Lesson Design Template – Adapted from Madeline Hunter

Topic: Healthy Eating (Canada’s Food Guide)

Grade: 1 Subject: Health and Physical Education Time: Approximately 40 minutes
Resilience Factors:
Caring Relationships, High Expectations, Opportunities for Meaningful Participation

Emotional Intelligence Skills:

Self-perception, Self-expression, Interpersonal, Decision-making, Stress-management

OBJECTIVES
<small>Curricular Expectations:
o “Describe how the food groups in Canada’s Food Guide (i.e., vegetables and fruit, grain
products, milk and alternatives, meat and alternatives) can be used to make healthy food
choices” (Page 93, Section C2.1 – Health and Physical Education Curriculum) (Ontario, 2015)
o “Describe how Canada’s Food Guide can help them develop healthy eating habits [A1.6
Thinking]” (Page 107, Section D2.1 – Health and Physical Education Curriculum) (Ontario,
2019)
o “Demonstrate an understanding of appropriate listening behaviour by using active listening
strategies in a few different situations (e.g., listen without interrupting and wait their turn to
speak; show that they are paying attention and are interested by looking at the speaker,
nodding, or asking relevant questions)” (Page 36, Section 1.2 – Language Curriculum)
(Ontario, 2006)
o “Communicate ideas and information orally in a clear, coherent manner (e.g., use a logical
framework such as a beginning, middle, and end sequence to retell a story read aloud by the
teacher)” (Page 37, Section 2.3 – Language Curriculum) (Ontario, 2006)

Lesson Goals:
o Introduce students to Canada’s Food Guide
o Introduce the four food groups
o Introduce students to the importance of healthy eating
o Practice sorting various foods into the food groups
o Review social skills

Social Objectives:
o Right to participate and pass
o Attentive listening
o Collaboration
o Sharing resources
MENTAL SET:<small>   Estimated time: 5 minutes
 Welcome students to the class and invite them to find a comfortable spot to sit on the
carpet.
 Read-Aloud of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
 Before you begin reading, show the students the cover of the book. Ask them if they have
any predictions as to what will happen in the book.
 Read the book
 As you go through the book, ask students if they like each food. Tell them that they can
respond by putting a quiet, listening hand in the air. For example, when the caterpillar eats
oranges, ask the students: Do you like oranges? Raise a quiet hand if you think oranges are
yummy!”
 After you are finished reading the story, ask students a question to get their imaginations
going. You can ask them: “This caterpillar ate a lot of different foods! If you were a
caterpillar, what would you want to eat?” This question allows students to be creative.

STATED OBJECTIVES AND PURPOSE: <small>    Estimated time: 2-3 minutes

 Today we are going to:
 Learn about Canada’s Food Guide (hold up a copy).
o This book helps us make healthy choices by showing us what foods are good for our
bodies.
 Learn what the four different food groups are
 Learn how to sort foods into these groups
 It’s important we learn about these because we need to have a healthy balanced diet – we
need to make sure we are eating something from every food group! Knowing the food
groups can help you make healthy choices that make your body strong.
 I will be watching to make sure you’re practicing attentive listening and mutual respect. Can
everyone show me your good listening ears?

</small>
INPUT/ MODELLING/ DEMONSTRATION:    Estimated Time: 10-15 minutes
 Required preparation:
 Before beginning the lesson, arrange cut-out pictures of foods (ex. from grocery store
advertisements) on tables/desks throughout the classroom, similar to a grocery store.
There should be four tables of food to represent the four food groups. Ensure that there is
a diverse collection of foods (ex. meat alternatives and dairy alternatives – consider looking
at ads from a number of different grocery stores, including culture-specific ones).
 Input: Explanation of Concepts
 Explain that the Canada’s Food Guide has four different food groups.
o The first food group is fruits and vegetables. Can anyone think of an example of a
fruit or vegetable? (Ask kids to raise their hands and share if they have an idea)
o The second food group is dairy and alternatives. Can anyone think of a dairy
 product? (Ask kids to raise their hands and share if they have an idea)
o The third food group is meat and alternatives. Who knows a type of meat? (Ask kids
to raise their hands and share if they have an idea)
o The last food group is grain products. Does anyone know a grain product? (Ask kids
to raise their hands and share if they have an idea)
o These are the four different food groups that we need to eat to stay strong and
healthy! If we eat all of these food groups, we get all the vitamins and nutrients we
need. For example, dairy products have a lot of calcium. Does anybody know how
calcium can help us? (After a few students have shared their predictions, explain that
calcium helps our bones grow and makes them strong).
o Foods in the Canada’s Food Guide also have vitamins. Vitamins can help us see
better and grow stronger and taller, so it’s important for us to pick healthy foods.
 Modelling
 Explain to the students that today, we are going to make our very own food pyramids
 Hold up a finished product so that students can see what the expected outcome is
 Explain that there is a section for each of the four food groups, pointing to each section as
you say its name
 After you have shown the example food pyramid, pin it on a board where students can see.
 Explain that before we make our food pyramids, we have to do some grocery shopping
 Demonstration of Activity
 Show children the “grocery store” set up. Explain that now that they know all about the
four food groups, it is time to go grocery shopping.
o The teacher will model the “grocery shopping” process. After picking up a basket,
ask the students questions about where to shop to check for understanding.
o Check for Understanding prompt: “I think I want to buy some fruits and vegetables
first! Using a quiet hand, can you all point to where I can find this food group?”
After the students have pointed, say what foods you are choosing out loud as you
place them in your basket. For example “I am going to buy some strawberries and a
cucumber”.
o Additional prompts can be added for each food group based on how comfortable the
students feel with the material.
 Once the teacher has finished demonstrating the grocery shopping process, explain to the
students the steps necessary to complete the food pyramid
o Instruct the students to go to the craft centre and take a pre-cut triangular piece of
paper. Explain that they are going to make four different sections on the triangle
(one for each food group), then glue the foods they selected in the correct section.
o Hold up the example again while explaining.
o Ask if there are any questions before we get started.

