The Tech Savvy Teacher

THE TECH SAVVY TEACHER

In an effort to use more technology in the classroom, teachers from all over the world are coming up with technology enhanced lesson plans.  Here is an example of one that I came up with for second graders using Kidsperation and pictures from a digital camera.  The topic is health and the importance of a balanced diet.

I like food! Thus, I decided to try out a lesson dealing with food and technology. I think it would be fun to learn about why it is important to eat a variety of different foods, and then create a

real, balanced diet! To start out, I chose to make a lesson for second graders with these goals in mind:

Standard: Students will develop a sense of self.

Objective: Describe and adopt behaviors for health and safety.

                    a. Explain the importance of balance in a diet.

First, it is important to understand the food pyramid and the fact that foods can be sorted into their food groups (in the food pyramid).  I used Kidsperation to let students use technology to sort foods into their food groups.  This is what the template first looked like in Kidsperation:

Then, I played with this template in Kidsperation and did my own sorting activity.  Here is the result:

I could have even made my own balanced meal in the center.  I knew that I would be doing that later on though, so for now I just practiced sorting foods into their food groups.  

After doing this, we can talk about the importance of eating healthy and having a balanced diet. We can even discuss vitamins and minerals and why it is important to eat foods from each food group.  Afterwards, students can do various activities to apply the knowledge they have learned.  I chose to make my own balanced lunch with real foods that I had at home.  If I were in a class setting, I would just bring the foods to class.

I took out a variety of foods.  Here is my selection.

Then I separated the foods into healthy and not healthy.  I want to have a healthy, balanced meal.

Lastly, I created a balanced meal from the food items in the healthy section.  As one can see here, foods from all food groups are represented.

This is an enjoyable and interesting lesson that children love.  Who doesn't enjoy working with food?!  Children can even do this and actually eat it for lunch too!  

Through the use of technology, children are able to visually see what foods fit into which food groups while having fun.  Not only is it fun and interactive, but children learn in the process and are more likely to remember the things which they have been learning.