food they have chosen. Ask student volunteers to share their healthy breakfast choices for Anna.
Assess:
Ask students to identify one thing they learned today about the importance of eating breakfast every day. Record on chart paper or share orally.
Resources
Lets Eat Healthy - 2-1-1 - Charades What Our Bodies Need.pdfHandout 2-1-1: Charades: What Our Bodies Need
Lets Eat Healthy - 2-2-1 - Digestive Diagram.pdfHandout 2-2-1: Digestive Diagram
Lets Eat Healthy - 2-3-1 - MyPlace Coloring Sheet.pdfHandout 2-3-1: MyPlate Coloring Sheet
Lets Eat Healthy - 2-3-2 - Food Group Worksheet.pdfHandout 2-3-2: Food Group Worksheet: Eat Smart with MyPlate for Kids
Lets Eat Healthy - 2-4-1 - Eat a Rainbow.pdfHandout 2-4-1: Eat a Rainbow
Lets Eat Healthy - 2-4-2 - Fruit and Vegetable Diary.pdfHandout 2-4-2: Fruit and Vegetable Diary
Lets Eat Healthy - 2-5-1 - Make your own healthy pizza.pdfHandout 2-5-1: Make Your Own Healthy Pizza
Handout 2-6-1- Anna Skips Breakfast.pdfHandout 2-6-1: Anna Skips Breakfast Story