PRACTICE: <small>    Estimated time</small>: 20 minutes Materials:

  Give each student a “grocery basket” -Canada’s Food
 Explain that students are allowed to select two of their favourite Guide
items from each food group. As you state this, walk around the -Paper cut-outs of
“grocery store” with your basket and model choosing two foods from foods from each
each table. food group (from
 Once students have selected two foods from each group (8 foods grocery store
total), they can visit the teacher and “check out” their groceries, as advertisements)
the teacher checks that they have all the required food groups. -Baskets/containers
o If the class is larger, teachers can encourage each student to (1 per student)
help a friend “check out” in order to reduce wait time. -Construction paper
 Once a student has “checked out” they can go to a designated craft triangles
area and construct their own food pyramid by gluing each food item -Glue
on a triangular piece of paper divided into four sections. They are -Pencils
encouraged to label each section x<small><small>Tac
 Children are encouraged to clean up any art materials that they used tics:
while constructing their food pyramid. Examples:
 Throughout the “shopping time” and craft time, the teacher should
walk around and make anecdotal observations of each student and Think, Pair, Share
their level of understanding for a form of assessment. 4 Corners
Round Robin
3-Step Interview
Inside/Outside
Circles
Paraphrase Passport
Placemat
Other: Centres
CHECKS FOR UNDERSTANDING (Throughout):
 Before practice:
o Ask students for examples of foods from each food group (Input section)
o Ask students about where you can find each food group in the “grocery store”.
Encourage students to point quietly. (Demonstration section)
o Ask students for “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”. For example, “Are we taking as
many foods as we want?” (Thumbs down). “Are we sharing the foods nicely and
being kind to our friends?” (Thumbs up) (Demonstration section)
 During practice:
o Teacher can circulate and see what food items the students are picking out.
o At check-out, teachers can ask students “What food group is this in?” after choosing
a food from their basket.
o Teacher can observe students’ actions and listen to their thought processes as they
discuss with a partner.
 After practice
o Teacher can select a few students to share their food pyramids with the class.
CLOSURE: Estimated Time: 5 minutes
o <small> After students have completed their food pyramid, they are encouraged to talk with
an elbow partner about which foods they chose for each food group. To prompt students,
teachers can ask: “Do you and your partner have any of the same foods? What foods are
different?
o Teacher thanks students for making such healthy choices at the grocery store. They can
select a few students to share their finished food pyramids with the class.
o During this portion of the lessons, teachers are encouraged to observe and listen to what
the students are saying, making notes for assessment.
o After the class is finished, teachers can collect the students’ food pyramids and display them
around the classroom. Students will be able to reference their pyramid throughout the
healthy eating unit.
CONSIDERATIONS
<small><small>Multiple <small><small>Accommodatio Assessment:
Intelligences: ns: - self-evaluation
verbal linguistic Grocery Shopping Activity: - group evaluation
logical/mathematical  Students can have a - teacher evaluation
musical/rhythmic teacher “shop” with - observation
bodily/kinesthetic them if they are not - anecdotal notes
visual/spatial sure about the food - quiz/test
interpersonal groups. - checklist
intrapersonal  Teachers can assist - rubric
naturalist them in identifying and - interview
existential </small></small> sorting the foods. - discussion
 To help those who - learning log/journal
experience sensory
overload, the activity
can be adapted to
“quiet shopping”.
Students are told they
must be very quiet
when shopping. This
would work great
around Halloween as a
themed activity –
students could pretend
to be ghosts grocery
shopping for a
Halloween feast
Food Pyramid Activity
 Teachers can assist
 students with gluing
the foods onto the
pyramid. The teacher
can also encourage
students to ask a friend
for help.
 Teachers can assist
students in labelling
the food groups
(spelling help, printing
help, etc.)
Closure Activity – Think, Pair,
Share and Optional Class
Presentation
 Students have the right
to pass
 Students can do their
“Think, Pair, Share” in a
larger group if they feel
more comfortable not
speaking one-on-
one</small></small>

References

Ontario. (2015). The Ontario Curriculum, grades 1-8: Health and Physical Education. Toronto:

The Ministry of Education.

Ontario. (2019). The Ontario Curriculum, grades 1-8: Health and Physical Education. Toronto:

The Ministry of Education.

Ontario. (2006). The Ontario Curriculum, grades 1-8: Language. Toronto: The Ministry of

Education.