Considerations for Lesson Planning
Location: Classroom
Strand: Healthy Living
Topic: Healthy Eating
Students:
- Student with an eating disorder
- Consideration: Incorporate strategies to support the student with an eating disorder.
- Students who are Indigenous
- Consideration: Incorporate strategies to support students who are Indigenous
- Students originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Consideration: Incorporate strategies to support students who are originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo
Supports: None
Lesson: Re-imagining Canada’s Food Guide
Lesson Overview
Students assess reliable sources of nutritional information to learn about diverse dietary choices and trends to make informed personal choices based on their individual nutritional needs and share their learning with others.
Overall and Specific Expectations
C2: C2.1, C2.2
Learning Goals
- We are learning to critically evaluate information on food and individual eating habits to make informed decisions.
- We are learning to reflect on our eating experiences and the choices we make about the foods we eat.
- We are learning to assess nutritional impacts of dietary choices and trends.
Materials
- Access to a shared document or large board space (for example, chart paper and markers, online interactive tool) to create a Know Want How Learn Question (KWHLQ) Chart
- Access to information to develop a deeper understanding of what eating looks like according to varied sources (for example, Canada’s Food Guide, Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide: First Nations, Inuit and Métis, Eating Tips for Diabetics, Food Guides from around the world, Dieticians of Canada, First Nations Traditional Foods Fact Sheets)
- Additional classroom materials for students to complete the consolidation task (for example, Bristol board, large paper, computers, printed resources)
- Teacher Resource: Recordable Anecdotal Recording Chart
Assessment for Learning
Use the Teacher Resource: Recordable Anecdotal Recording Chart to observe student conversations and responses on their KWHLQ Chart and their Role, Audience, Format, Theme (RAFT) chart to assess their understanding of how food guide and healthy eating information sources diversely impact individuals and communities.
Minds On
Share the learning goals with the class and co-construct success criteria with students. Consider posting the success criteria in the learning space for reference throughout the lesson.
Remind students of general group rules, including the importance of showing respect for others’ ideas and opinions.
Explain to students that today’s learning will focus on deepening their understanding of the nutritional impact of various dietary choices to assist them in making informed nutritional choices to support their individual needs. Inform them that they can decide how they would like to participate in the learning (for example, focus on active listening only, choosing when and with whom to engage in conversation, and/or taking breaks at any point during the learning).
Provide materials and access to a KWHLQ Chart (consult Teaching Strategy Descriptions). Have students work alone or in pairs to complete only the Know, Want to Know, and How sections of the chart about the topic of eating and the nutrients different foods provide.
Using the One Word-Whiz instructional strategy (consult the Notes to Teachers section for a description of the strategy) and the following teacher prompt, collect student voice about what information they know, information they are prioritizing as important to unpack the topic of eating and the nutrients that different foods can provide for different people, and how they might collect that information.
Teacher Prompt: “This activity is called “One Word-Whiz”. Based on your completed Know, Want to Know, and How sections of the KWHLQ Chart, share one word/concept you know about eating and nutrients, one word/concept you would like to know more about, and how you might learn about what is most important to you about nutritious eating. You are welcome to repeat what someone else has said if you also identify it as your top choice.”
Student responses may include:
- Know:
- “Nutrients”
- “Food groups”
- “Energy”
- “Fuel”
- “Hydration”
- Want to Know:
- “Eating for sports”
- “Meal planning’
- “Include more culture”
- “Harvesting”
- “Dietary trends”
- “Medical needs”
- How:
- “Talking with Elders in my community.”
- “I like group discussions.”
- “Choosing the sources I want to explore to gather information that interests me.”
- “I really like gathering information by listening and viewing different images.”
Action
Explain to students that they will have the opportunity to explore resources to build their knowledge about various nutritional trends of interest to them. Provide students with a collection of images, descriptions, and quotes from a variety of sources, including Canada’s Food Guide.
Using the Round Table strategy (consult Teaching Strategy Descriptions) and the following teacher prompts, ask students to discuss and/or record the differences they noticed between the various sources.
Teacher Prompt: “What were the key similarities and differences that your table talked about?”
Student responses may include:
- "We noticed that food guides are recommendations, and not all food guides are reflective of the diversity of foods that people eat.”
- “Some guides help people eat certain foods for nourishment and nutrition, while others can prevent people from getting sick.”
- “Some guides have changed over time as people have learned more, such as disease prevention.”
Teacher Prompt: “Why do you think there are different types of food guides and/or versions available?”
Student responses may include:
- "I think food guides provide different recommendations to help people make food choices based on their likes and needs.”
- “Food guides can change because scientists learn new things about nutrition.”
- “There is more information about food allergies, and people's eating habits can change over time because of medical needs.”
- “They want to make sure the advice is up-to-date.”
- “A version of Canada's Food Guide specific to First Nations, Inuit and Métis was developed to support indigenous peoples.”
Teacher Prompt: “The last time Canada’s Food Guide was updated was in 2019. What do you think the next changes should be when it is updated again?”
