Running head: FITNESS AND NUTRITION UNIT 1

Pre-School Level Fitness and Nutrition Unit

Kiana Marte

Post University
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Pre-School Level Fitness and Nutrition Unit

Part I: Statement of Educational Philosophy

Educational Philosophy Statement: Encouraging and enhancing younger student’s intrinsic

motivation to learn about fitness and nutrition throughout their lives.

Intrinsic motivation in younger students is important because it can set the framework for

their academic career from an early age. Being personally motivated to learn about such

important topics, like fitness and nutrition, are important to instill in children at a young age. The

unit being taught will provide children with the different perspectives. “It appears that most

preschool students have no motivational deficits, but these same children are entering school and

their motivation to learn has become problematic” (Cordova, Lepper, 1996, p.715). The issue of

lack of motivation in students has become more prominent over the years and enhancing their

own desire to continue to learn can create more successful academic outcomes in later school

years. Students at the preschool age are almost always often intrinsically motivated due to

natural curiosity and the brain’s natural instinct to learn more. “The element of choice is crucial

for student’s success. Differentiation allows students to develop their own interests and pursue

deeper learning” (Bell, 2010, p.41). Students can learn at their own rate and do it in ways that

work for them personally. A student that has no interest in learning will not learn the information

effectively. It is also important to take learning styles into consideration when teaching students.

This unit will encompass a variety of teaching techniques that will cater to different modes of

learning. “Students use resources that are appropriate for their individual reading levels and

compatible with their technology knowledge” (Bell, 2010, p.41). The integration of intrinsic

motivation in learning has shown to be effective with learning content and the appeal of learning.
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Value can be placed on intrinsic integration in educational games and have shown benefits for

motivation and learning outcomes (Habgood, 2011, p.35). These studies have shown that

enhancing and encouraging intrinsic motivation in students at a young age can positively affect

academic outcomes in both the present and future academic settings.

The Constructivist theory states that people learn best by doing and learners are successful when

working to solve problems that are interesting and relevant. “Children’s perceptions of

competence are not innate but rather the result of development and construction over time

through learning experiences” (Bouffard, Marcoux, Vezeau, Bordeleau, 2003, p.172). Intrinsic

motivation and competence are directly correlated because from a young age, human nature is to

become more competent and learn new things. Children learn through doing and this is where

learning styles come into play when teaching children. Engaging learners visually, aurally, and

kinesthetically embrace differences in children and motivate each individual to find methods of

learning that work for them. Engaging students in ways that are interesting to them can help to

fill these motivational deficits that have been found in students in later grade levels. There are

methods to teaching course materials that make learning more desirable and catch the attention

of students more easily and can overall make the learning process go more smoothly and be more

effective. The role of the teacher in the classroom is to extrinsically motivate students to learn

and to encourage and enhance intrinsic motivation. “The findings from the present study provide

strong evidence of the potentially powerful educational benefits that can result from the

appropriate use of strategies designed to increase the intrinsic motivational appeal of learning

activities for students” (Cordova, Lepper, 1996, p.726). With the appropriate use of different

teaching methods, learning styles, and encouragement of learning, students will learn to stay

intrinsically motivated to learn in the classroom and will promote academic success in later
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years. The constructivist theory supports learning through doing and intrinsic motivation is often

fueled by relevance and interest for each student.

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Part II: Rationale of Curriculum

The grade level that I teach is pre-school students at the Pre-School of America. The students

are of diverse backgrounds, but mostly come from higher income families. I have eleven students

in my classroom, all of whom have different learning styles. This is important to keep in mind

because catering to all different techniques can help to improve academic achievement. Many of

the students in my classroom are hands-on learners and need to be completing tasks in order to

fully learn the task at hand. The topic that I chose for my unit is fitness and nutrition, which is an

important aspect of our everyday lives. I believe that if you teach children from young ages the

importance of having an active and healthy lifestyle, they are more likely to continue to have an

active and healthy lifestyle throughout their lives. I also decided to create this unit because

children at this age often have lots of energy and teaching fitness can help to relieve some of that

energy. Children at this age are often times not even aware the impact of having a healthy

lifestyle can have on them and by demonstrating and teaching this importance, it can encourage

children to continue having a healthy lifestyle. There has been an obesity epidemic going on over

the last few years and many initiatives have been implemented to help younger children stay

active and make healthy food choices. Starting these lessons in each and every classroom at a

young age can have the impact that will encourage students to continue on with a healthy

lifestyle.

