Nutrition Unit

Grade Level(s): Preschool, K

By: Debbie Haren, preschool teacher

February is Nutrition Month. Several activities for learning about foods and nutrition.

Objectives:

To help students learn the importance of nutrition in keeping them healthy.

Plan:

Outline:

• Lesson 1: Being Healthy

• Lesson 2: Make a healthy food collage
• Lesson 3: Food Bingo
• Lesson 4: Food pyramid on the wall
• Lesson 5: Colors of food posters
• Lesson 6: How do you tell a fruit from a vegetable?
• Lesson 7: Play restaurant

LESSON 1: BEING HEALTHY

Discussion:

1. What can we do to help our bodies stay healthy?(excersize, eat healthy, sleep,
brush our teeth, take baths, wash our hands often)
2. What kinds of food help to keep us healthy?(fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk)
3. Is sleep important for our bodies?
4. Should we eat a lot of sweet foods and snacks? Why or why not? (cavities and they
are not good for us)
5. What is your favorite food to eat??(pizza, cookies, chicken)
6. What is a fruit?
7. What is a vegetable?

Read any story about healthy living or healthy foods. Discuss the book.

Have posters up in the room with healthy habits on them: for instance children washing their
hands, brushing their teeth and eating healthy foods.

LESSON 2: HEALTHY FOOD COLLAGE

Objective: To be able to name healthy foods.

Plan:

Have many food magazines from local grocery stores for children to cut out pictures. Try to
have as many colored pictures as possible. The children also need glue, scissors and a
piece of construction paper to glue it on.

Activity:

1. Talk to children about healthy foods.

2. Give them each some glue, scissors, and a piece of construction paper. Have them
look through the brochures and magazines pictures for healthy foods they like to
eat.
3. Then have them cut them out and glue them onto their piece of construction paper.
4. When they are all done they will be able to stand up one at a time in front of the
class and tell the other students what they picked out and to point to the picture of
that food item.
5. Hang them up around the room for parents and other teachers to see.

LESSON 3: FOOD BINGO

Objective: To learn how to play Bingo and learn the names of many different kinds of fruits
and vegetables.

Plan:

1. Before the day of the lesson cut out many different kinds of fruits and vegetables
out of magazine pictures and glue them onto a piece of construction paper to make
a Bingo card. Make enough cards for the number of children in your class. If
possible have these cards laminated so you can use them often.
2. Then make up cards with names of all the fruits and vegetables you used on your
Bingo cards for the caller to call out. When a child gets 3 or four in a row they call
Bingo.
3. You might want to have stickers as prizes or nothing at all. The kids really enjoy this
and they can learn new fruits or vegetables if you put pictures of unusual fruits of
vegetables such as eggplants and Kiwi.

LESSON 4: FOOD PYRAMID

Objectives: To learn about the food pyramid and the different sections of it. Also for the
children to learn what foods they should have the most of to keep them healthy.

Plan:

1. Have a copy of the new Food Pyramid and make the pyramid shape on a wall.
2. Leave the pyramid squares all blank for the children to put in the food items. Have a
piece of paper in each section that names that part of the pyramid such as breads.
3. Talk to the children about what the pyramid represents and what each section is.
4. Get out pictures of foods and have the children try to put the food in the correct
section of the pyramid.
5. After they are done, let them look at what they made and go through the whole
pyramid together as a class, talking about all the examples in each section.
6. Also talk about food portions and servings and how much of each serving they are
to have a day.

LESSON 5: COLORS OF FOOD

Objective: To learn the different colors of foods and make a poster of the different colors to
hang on the wall.

Plan:

1. Have many food magazines with many pictures of different colors of food.
2. Have four to five pieces of large poster board to glue the pictures onto.
3. Label the posters by the color of the food that will be put on it, such as Green
Foods, Red Foods, etc. (I did four posters: Red, Green, Purple and Blue)
4. After the children cut out the pictures, label each item under the picture, such as
Tomato, grapes etc.
5. After you are all done glueing and making the posters have the children point to an
item and the rest of the class tells what it is and what color it is.

The kids loved doing this and looked at the posters often in the room. The posters can be
laminated after they are done so they last longer.

LESSON 6: FRUIT OR VEGETABLE?

Objective: To learn the difference between a vegetable and a fruit.

Plan:

How Do You Know a Vegetable from a Fruit??? One way is fruits grow on trees or vines and
vegetables grow in the ground. I brought in some real foods and I want to see if you can tell
me if it grows in the ground or on a tree and if it is a fruit or a vegetable.

Have such examples as corn, tomatoes, green beans, pears, peaches and grapes. Then
have them all for a great healthy snack. Have some unusual ones much as Kiwi and
Eggplant if you can find them at your local store.

