Out With The Old, In With The New

Title of Project: Out With The Old, In With The New

Schools and Teachers

Kings Park High School                             Teacher: Nicole Keicher

ENL Proficiency Level | ENL Program | Standards | Technology

Emerging, Transitioning   |   Stand-Alone   |  11-12R3, 11-12W1b, 11-12W1c, 11-12SL1a, 11-12SL4, 11-12L4a  | Google Slides, EdPuzzle, Canva

Assessments

Students are informally assessed throughout the entire unit through the use of questioning, conversations, and worksheets/activities. At the end of each lesson, students were assessed to see if the learning targets of each lesson were met, whether it was a worksheet, writing assignment, or as simple as a conversation. The summative assessment at the end of the unit was the new KP menu. Students were guided in creating healthy alternatives to the current school lunches offered. Students were also asked to briefly describe each item using adjectives they learned throughout the unit. 

Description

The theme of this learning experience is centered around healthy eating and being cautious of what we are putting into our bodies on a daily basis. There is a focus on food-related vocabulary (types of food, utensils, cooking equipment, etc.), the food pyramid/food groups, adjectives to describe food, synonyms for healthy and unhealthy, the examination of nutrition labels, and so much more. Students listened and asked questions in order to build background on food and health. They then were presented with a problem and brainstormed solutions. Ultimately, students decided to draft a new proposed healthy menu for the KPHS cafeteria in which students presented to the principal explaining why the school needs healthier options. 

Content

I can create a new healthy menu for KPHS cafeteria.

Language

I can determine whether or not a particular food is healthy or unhealthy using adjectives. I can form an opinion on a variety of food.

Technology

I can explore different foods around the world and recall health benefits from online resources. 

Student work

    

Procedure

Step 1: Introduce/review food vocabulary and adjectives to describe food using Google Slides. Introduce the different food groups and the food pyramid using Google Slides and a YouTube video. Students practiced using the vocabulary by writing sentences (in their notebooks) describing different food items. For example, Potato chips are crunchy and unhealthy. 

Step 2: Students looked at a photo of plastic in a cheeseburger and wrote down any questions they had about the image. After discussion of the photo, students completed a “book walk” for a text titled, “The Truth About Food”, on fathomreads.com where they were then asked to categorize different foods into their respective groups. Before this, students practiced categorizing words into 3 different groups and labeled each group as a scaffolding technique. 

Step 3: In the beginning of this class, students and I conversed about what they eat for lunch at school everyday, if they like it, if they buy lunch or bring lunch from home, etc. I then introduced the term opinion and students took notes on opinion language (I think, I feel, I believe, best, smartest, etc.). To check for understanding, I asked students to write an opinion sentence (about ANYTHING!). We then watched a video on edpuzzle.com, titled “School Lunches from Around The World”, where students immersed themselves in different cultures and had the opportunity to observe a typical school lunch in a different country. Students answered questions as the video played (pre-planned pauses) and students discussed their thoughts, feelings, and opinions on different school lunches using the opinion language previously taught. Finally, students wrote an opinion writing piece answering the question “What is your opinion on KPHS school lunches? 

Step 4:  The next step in the unit was to compare and contrast. Students and I read an article on HEALTHY foods on readworks.com together and answered comprehension questions to check for understanding. Then, independently, students read an article on UNHEALTHY food and answered comprehension questions. Students then filled out a chart, comparing and contrasting healthy foods and unhealthy foods. We discussed similarities and differences amongst the two. At the end of the lesson, students were assigned a food item and were told to research the nutrition label, ingredients, calories, etc on myfitnesspal.com. We had a group conversation about what makes food unhealthy. Students then write a paragraph about the differences between healthy and unhealthy food. 

Step 5: In this lesson, students learned synonyms for the adjectives healthy and unhealthy. I then presented a healthy menu (made on Canva) to my students. Students highlighted synonyms/adjectives and declared whether the menu contained healthy dishes or unhealthy dishes. Then, students created their own menus. Students were encouraged (through teacher directive and a rubric) to use 3 or more adjectives. Then, students presented their menus to the class and students shouted out whether the menu was healthy or unhealthy. 

Step 6:  Students were presented with a problem: The school lunches in Kings Park High School (and most schools in the United States) are unhealthy. In groups, students brainstormed 5 solutions to this problem. However, this process was scaffolded and demonstrated by me first. I presented students with a problem, “I walk to school, but it is raining outside”. Students were very excited to share all the different solutions they came up with (walk with an umbrella, ask mom to drive you, etc.). 

Step 7: Students watched a video on YouTube about how to make a poster project creative. Students were given the choice to work alone, in groups, or all together (4 students total). Students chose to work all together and work on one menu together. Students spent the rest of the class and unit working on the menu poster project (summative assessment).

Resources and Other Materials

Reflection

The project as a whole was a great learning experience for me as well as my students. We used online resources that we have never used in class before (or at least this year), such as fathomreads.com and edpuzzle.com. I feel that the content and the theme of healthy eating was a very important unit to teach students about because many of the kids do not know how to express what they want to eat in English and they don't know how to determine if food is healthy or not. Therefore, they are not eating healthy or making healthy choices! The kids were very engaged with the EdPuzzle activity and they also loved creating their own menu on a Canva template. I enjoyed teaching this and implementing the technology used!