I will start the unit by teaching about fitness and showing students basic exercises that they

can do every day. This first section of the unit will explain the importance of an active lifestyle

and how we can choose to stay active. In the second section of this unit, making healthy food

choices and how to identify what foods are in each food group on the food pyramid. This is
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important because once children are aware of healthy food choices and the benefits of eating

healthy, they are more likely to keep choosing healthy food choices and make smart decisions

when coming to their diet. “Because understanding develops as a result of ongoing inquiry and

rethinking, the assessment of understanding should be thought of in terms of a collection of

evidence over time instead of an “event”—a single moment-in-time test at the end of instruction

—as so often happens in practice” (Wiggins, McTighe, 2005, p.152). Creating units for our

students that are meaningful to their education are important to set in place and can help motivate

children to further their thinking and understanding further. Ongoing assessment of fitness and

nutrition can show the benefits of teaching these topics to this grade level. The unit will begin

with the topics of fitness and exercise and the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle.

During these lessons, students will be shown interactive videos that are preschool level to help

explain these concepts in more simpler terms that younger children can better understand. The

unit will continue with teaching of basic every day exercises that the children can do at almost

any time. The educators will help to demonstrate and teach the students how to do the exercises,

as well as show a video on how exactly they are done. The unit will also talk about the food

pyramid and there will be days dedicated to each section on the food pyramid where children

will learn about each category and what foods go inside each category. The thought process

behind this unit was that I wanted my students to enjoy learning about the topic that they

continue to learn about it in the future. Fitness and Nutrition are two topics that we carry

throughout our lives and have to worry about forever and teaching children to be mindful of

them early on can encourage a healthy lifestyle. By using different techniques when teaching this

unit, children of all different abilities have the opportunity to keep up and learn the lesson. The

students in my classroom tend to lean towards the advanced side of learning and they also come
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from higher level income families who have the ability to get their children extra help when it is

needed. When preparing for variability among students, it is important to be flexible and find

alternative ways of teaching to assure that the needs of every student are being met. “It is a

flexible framework that can be adapted to the individual needs and predilections of a diverse set

of learners, including students with disabilities” (Quaglia, 2015). The UDL framework helps

educators to be prepared for student variability and make adjustments when necessary. It is a key

component for academic success.

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Part III: Unit Plan

Stage I

Preschool Level: Fitness and Nutrition

Students will learn about basic fitness and nutrition facts to promote healthy lifestyles at a
young age. Students will learn about the food pyramid and how to choose healthy
foods over unhealthy options. Basic exercises that can be done easily and everyday
will be taught to students.

STAGE 1- STANDARDS/GOALS
After the unit, students should be able to understand that fitness and nutrition are important
for a healthy lifestyle. Students should have a better understanding of the different food groups
and basic everyday exercises.

Content Standard(s)

Generalizations about what students should know and be able to do.

Content Standards Primary Expected Performances

Students should be able to understand the Students will be able to identify good vs. bad
importance of living a healthy lifestyle foods and an active lifestyle vs. an inactive
through fitness and nutrition. lifestyle.

Students should be able to demonstrate a Students will be able to name the different
variety of everyday exercises. exercises.

Students should be able to identify foods Students will be able to identify foods within
from different food groups and correctly the correct groups of the food pyramid.
group food items in each category.

Students should be able to apply what they Students can do the exercises on their own and
have learned to their everyday lives. identify healthy foods when at home.
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Enduring Understandings Essential Questions

Insights learned from exploring
generalizations via the essential questions
(Students will understand THAT…)
K-12 enduring understandings are those
understandings that should be developed
over time, they are not expected to be
mastered over one unit or one year.
How can learning about fitness and nutrition be
beneficial for children at a preschool
level?
How can children use what they learn in this
unit in their everyday lives?

Overarching Enduring Understandings: Students will understand that their decisions to

Unit Specific Enduring Understanding
have a healthy lifestyle can impact their entire
life.
Students will understand that there are different
food groups and exercises that can help you be
healthy.

Knowledge and Skills

What students are expected to know and be able to do

Knowledge
The students will know the importance of a healthy lifestyle
The students will know the importance of eating healthy.
The students will know the importance of staying active.

Skills
The students will be able to identify different foods from different food groups.
The students will be able to demonstrate different basic exercises.
The students will be able to practice exercises and healthy eating at home.
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Stage 2

Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence

Performance Task
Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate the desired understandings,
knowledge, and skills? (describes the learning activity in “story” form. Typically, the P.T.
describes a scenario or situation that requires students to apply knowledge and skills to
demonstrate their understanding in a real life situation. Describe your performance task scenario
below)
By what criteria will performances of understanding be judged?
GRASPS Elements of the Performance Task
The goal within this scenario is to have students be able to identify
G – Goal different healthy foods from the worksheet and to understand the
What should students accomplish by
completing this task? importance of making healthy food choices.

