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Lesson Plans Created by TeachNet Adaptor Grants

Nuts about Nutrition

Name: Ziggy Chodor
School: PS124, Manhattan
Address: 40 Division Street
City: Manhattan, NY, 10002
Original Project: Nuts about Nutrition
Author: Rosa M. Sampedro
URL: http://teachersnetwork.org/teachnet-lab/miami/2001/sampedror.htm

How did you modify this unit for use in your own classroom?: I used the excellent ideas from of Mrs. Sampedro's project to teach children in my school how to recognize positive aspects of eating healthy foods. During 10 class periods of 40 minutes, students learned basic information about nutritional groups like: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Special Education classes, in three different elementary school levels, actively participated in recognizing healthy and unhealthy foods. During the first few class sessions, we identified and reviewed basic rules of healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle. At the beginning of each class, students identified, out loud, which foods are healthful and which ones are not. (see Document #5, Healthy & Unhealthy Food.) Mrs. Rosa M. Sampedro's nutrition project is very good and interesting, but it had to be simplified for my students. My children need much more time to absorb basic information. All study material needed to be very simple and “served in small portions.” My students have special needs and all of the procedures had to be very simple and repeated numerous times. Students learned how to use simple computer drawing and painting programs and created pictures of healthy foods. With the classroom teacher, students used Internet web sites like: www.mypyramid.gov/kids/index.html . This web site is fun for children, and teaches about healthy eating habits. The other web site we used is http://teachersnetwork.org/teachnet-lab/miami/2001/sampedror/Lesson1.htm This web site written by Mrs. Rose M. Sampedro. It shows, in a simple way, the structure of human digestive system. We used the print out and live interreaction with Mrs Sampedro's lesson 1 and 2. After this my students went on trip to a local supermarket and fruit stands to learn how to recognize healthy food. We also watched videos that included sample situations from daily life about nutrition choices.

List your primary instructional objectives for your students.

  Primary Objective 1 Create basic ideas in children's minds about what are healthy and unhealthy food groups. Give them basic knowledge about the dangers of eating unhealthy food products and give them basic knowledge about the benefits of eating healthy food. Make pictures and drawings of foods in the healthy and unhealthy food categories.
  Primary Objective 2 Give the children basic knowledge about the digestive system and human body structure, using simple terms. Students will make use of Internet web sites to find information and pictures. Pictures will be used from Mrs. Sampedro's Lesson 1 link, http://teachersnetwork.org/teachnet-lab/miami/2001/sampedror/Lesson1.htm This web site presents, in a simple way, the structure of the human digestive system. All the children will try to draw the picture of the digestive system using crayons.
  Objective 3. Actively participate in changing behavior in children's own eating habits and also in their surrounding environment, including their families, friends and schoolmates. Students will go to the local supermarket and/or fruit stand to pick healthy fruits. They will take one fruit home to share with their families. We will try to analyze, in the class, what students ate during the previous day. We will try to use a computer chart system to record food intake.
  Objective 4. Actively involve students in creating a list of healthy foods. Student will be able to create the proper list of healthy foods. They will be able to point out which food products should be eaten daily. Toward this objective, the goal is for students to become aware of proper proportions of foods in the three major food groups: carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

What role did technology play in this curriculum unit?: Technology role: Use of technology is very important. First of all, students will use Microsoft Excel to generate food charts. They will use the Internet to model Mrs. Sampedro's unit, "Nuts About Nutrition," located at: http://teachersnetwork.org/teachnet-lab/miami/2001/sampedror.htm. Students will have numerous opportunities to use different tools like: the Internet and Kid Pix, a drawing and painting computer program, to find pictures of food products. Also, the Internet is very useful in teaching about the anatomy of the digestive system and about nutrition products. With the use of different technology tools, we will try to enchance the presentation of information to the children. This will be make it easier for the teacher and more exciting for children. Samples of technology tools include: TV, VCR, computer, Internet, children's computer drawing programs, and photo /pictures.

How did you assess and evaluate student performance?: Assessment /Evaluation: One of the final projects will include recording, on a daily chart, what student did eat during the day. Students will design a simple diet plan for one day. We will use the graph/table format from Microsoft Excel. (See document#10). This will be done as a group project or individual activities in the classroom, depending on students' abilities. Some of the students in my class function on a low level. If they can fill up the daily consumption chart by themselves, then they will work individually. If they can not do it by themselves, then it will be done as a group project with teacher. All of my students will help to fill up blank parts of daily food intake/consumption chart. If they can not write, then they will orally report to the teacher what they ate. The teacher will record the information. The amount of material to be analyzed by the students has to be kept small. The other final project will include students' drawings. All of the students will be expected to present pictures of the most important healthy foods, in front of the class. The final goal is that students will know what kinds of foods should be a part of students' every day diet. These should include apples, bananas, strawberries, fish, chicken, milk, yogurt, and whole wheat bread. (See Doc/picture#6, 7, 8) Assessment of student drawings will differ according the the functional levels of the students. Therefore in some cases, the final project will be a very simple type of drawing. Kidpix will be used in the drawing of the pictures. Students' drawings will be showcased on the classroom wall.

Please tell us briefly about your background & teaching experience: Ziggy Chodor graduated from Technical High School in the town of Chelm, Poland in 1979. In high school he was an active athlete and participated in sports related clubs including Martial Arts Club - Karate Kyokushinkai, Winter Cross Country Skiing, and Summer Track and Field. Mr. Chodor graduated from the University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland in 1985,, where he was involved on the competition level sports including: Kyokushinkai Karate, track and field, and swimming. He received a B.S and M.S in Physical Education. Mr. Chodor came to New York in 1989 to compete in the International Martial Arts Competition. He was able to stay with the Karate Club in New York City, and continued to be sponsored by it. He graduated from Brooklyn College with an M.S. in Sport Rehabilitation in 2005. Right now, Mr. Chodor works full time for the New York City Department of Education. I do fitness rehabilitation with physically and mentally disabled children in 5 different schools in China Town and downtown Manhattan. The DOE department I work under is Adaptive Physical Education.

What are your recommendations for other teachers interested in adapting this unit?: Differentiate instruction and student projects to suit the diverse needs of your students.

Samples of Student Projects

  Food plan
 
 
  Doc10FoodPlanForDayChart.doc
 
  Doc11NextDayFoodPlan.doc
  Unhealthy Foods
 
 
  Healthy Foods
 
 
  Healthy Foods
 
 
 
   
 

 

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