Label Logic

Objective: Actively shows participants how to read a food label and specify what
information is important to look for on a food label.
Setting: Nebraska Kids Fitness and Nutrition Day
Participants: 60-70 4th grade students –quickly split into 2 groups of 30-35 students according
to numbers on nametags (1’s or 2’s)
Time: ~18 minutes per group (Teach the same station 4 times)
Materials: ‘Read It Before You Eat It’ poster, 1 easel, 1 table, 10 cones, 10 sets of the same 6
food labels, tape, box to put food labels in
Procedure: Anticipatory Set/Explore: In a large group of 30-35, discuss the ‘Read it Before
You Eat It’ poster. Have the 2 lead teachers lead this portion of the lesson.
 Discuss with the participants where to find the food label at on each food
product, serving size and servings per container.
 Discuss what you need less of (fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium) and
what to get enough of (fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and Iron).
 Discuss the ‘5% is low and 20% is high’ rule and how to read the percentages
on the food label.
Explore: (All UNK teachers assist and teach)
 Next, break the large group of 30-35 into groups of 5 or 6 kids. You will
probably have 6-9 teams.
 Direct each team to a specific cone. Have participants stand beside cones in a
semi circle and face the end zone.
 Place food labels in a box in the middle of the end zone (about 10 yards away
from the starting cones). The game starts with the first person in line doing a
skill (run, walk, hop, shuffle, skip, etc) to the end zone. Once the person
reaches the end zone, they grab a food label out of the box and return to their
team while doing the same skill (run, walk, hop, shuffle, skip, etc).
HINT: model the steps in the game before they begin. Be sure you’ve actually
done the activity yourself on Thursday, 9/11 so you are familiar and confident.
 When they reach their team, the person will read what food label they have,
what the serving size is and how many calories are in the food. Ex. “I have a
carton of yogurt, serving size is 6 ounces and it has 100 calories per serving”.
HINT: At least one teacher should monitor and make sure they do this step.
 Once the labels have been read, they place the label on the ground in front of
the team and tag the next person in line.
  Repeat these steps until the 6 food labels have been picked up in the end zone.
 Once all the food labels have been retrieved, the group must work together
and arrange the food labels in order of the food with the least amount of
calories per serving to the most calories per serving.
 Once the team thinks they are correct, everyone must do 10 jumping jacks and
sit down. The group leaders will come and check for accuracy.
CONSIDER: If students are incorrect, what will you say to them?
Explain/Elaborate:
 Allow all teams to finish. If time permits, have a discussion with the teams
explaining why the foods are arranged in this particular order.
TO DO: Prepare various questions to ask during this portion of the lesson.
Show me your questions before leaving class on Thursday, 9/11.
CONSIDER: What will you do if you finish early? Share your ideas with me
on Thursday, 9/11.

Other Considerations For Effective Teaching & Hints From Previous Years:
 Active engagement (keep students involved, not just listening to a lecture)
 Break into smaller, more manageable groups whenever possible
 Try using cooperative learning structures, such as think-pair-share to allow all
students to participate
 Establish and teach an attention signal that your entire group will use to get
students attention-avoid yelling over students’ voices
 Ask questions throughout the lesson and allow for wait time
 Sit amongst students or participate when appropriate-rather than standing at
the “front” the entire time…be mobile and involved

Conclusion: Sometimes we form opinions about food without knowing all the facts. One of
the best ways to get a better understanding of the food we eat is to take a close
look at the Nutrition Facts food label. This station will help participants evaluate
foods based on the label information and arrive at a logical conclusion regarding
the nutritional value of the food.