The role the students will be taking is from the perspective of

R – Role
What role (perspective) will your
learning the meaning of fitness and nutrition as something to learn
students be taking? for their everyday lives

A – Audience The target audience for this unit is a class of pre-school aged
Who is the relevant audience? children.

The student will need to be able to keep up with the routine of the
S – Situation exercises. The student will also need to be able to become familiar
The context or challenge provided to with the food pyramid and which foods go into each category.
the student.
They will also need to be able to identify healthy food choices.

P – Product, Performance The student will recognize exercises that they can do every day as
What product/performance will the well as complete a worksheet of healthy foods. They will also
student create?
complete a worksheet on the food pyramid.
S – Standards & Criteria
for Success Place your rubric in your appendices following your reference list.
Create the rubric for the
Performance Task
Other Evidence Student Self-Assessment
Through what other evidence (work samples, How will students reflect upon or self-assess
observations, quizzes, tests, journals or other their learning?
means) will students demonstrate achievement
of the desired results? Formative and summative
assessments used throughout the unit to arrive at
the outcomes.
Students will show achievement in a variety of Students will reflect upon their learning
ways: through these ways:
 Demonstration of exercises  Students can reflect learning through
 Observations of play by educator when play
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unit is in effect  Parents will be asked to encourage the

 Completion of fitness and nutrition continuation of learning and
worksheets practicing of healthy living and give
 YouTube videos on fitness and nutrition progress updates
 Students will be able to continue
adding to their food pyramid over
time
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\
Stage 3

Learning Plan (Stage 3)

Where are your students headed? The unit is to teach pre-school aged children about the
Where have they been? How will importance of fitness and nutrition. Students will be
you make sure the students know expected to learn about basic fitness exercises and how to
where they are going? demonstrate them effectively. Students will also be able to
identify healthy foods and foods within different groups
on the food pyramid. Students will learn information that
will be useful for their futures.      
How will you hook students at the Teaching the students, the exercises and having them
beginning of the unit? repeat them will help with students who are antsy and
have a lot of energy to release. Hands-on learning will
catch the students’ attention. The worksheet for the
nutrition portion of the lesson will be easy to follow and
use pictures and lots of colors to make it simple and easier
for this grade level.
What events will help students The students will be given many tools to help them
experience and explore the big explore the concepts of fitness and nutrition further. The
idea and questions in the unit? hands-on aspect of the lesson will get the children
How will you equip them with thinking about what fitness and nutrition really means.
needed skills and knowledge? This lesson will lead to further thinking and exploration
into related topics.
How will you cause students to Students will be able to continue doing the exercises they
reflect and rethink? How will you learn every day and can have the ability to revisit the food
guide them in rehearsing, revising, pyramid as a reference in order to keep refreshed and
and refining their work? focused on the importance of fitness and nutrition. Fitness
and nutrition are concepts that have to continuously be
practiced and are a life-long lesson. Students can relate
the concepts learned in the lesson to their everyday lives.
How will you help students to Students can evaluate the work they are doing by being
exhibit and self-evaluate their aware of their body and how the exercises are making
growing skills, knowledge, and them feel. If the exercises are being done correctly, the
understanding throughout the students will be able to feel it in their body. Students can
unit? re-evaluate which foods they put into each group and
continue to do so until they have correctly placed each in
the right group. The students will also get the opportunity
to evaluate how well they are doing with hands-on
learning.
How will you tailor and otherwise This lesson will include multiple modalities that will cater
personalize the learning plan to to different learning styles. The lesson will include hands-
optimize the engagement and on learning with performing exercises along with the
effectiveness of ALL students, teacher. It will include auditory learning by having the
without compromising the goals of teacher explain how to do the exercise while trying to do
the unit? it on their own. It will also include visual learning with a
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worksheet that helps the students to categorize healthy

How will you organize and
sequence the learning activities to
optimize the engagement and
achievement of ALL students?
foods on the food pyramid. This lesson will include
videos from YouTube that will show how to do the
exercise so that the children can understand more easily.
The teacher will provide each student with a checklist that
has all the different learned exercises and an option for
writing down what healthy foods they have been eating.
This can be important because it will get them used to
planning and documenting meals.

# Lesson Title Lesson Activities Resources

1 What is Students will explore the importance of Guided notes on fitness for
fitness? fitness through interactive YouTube videos preschoolers
and circle time.