LESSON 7: RESTAURANT

Objective: To play restaurant and chose healthy foods when eating out.

Plan:

1. Make menus with pictures of vegetables and dinners from magazines.

2. Under each picture put the name of the item.
3. Set up a kitchen area and lots of play food to use to make dinners in their
restaurant. Have the students set the table with a plate cup and napkin.
4. Have them take turns being the waiter, cook, and customer.

The kids LOVE playing this and have so much fun.

Fruit
Level A

About the Book

Text Type: Nonfiction/Concept Book

Page Count: 10
Word Count: 31

Book Summary
This informational text introduces students to the printed vocabulary that names examples of
nutritious foods. Students may be surprised to find the tomato, which is a large berry, included
alongside lemons, apples, and bananas. Repeated high-frequency words reinforce fluency and
support the decoding of new vocabulary.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

 Visualize
•

Objectives

Visualize information from the book

•

Classify information
•

Identify words that rhyme

•

Associate the letter Tt with the sound /t/

•

Understand that some words name people, places, and things

•

Categorize words
•

Materials

Book -- Fruit (copy for each student)

•

Chalkboard or dry erase board

•

Classify information, rhyme worksheets

•

Word journal (optional)

•

Indicates an opportunity for student to mark in the book. (All activities may be completed with

paper and pencil if books are reusable.)

Vocabulary

High-frequency words: this, is, a

•

Content words: cherry, pear, banana, tomato, apple, orange, lemon, fruit
•
Before Reading

Build Background

• Have students close their eyes and picture an orange in their minds. Have them picture its
shape and color. Ask them to think about how it feels in their hands and what it smells like.
Have students keep their eyes closed as they say some words that describe the picture of
the orange in their minds.
• Have students open their eyes. Show them a real orange and let them smell it and touch it.
Talk about how their mind-picture of the orange is similar to and different from the real
orange.
• Expand the discussion by asking students to identify their favorite types of fruits. Encourage
students to talk about what the word fruit means. (Fruit is a part of a plant that has the seeds
in it.) Prompt with questions, such as: When do you eat fruit? Why do you eat fruit? Is all fruit
sweet? Is all fruit small? What does it mean when fruit is "in season?"

Book Walk

Introduce the Book

• Show students the front and back covers of the book and read the title with them. Ask what
they might read about in a book called Fruit. (Accept any answers students can justify).
• Show students the title page. Discuss the information on the page (title of book, author's
name). Have them name the fruits they see. Ask students what they know about each of the
fruits pictured.

Introduce the Reading Strategy: Visualize

• Explain that good readers often visualize, or make pictures in their mind, as they read.
Readers often use what they already know about a topic to make the pictures in their mind.
• Model how to visualize.
Think-aloud: As I look at the picture of the apple on the title page, I picture a dark, shiny red
apple. It is the size of a baseball, but it is not as round. Picturing the apple in my mind will
give me a better understanding of this fruit.
• As students read, encourage them to use other reading strategies in addition to the targeted
strategy presented in this section. For tips on additional reading strategies, click here.

Introduce the Vocabulary

• As you preview the book, use the vocabulary and language pattern of the book. Say: What
kind of fruit is this? Yes, this is a cherry.
 Encourage students to add new vocabulary words to their word journals.
•

• Model how to work out words they do not know. For example, point to the word banana on
page 5.
Think-aloud: If I didn't know what this word said, I could first look at how it starts. I see the
letter b and I know this stands for the /b/ sound. I can also recognize the word part an, so I
know the first part of the word is ban. I see another an and then an a, and I can put the parts
together to read banana. Then I check the picture for clues and I see a banana in the picture.
For additional tips on teaching high-frequency words or word-attack strategies, click here.
•

Set the Purpose

• Have students read to find out about fruit. Remind them to visualize each fruit in their mind
as they read.

During Reading

Student Reading

• Guide the reading: Give students their copy of the book. Have a volunteer point to the first
word on page 3. Read the word together (This). Point out where to begin reading on each
page. Remind students to read words from left to right. Point to each word as you read it
aloud while students follow along in their own book.
• Ask students to place a finger on the page number in the bottom corner of the page. Have
them read to the end of page 4, using their finger to point to each word as they read.
Encourage students who finish before others to reread the text.
Ask students to share what they visualized as they read. Model visualizing.
•

• Think-aloud: I pictured a cherry in my mind when I read page 3. I have eaten a cherry
before. I pictured it on top of an ice-cream sundae, like a little red ball.
• Have students read the remainder of the book. Remind them to visualize as they read.

Have students make a small question mark in their book beside any word they do not understand

or cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in the discussion that follows.