Student responses may include:
- "Maybe the next update could include tips for eating more eco-friendly foods and personalized advice based on our health needs. It would be cool if they added tips for budgeting or used more foods from different cultures as images. It would also be cool to have an app that might allow us to get more information about the food we are eating."
- “Maybe have a more localized version of Canada's Food Guide specific to First Nations, Inuit and Métis based on their geographic region since available resources are different from region to region.”
Teacher Prompt: “What are other reputable resources that you know of to find information about foods to help you make informed choices about what your body needs for daily living?”
Student responses may include: “Government and health organizations are good places to start to find reliable nutritional information such as:
- Dietitians of Canada
- World Health Organization
- Indigenous Food Systems Network
- First Nations Health Authority
- Canada’s Food Guide website
- Government of Canada website”
Teacher Prompt: “Why is it important to consult more than one source when forming conclusions about our health?”
Student responses may include: “It's important to look at different sources because it helps us get a complete picture and avoid misinformation. Plus, different experts might have different tips that can help us make choices that suit our specific needs and what and how we like to eat."
Consolidate the Round Table discussions to have students reflect on their learning and add additional information to their KWHLQ Chart in the Learned section, anchoring their reflection to how they might make adjustments to their nutritious eating choices to support their nutritional needs.
Instruct students to add questions that they still have about nutritious eating in the Questions section on their KWHLQ Chart.
Consolidation
Provide students with the opportunity to share their completed KWHLQ Charts with two or three of their peers of their choosing to add new information to their chart.
Use a RAFT strategy for students to select a task that is of interest to them and best reflects what and how they would like to continue to learn about nutritious eating based on their responses on their KWLHQ Chart. Use the sample RAFTs or have students design their own RAFT task with teacher guidance. Allow students to work individually, with a partner, or in a small group.
Samples RAFTs may include:
- Role: Cultural representative
- Audience: Your community
- Format: Chart and Collage
- Theme: You have been tasked with creating your own version of the food guide to illustrate what nutritious eating is in your community.
- Role: Review consultant
- Audience: Canada’s Food Guide writers
- Format: Poster/Slides
- Theme: Your task is to provide ideas and explanations about what information should be included or removed to create the next version of Canada’s Food Guide.
- Role: Inclusion expert
- Audience: Canadian public
- Format: Mind Map
- Theme: Canada’s food guide is something that many Canadians have difficulty following. Generate some possibilities of solutions to common food barriers to support more Canadians to get the nutrition they need.
- Role: Student
- Audience: Teacher
- Format: Highlighted annotated copy of printed Canada’s Food Guide history and current resource.
- Theme: Your job is to review the information provided in the historical and current versions of Canada’s Food Guide. What are three big ideas that are important from the resources? Explain your thinking.
Notes to Teachers
One Word-Whiz
One Word-Whiz is an instructional strategy that allows efficient student participation by having each student identify one word/concept that summarizes their thoughts about a teacher prompt. It allows teachers and students to quickly identify key themes or topics to facilitate further discussion.
How It Works:
- The teacher prompts students that they will each share what they thought the most important word/theme was from the activity.
- The teacher will cue each student in the class for their turn to share.
- The teacher can then offer an additional prompt based on what the class has shared.
CRRP Strategies Embedded in the Lesson
Components of this lesson are designed to incorporate strategies to support the student with an eating disorder.
- Students are provided with a preview of the lesson before engaging in the Minds On activity as a primer to assist in reducing potential anxiety based on the topic and to provide time for emotional regulation and choices in how they will participate (for example, with whom they will work, how they contribute, selection of consolidation task).
- Providing students with the option to complete tasks alone or with others and a choice of activities tailored to their needs help ensure that discussions about food and nutrition are sensitive and supportive.
- Setting and reviewing group rules emphasizing respect for diverse ideas and opinions helps create a safe space for discussing a topic that may be sensitive.
- Intentionally avoiding referencing food or dietary choices as healthy or unhealthy and focusing on making nutritional choices to suit individual needs ensure the learning is sensitive to student needs.
- Including resources from diverse sources that focus on nutrition ensures that the information is supportive and accurate.
Components of this lesson are designed to incorporate strategies to support students who are Indigenous.
- Using Indigenous food guides and providing students with the option of consulting Elders ensure that Indigenous knowledge and practices are respected and included.
- Discussions and choice of tasks, encourage students to focus on learning, and discussions about nutritious eating in relationship to culture.
- Collaborative activities such as group discussions and Round Tables promote peer support and the sharing of diverse perspectives.
- Providing students with options to choose how they want to gather information and present their learning (for example, chart and collage, mind map) supports cultural expression and comfort.
Components of this lesson are designed to incorporate strategies to support students who are originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Encouraging the inclusion of diverse cultural foods and practices in discussions about nutritious eating helps students make connections to the learning and their culture.
- Providing students with varied resources such as food guides from around the world allows students to make connections between the learning and their culture.
- Using flexible groupings and providing students with the option to select partners for discussions and tasks promote peer interaction and support through collaboration
- Providing students with a choice of formats for their consolidation task supports cultural expression and comfort.
- Emphasizing respect for diverse ideas and opinions helps create an inclusive atmosphere.
