School Lunches Get More Healthful
Subjects
Subject(s)
Grades
Grades 2-up
News Content
One U.S. state is taking the lead in making school lunches more healthful.
Anticipation Guide
Before reading, ask students to agree or disagree with each of the statements below.
News Words
Introduce these words before students read the article:
Read the News
Click for a printable version of this week's news story School Lunches Get More Healthful.
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More Facts to Share
You might share these additional facts with students after they have read this week's news story.
Comprehension Check
Revisit the Anticipation Guide at the top of this lesson; ask students to respond again to the statements in it.
You might follow-up that activity with some of these questions:
Recalling Detail
Think About the News
At one school, students ordered an average of 61 cheeseburgers and 19 plain hamburgers a day during a period when nutrition information was not posted. After the nutrition information was posted, students ordered fewer cheeseburgers (43) and more plain hamburgers (31). At another school, an average of 380 pepperoni pizzas were ordered each day during a six-week period. In the next six weeks -- when nutritional information was posted -- the number of pepperoni pizzas ordered went down to an average of 346. During the same period, the number of cheese pizzas -- which have less fat and fewer calories -- increased from 37 to 60. Even though the menu options tested weren't the best, researchers say this small experiment shows the benefit of listing nutritional information at schools. "We didn't make any statements about the food whatsoever. We just put some information out there to see what they would do with it," said one of the study authors, Martha Conklin of Penn State University.After sharing that news, ask: Do you think schools should be required to post nutritional information about school lunch items? Would you pay attention to the nutritional information that is posted?
Follow-Up Activities
Nutrition. Introduce students to some myths (and facts) about nutrition that can be found on the PBS Kids Web site at It's My Life: Food Smarts Myths and Facts.
More Nutrition. Some nutritionists say that "eating the rainbow" is one way to ensure good nutrition. They
say the more naturally colorful foods you eat, the more nutrition you are getting. Write the following words on
a board or chart:
Assessment
Use the Comprehension Check (above) as an assessment. Or have students work on their own (in their journals) or in their small groups to respond to the Think About the News questions on the news story page or in the Comprehension Check section.
Lesson Plan Source
Education WorldNational Standards
National Standards LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.6 Applying Knowledge
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills
GRADES K - 4
NPH-H.K-4.1 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
NPH-H.K-4.2 Health Information, Products and Services
NPH-H.K-4.4 Health Influences
GRADES 5 - 8
NPH-H.5-8.1 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
NPH-H.5-8.2 Health Information, Products and Services
NPH-H.5-8.4 Health Influences
GRADES 9 - 12
NPH-H.9-12.1 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
NPH-H.9-12.2 Health Information, Products and Services
NPH-H.9-12.4 Health Influences
See more recent news stories in Education World's New Story of the Week Archive.
Article by Gary Hopkins
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