2 What is Students will explore the importance and Guided notes on exercise for
exercise? meaning of exercise through interactive preschoolers
YouTube videos and circle time.

3 Basic Every Students will be shown basic every day Exercise videos (Appendix
Day Exercises exercises and given the opportunity to try D, E, F)
themselves.

4 What is the Students will be introduced to the food Food Pyramid Sheet
food pyramid and have an opportunity to learn (Appendix G)
pyramid? information about what the food pyramid is
and why it is important.

5 Grains Students will find out more information on Food pyramid sheet
the “Grains” section of the food pyramid and (Appendix G) and guided
why we need to have grains in our diet. notes
6 Vegetables Students will find out more information on Food pyramid sheet
the “Vegetables” section of the food pyramid (Appendix G) and guided
and why we need to have vegetables in our notes
diet.
7 Fruits Students will find out more information on Food pyramid sheet
the “Fruits” section of the food pyramid and (Appendix G) and guided
why we need to have fruits in our diet. notes
8 Dairy Students will find out more information on Food pyramid sheet
the “Dairy” section of the food pyramid and (Appendix G) and guided
why we need to have dairy in our diet. notes
9 Meat Students will find out more information on Food pyramid sheet
the “Meat” section of the food pyramid and (Appendix G) and guided
why we need to have meat in our diet. notes
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10 Junk food Students will find out more information on Guided notes on unhealthy
what foods qualify as junk food and why it is foods
important to limit our portions of junk food
each day.
11 What does Students will find out the importance of Guided notes on eating
eating healthy eating healthy and the long-lasting effects of healthy for preschoolers
mean? having an unhealthy lifestyle can have on our
body.

13 Art Project Students will do an art project of creating Guided notes and references
their own food pyramid by drawing and of the food pyramid
coloring their favorite foods in each category
of the food pyramid.
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Checking for UDL Principles
Assess and Reflect (Stage 4)
Considerations
Required Areas of Study:
Is there alignment between
outcomes, performance
assessment and learning
experiences?
Adaptive Dimension:
Have I made purposeful
adjustments to the
curriculum content (not
outcomes), instructional
practices, and/or the
learning environment to
meet the learning needs and
diversities of all my
students?
Instructional Approaches:
Do I use a variety of teacher
directed and student
centered instructional
approaches?
15
Comments
All experiences and outcomes are focused around the importance of fitness
and nutrition. Students will show their understanding of these topics by having
their knowledge of the food pyramid and exercises be assessed. Students will
learn about different topics within the main topic each day. Students will be
able to relate what they learn to real life situations.
For struggling students:
Students who are struggling with keeping up with the exercises can be given a
list of exercises to practice at home. There are resources through technology
that can give step by step video instruction to struggling students on how to do
the exercises. Students who are struggling with the food pyramid can be given
extra help worksheets to take home. Practicing this at home with the food they
have in their house can be helpful for any child who is struggling. Parents of
students who are struggling with this lesson will be notified to see if there is
any way the parents can help their child understand the concept a little better
when at home.
For students who need a challenge:
Students who need a challenge can go on to learn new and harder exercises.
There are exercises that will be more difficult for students at this age and any
student who needs to be challenged can try more difficult exercises. Students
who need a challenge with the food pyramid can be assigned more hands-on
work by either bringing in foods from the food pyramid at home or using the
play foods in the classroom to make it more challenging.
The use of guided notes and guided worksheets will be utilized during these
lessons. Technology, including YouTube videos and other online interactive
tools, will be utilized for these lessons to help students get a better
understanding of how to do the exercises as well see a bigger picture of the
food pyramid.
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Resource Based Learning:
Do the students have access
to various resources on an
ongoing basis?
FNM/I Content and
Perspectives/Gender
Equity/Multicultural
Education:
Have I nurtured and
promoted diversity while
honoring each child’s
identity?
Students will have access to these online resources from any computer and
parents will be notified about the lesson. The parents will be given the
resources and strongly encouraged to continue to teach their children about
these topics while at home.
There are a variety of modalities being used in this lesson. There are hands-on
opportunities with the ability to practice all of the exercises for the students.
There are visual opportunities with the worksheets and seeing the food
pyramid for the students. Students will have the opportunity to do an art
project based around fitness and nutrition that allows them to express their
creativity and will be helpful for students who enjoy being creative.
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References

Bell, S. (2010). Project-based learning for the 21st century: Skills for the future. The Clearing

House, 83(2), 39-43.