After Reading

Reflect on the Reading Strategy

• Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their book. Use this opportunity to model
 how they can read these words using decoding strategies and context clues.
• Think-aloud: When I pictured an orange in my mind, I pictured its round shape. I thought
about its bumpy, tough outer skin.
• Discuss how making pictures in their mind makes the book more interesting and more fun to
read. Ask students to share additional examples of how they visualized as they read the
book.

Teach the Comprehension Skill: Classify information

• Discussion: Discuss the classification of tomato as a fruit. Reinforce the meaning of fruit so
students understand why tomato is in this group.
• Introduce and model the skill: Elicit from students that the main topic of the book is fruit.
Explain that this is the main category and all the items mentioned in the book can be placed
in the category of fruit. Explain that one way to organize information read is to put it into
categories.
• Make a two-column chart on the board labeled fruit and vegetables. Write the following
words on the board: apple, pear, celery, carrots.
• Think-aloud: I know that some of these words name fruit and some name vegetables. An
apple and a pear are fruit. Celery and carrots are vegetables. Write the words under the
correct heading.
• Check for understanding: Have students check the book to name other foods that can be
placed under the heading Fruit. When they have listed all the fruits mentioned in the book,
have them add any others they can think of. Then have them name vegetables they know to
add to the list under the heading Vegetables.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the classify
information worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.

Extend the discussion: Instruct students to use the last page of their book to draw a picture of

their favorite fruit. Have students share their pictures with the group.

Build Skills

Phonological Awareness: Identify rhyme

• Say the words cat and hat and have students repeat the words. Tell students that the words
rhyme because they have the same sound at the end: /at/. Repeat the words and have
students listen for the rhyming sound.
• Say the words cat and hut. Tell students these words do not rhyme because they have
different sounds at the end: /at/ and /ut/. Have students repeat the words and listen for the
ending sounds.
 • Say the following word pairs, one at a time: cake/cat; man/pan; car/star; dog/dig; bike/hike;
feet/fat; cup/pup; jump/pump. If the words rhyme, have students clap their hands. If the
words do not rhyme, have them should shake their heads.
• Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have students complete the rhyming words
worksheet. If time allows, have them discuss their answers.

Phonics: Initial consonant Tt

Say the word tomato and ask students what sound they hear at the beginning.
•

• Write the letter Tt on the board and ask students to name the letter. Tell them that the letter
Tt stands for the sound they hear at the beginning of the word tomato. Have students
practice writing the letter Tt on a separate piece of paper while saying aloud the sound the
letter stands for.
• Tell students that you are going to show them how to read some words that begin with the /t/
sound. Write the words top, tap, and tip on the board. Ask students what is the same about
the words (they all start with the letter Tt).
• Model saying the first word, running your finger under each letter as you blend the sounds: /t/
/a/ /p/. Then have students sound it out with you. Repeat with the remaining words.

Grammar and Mechanics: Naming words (nouns)

• Tell students that there are words that name things. Have them turn to page 3 to find a word
that names a kind of fruit (cherry).
• Ask each student to tell a naming word they read in the book. Reinforce that all of the fruits in
the book are naming words. Tell them that we call these naming words nouns.
Ask students to identify nouns that name objects in the classroom.
•

Word Work: Categorize words

• Refer to the list of fruits and vegetables on the board. Tell students that all of these words are
nouns.
• Create another category for foods, for example, snacks, meats, soups, etc. Have students
brainstorm words that fit into the category. Remind students that all the words in the list name
kinds of food and are nouns.

Build Fluency

Independent Reading

• Allow students to read their book independently or with a partner. Additionally, partners can
 take turns reading in the book.

Home Connection

Give students their book to take home to read with parents, caregivers, siblings, or friends.
•

Extend the Reading

Writing and Art Connection

Instruct students to finish the following sentence on a separate piece of paper: If I were a fruit, I would
be a/an____. Ask students to draw themselves as the fruit they have chosen. (Allow invented spelling
or take dictation for the students.)

Math Connection
Make a fruit chart with headings such as: Apples, Bananas, Pears, Oranges, and Grapes. Have each
student draw a picture of one of the fruits to place at the top of the chart. Survey the students in the
group or class to find out how many like apples best. Ask students to place a tally mark on the chart
for each person who raises his or her hand. Repeat for the other types of fruit. Discuss the findings.

Assessment

Monitor students to determine if they can:

actively participate in the visualization activity and tell what they are visualizing
•

correctly classify foods into groups during discussion

•

associate the letter Tt with the sound /t/ during discussion

•

identify whether pairs of spoken words rhyme on a worksheet

•

understand that nouns name things; locate nouns in the book

•

identify and categorize food words during discussion

•

Comprehension Check