Healthy Meals with MyPlate

Essential Question:
What are the components of a healthy meal?

Learners:
This lesson is intended for students in grade 1, but it could be adapted for students in grades K-2. Students with limited reading proficiency can use the scaffolded recording sheets. Additionally, students can listen to the audio portions of the WebQuest. A common misconception that students have is differentiating between fruits and vegetables. Students generally have an understanding about what foods are healthy and which ones are not. The goal here is to have students understand the different foods that contribute to a healthy diet.

Goals:
10.1 1.C Identify foods that keep our bodies healthy.
10.2 1.A Identify fundamental practices for good health.

Objectives:
The student will be able to identify healthy foods with 85% accuracy.
The student will be able to apply their knowledge of healthy foods to create their own “healthy plate” with 80% accuracy.

Time and Organization:
This webquest should take two to three hours to complete. The time that it take will depend on the scaffolding provided by the instructor. Ideally, this should be broken into two days so that there is time for classroom discussion and time to “check in” with the teacher between sessions. Students should complete this webquest in groups of two. This will allow students to practice accountable talk and synthesize information together.

Habits of Mind
“It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well.” - Rene Descartes

This quote connects well with my quest and the habits of the mind for “creating, imagining, and innovating” and “managing impulsivity.” For young learners, it can be difficult to take their time. Managing impulsivity is imperative to learning. This quest has several small parts to it where students are required to take their time and work through. The quest has small, manageable parts to keep students engaged for amounts of time appropriate for their age and attention span. Since students are taking their time, they are able to learn about the different parts of a healthy meal. This information leads to “creating, imagining,” and “innovating.” Students will use their knowledge gained through the quest to create their own healthy meal. This shows that students have a “good mind” and that they are able to synthesize and understand information.

Differentiated Instruction
Webquests can help differentiate instruction in a number of way. They can provide individualized practice in topics that are interesting to students. This webquest is differentiated in the recording sheets that it uses and that it has an audio component. This component is a great adaption for emergent readers and early elementary students. It allows students to be more independent and have greater ownership of their work.

Standards

10.1 1.C Identify foods that keep our bodies healthy.
10.2 1.A Identify fundamental practices for good health.