By the time children reach four and five years of age, they spend much of their day in schools. So, it makes sense that schools are important places for them to learn about healthy eating. If children don't know how to make healthy food choices, they can’t make them. That being said, students also require critical thinking skills to make smart decisions about food and a supportive environment in which to do so. It is crucial for parents to take responsibility in modelling good eating behaviours at home, though teachers also play an important role in the child's understanding of nutritional education. If teachers are able to talk about healthy eating with confidence and sensitivity, while also making healthy food choices themselves, they can be terrific role models for their students. Children need opportunities to practice critical thinking about nutrition, so they learn to recognize factors (media, friends, culture) that influence their own eating decisions. This, in turn, encourages learners to develop a sense of personal responsibility about their nutrition, and how to develop the lifelong skill of making good choices. Let's face it, we all want our students/children to make smart decisions for themselves, right? In December, I worked with my kindergarten students on an activity regarding nutritional awareness. The students were required to cut out images of different foods from the newspapers provided. As a class, they gathered these images in a basket. Once each student had been given an opportunity to cut-out some images, we began our discussion. I began by asking the students to tell me what healthy means. What does unhealthy mean? Then, we collaboratively sorted our food cut-outs into 'healthy foods' and 'junk foods'. This activity went fairly well, though there were some disagreements over certain foods- for example, cheese, or bread. When reflecting back on this activity, I have realized a few things. Next time, I will direct the lesson as 'healthy foods' and 'sometimes foods'. Why? It is important to teach students to think of food as fuel for the body. When we talk about junk foods, they gather the impression that they are to avoid those foods entirely. However, unhealthy foods are okay in your diet in small portions. By teaching students that they are 'sometimes foods', they can better understand that they can still be eaten, but there is a lack in nutritional value. It is important to provide students with a realistic understanding, and to avoid the dichotomy of good vs. bad.
Secondly, I noticed that careful consideration should be paid to the ways we talk about food and nutrition. It is important that as teachers, we do not make students feel that one value system or food practice is superior to another, and that no foods, food groups, or eating practices are criticized. Teachers must avoid making assumptions about students based on their country of origin, culture, or religion. On the contrary, we need to create an inclusive environment by recognizing and celebrating both the wonderful variety of foods consumed by each student, and the multitude of ways those foods are enjoyed. There are many ways to incorporate multicultural food and festivities into your classroom!
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Check out my first video tutorial for Comic Life 3- using a program called Camtasia What is Comic Life? Comic Life is a program, or app, that allows students to create posters or comic books full of rich media. The program encourages student freedom, expression and creativity while developing literary skills. I would suggest using Comic Life for older elementary students, such as the junior grades (4 to 6). However, younger students can also be introduced to this program. Though, they will require more assistance with manipulating the technology, and program itself Why Use Comic Life? Comic Life is an excellent program for teachers to introduce in the classroom. As it tackles all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, it can be applicable throughout many contexts of a unit; ranging from the gathering of information, to the sharing of ideas, to demonstrating understanding and knowledge in summative assessments. Using this program as a summative assessment can be ideal when looking for students to explain their answers in a unique and creative way. This program can be used to assess student mastery in literacy, for any standard in any subject level. One of the greatest things about this program, is that it can be applied to any subject across the curriculum, such as Math, Science, Language, Social Studies, Gym, Drama, Music, Dance, etc. It can even be used cross-curricular! Each comic can be started from a template or started from scratch, providing students with freedom and choice, while encouraging them to use their creativity and imagination.
USE IT TO EVALUATE Students can use Comic Life to evaluate an answer by creating a comic and using the narration bubbles to defend or support the steps of a math problem. Using Comic Life, students can argue whether the character in the book was a hero or a villain, using evidence displayed throughout the comic that they create. In Social Studies, students can select and justify a current event through a comic rather than simply writing out their response! (Stevens, 2017) USE IT TO ANALYZE Using Comic Life, students can differentiate between metaphors and similes. In math, students can compare fractions with pictures of real life examples. In Science, students can distinguish the physical characteristics of solids, liquids, and gases (states of matter). (Stevens, 2017) USE IT TO APPLY Students can use Comic Life to illustrate their understanding of the steps required for solving equations in math. They can also use a comic to sketch or interpret the number line. Students can create a comic that demonstrates the proper use of a particular part of speech (ie; verbs, adjectives, etc). In Social Studies, students can illustrate the journey of a famous person. (Stevens, 2017) USE IT TO UNDERSTAND Using Comic Life, students can identify sight words by taking pictures and annotating over them. In math, students can locate various types of shapes. You can also have students design a comic to describe how society has changed over time. Having students take pictures of proof that explains their position. For Science, students can report their results of a lab or classify various species on a number. (Stevens, 2017) USE IT TO REMEMBER Students can use Comic Life to define vocabulary words within a unit. As a spelling assessment, students can list the spelling of words with an accompanying picture for additional support. In math, students can use a comic to identify and relate types of triangles with pictures and text. In Social Studies, students can recall historical figures or time periods. (Stevens, 2017)
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