Bouffard, T., Marcoux, M. F., Vezeau, C., & Bordeleau, L. (2003). Changes in self‐perceptions of

competence and intrinsic motivation among elementary schoolchildren. British journal of

educational psychology, 73(2), 171-186.

Cordova, D. I., & Lepper, M. R. (1996). Intrinsic motivation and the process of learning:

Beneficial effects of contextualization, personalization, and choice. Journal of

educational psychology, 88(4), 715.

Habgood, M. J., & Ainsworth, S. E. (2011). Motivating children to learn effectively: Exploring

the value of intrinsic integration in educational games. The Journal of the Learning

Sciences, 20(2), 169-206.

Quaglia, B. W. (2015). Planning for student variability: Universal design for learning in the

music theory classroom and curriculum. Music Theory Online, 21(1).

Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (Vol. Expanded 2nd ed).

Alexandria, VA: Assoc. for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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Appendices

Appendix A

Some students will know:

 A few different fruits in the fruit group
 A few different vegetables in the vegetable group
 Examples of foods that are not good for you, i.e. cake, cookies, soda, etc.
 Your body needs different kinds of foods to be healthy

Most students will be able to know:

 There are different groups of food that do different things for your body
 Poor nutrition and lack of fitness can have negative effects on your body
 Eating fruits and vegetables can be beneficial to your health

All students will be able to know:

 Nutrition involves eating healthy foods to help them grow strong
 Fitness is being in good physical condition and doing exercises to help our bodies be
strong
 How to do different exercises that can be done every day at home
 Fitness and nutrition are important to understand to live a healthy life

Appendix B

Rubric for Nutrition Lesson

Poor (1 pt.) Fair (2 pts.) Good (3 pts.)
Performance of Student is unable to Student is able to Student is able to
Exercises perform the expected perform some of the perform most or all of
exercises or keep up expected exercises. the exercises and
with the class. keep up with the
class.
Identifying Healthy Student is unable to Student is able to Student is able to
Foods identify healthy foods identify half of the identify most or all
on the worksheet. healthy foods on the healthy foods on the
worksheet. worksheet.
Understanding of Student does not have Student has some Student has a good
Nutrition any understanding of idea of the understanding of the
the importance of importance of eating importance of eating
eating healthy foods. healthy foods. healthy foods.
Understanding of the Student does not have Student has some Student has a good
Food Pyramid any understanding of understanding of the understanding of the
the food pyramid and food pyramid and food pyramid and
what foods belong in what foods belong in what foods belong in
different categories. each category. each category.
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Appendix C

Assessment of Fitness and Nutrition Lesson

Poor (1pt.) Fair (2pts.) Good (3pts.)
Understanding of the The importance of The importance of The importance of
bigger picture the lesson is unclear the lesson is the lesson is clear
and the big picture is somewhat clear and and the bigger
unable to be parts of the bigger picture is able to be
identified. picture are able to be identified.
identified.
Use of different Different modalities A few different Multiple different
modalities and learning styles modalities and modalities and
are not used during learning styles are learning styles were
the lesson. used during the taken into
lesson. consideration and
used during the
lesson.
Level of engagement The lesson offers no The lesson offers The lesson offers
or minimal level of some level of full level of
engagement to engagement to engagement to
students. students. students.
Functionality of tools The tools used The tools used The tools used
used during the lesson are during the lesson are during the lesson are
not functional in somewhat functional functional and
having students in having students highly effective in
learn the content of learn the content of having students
the lesson. the lesson. learn the content of
the lesson.
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Appendix D

Strength and Agility Exercises for Kids – YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgqT24sA9wQ&list=PLNxqP-
XbH8BKl6NKtl6CpxkAm41d2GIj6&index=7

Appendix E

Kids Aerobics – YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjMWugatccM&list=PLNxqP-
XbH8BKl6NKtl6CpxkAm41d2GIj6&index=11

Appendix F

Exercises that Improve your Child’s Coordination – YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbqKH6fDxd4&list=PLNxqP-
XbH8BKl6NKtl6CpxkAm41d2GIj6&index=5
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Appendix G
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Reflection

This unit teaches pre-school aged children the importance of fitness and nutrition and how

they can stay active and make healthy food choices. This unit is inclusive of classroom

variability and encourages students from a young age to make healthy living choices. I believe

that these are tools that children can utilize in the future and something that can be meaningful

and stick with them as they continue on in their academic career. The related worksheets and

materials included were chosen to help with each child’s academic success. My belief that

intrinsic motivation is important to be encouraged in young children can be applied to many

different lessons, including this lesson created for preschoolers on fitness and nutrition.