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Name of Project: Healthy Lifestyle: Are We Really What We Eat?

Subject/Course: ELA: Writing

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Duration: 4 weeks
Teacher(s): Shalini Patel

Grade Level: 1st

Other subject areas to be included, if any:

Science/Health and Math

Key Knowledge and

Understanding
(CCSS or other standards)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.2 http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/1/2/
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.8 http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/1/8/
With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.6 http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/1/6/
With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.3 http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/1/3/
Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to gather additional information or clarify something that is not understood.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.4 http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/SL/1/4/
Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.D.10 http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/2/MD/D/10/
Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and
compare problems using information presented in a bar graph.

Success Skills
(to be taught and
assessed)

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving

Self-Management

Collaboration

Other: Communication NGSS-K-2-ETS1-1

Asking questions, making observations, and gathering information are
helpful in thinking about problems.

Project Summary
(include student role,
issue, problem or
challenge, action taken,
and purpose/beneficiary)

The first graders will investigate the age-old adage: You are what you eat. They will learn about how to promote a healthy lifestyle for
themselves, their families, and the community. Students will begin by thinking about what it means to be healthy and think about things that
they do to be healthy. As part of their investigation, students will conduct interviews with their parents to learn about what their families do
to stay healthy. They will also learn from local experts (a pediatrician, a yoga instructor, a psychiatrist, and a nutritionist) about staying
active. The students then will create a Healthy Eating and Fitness Menu for the local gym in addition to short commercials about what they
learned about nutrition and exercise, which they will share with the other students in the school and community.

Driving Question

How do healthy habits help me, and my family, grow stronger and live longer?

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Entry Event

Day 1 The students will watch a video about healthy food. This will help to set the idea for the unit.
Day 2 Students will have a discussion about making healthy choices. They begin the conversation by examining a picture of two cereal
boxes. One of the boxes should be a sugar-filled cereal with a picture of a character on it. Another box of cereal should be a healthy cereal
with a plain cover with no characters.
Take a poll by having students place a sticky dot under the cereal box they would rather buy and eat. After everyone has voted, begin a class
discussion posing questions about their choice of cereal: Have you ever eaten either cereal before? How do you know if the cereal is
healthy? Would you try the one you did not choose? Why or why not?
Pose the Driving Question, How do healthy habits help me, and my family, grow stronger and live longer? Elicit student questions about and
responses to the DQ. Chart the responses on a KWL chart for students to refer to throughout the unit.

Products

Individual:

Specific content and skills to be assessed:

Informational Book
Healthy Menu

Writing an informational book

Math/Science observation and gathering data/graphing the healthy
foods that they ate according to the food groups.
Communication: Family Interview

Team (Teams of 4):

Specific content and skills to be assessed:

Team Healthy Menu

Commercial

Writing of menu (list)

Communicating the ideas that the students learned about healthy
living.

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Making Products Public As part of their investigative work, students will learn from community experts (a pediatrician, a yoga instructor, a psychiatrist, and a
nutritionist) during the unit. The nutritionist will provide feedback on the menu midway through the project. At the end of the project,
(include how the
students will share their menus with a local gym and short commercials with other students and the community.
products will be made
public and who students
will engage with
during/at end of project)
Resources Needed

On-site people, facilities:

Computer lab and tech support

Equipment:
I-Pad or tablet/recording device

Materials:
Technology to record the commercial, flyer/poster paper to create the menus, pyramid food guide, and books about nutrition.

Community Resources:
We will need to contact the local gym to see if they will display the menus. We will need a pediatrician, a yoga instructor, a psychiatrist, and a
nutritionist to come in to the classroom to work with the students.

Reflection Methods
(how individual, team,
and/or whole class will
reflect during/at end of
project)

Journal/Learning Log
Whole-Class Discussion
Survey

X
X

Focus Group
Fishbowl Discussion
Other: Peer Feedback

Notes:

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D E S I G N :

S T U DENT

LEARNING

GUIDE

Project: Healthy Lifestyle: Are We Really What We Eat?

Driving Question: How do healthy habits help me, and my family, grow stronger and live longer?

Final Product(s)

Learning Outcomes/Targets

Checkpoints/Formative Assessments

Instructional Strategies for All Learners

Presentations,
Performances, Products
and/or Services

knowledge, understanding & success skills needed by

students to successfully complete products

to check for learning and ensure

students are on track

provided by teacher, other staff, experts; includes

scaffolds, materials, lessons aligned to learning
outcomes and formative assessments

(individual and
team)

I can write an informational text to explain what my

family does to stay healthy.
(W.1.2, W.1.8, ETS1-1)

1. Questions for the family interview

2. Outline of the interview

3. Teacher conferencing during writing

*Teacher-led lesson on interview questions

*Parents can record their responses
*Writers Workshop and conferencing (conferencing
will support the teacher in pulling groups for small
group instruction based on need)
*Small group instruction to support with writing the
informational text based on area of need
*Pediatrician speaks to the class about what families
can do to be healthy and answers student questions

1. Food Journal

2. Graph of the Food Journal

3. Small group activity food sort

*Students can draw pictures to represent their food

*Word Banks
*Small group activity Students sort foods into
groups and explain their reasoning; explain if a food is
healthy or not and their reasoning
*Teacher read-aloud on healthy eating (e.g., Good
Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell)
*Nutritionist speaks to the class about healthy recipes
and eating habits; answers students questions

I can make a list of healthy foods to eat for a day and

exercise to share with a public audience by creating a
visual aid.
(W.1.6, W.1.2)

1. Food Journal

2. Information from the nutritionist and her feedback

3. Drafts of menus (reviewed by the nutritionist &
teacher)

*Students can draw pictures to represent their food

*Word Banks
*Small group instruction to support creating the
menus
*PE lesson on various cardiovascular exercises and
yoga led by the yoga instructor
*Examination of sample menus

I can communicate my ideas and work with my team

to create a commercial.
(SL.1.3, SL. 1.4)

1. Weekly video journals

2. Peer feedback on storyboard for the commercial

3. Teacher Observations

*Practice recording on the iPad/tablet

*Teacher feedback
*Examination of commercials
*Teacher modeling of storyboarding; small group
instruction to support as needed

Healthy Menu
(Individual)

I can create a menu to
share my ideas about a
healthy lifestyle.
I can identify the 5 main food groups and ways to
(W.1.6)
maintain a healthy lifestyle through eating and

exercise.
(ETS1-1, 2MD.D.10)

Short Commercial
(Team)

Anchor Learning
Target

I can communicate
what I have learned
about healthy
lifestyles to an
audience.
(SL.1.3 and 1.4)

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