FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Grade Level: 3-5

Academic Areas: Health, Physical, and Family and Consumer Sciences, Science

Duration of service: Semester-Long

Character Virtues: Caring, Giving, Civic Virtue and Citizenship

Service Areas: Human Services, Education/Tutoring

Service Learning Project:

After completing a unit about nutrition, students will help inform and raise awareness of proper nutrition for families. In the process, students will create a balanced menu to feed a family of four for a week. Along with a grocery list and projected cost for those groceries, students will create a brochure/newsletter that reflects their understanding of the importance of including all of the food groups in their daily meals. These brochures/newsletter will reflect how families can better spend their money without sacrificing nutritional content. These brochures/newsletter will be reproduced and given to local grocery stores to distribute to the community. To further reach out to the community, students will then begin organizing the collection of food goods for those who are less privileged to help them to create well balanced meals. A second option that could be included to reach out to the community, students will organize and raise money (bake sale) to donate to a local agency who distributes food to families in need. (Note: Either or both community outreach could be used depending on your community, school, or classroom dynamics.)

Goals and Objectives

Academic

Learning Goal: Students will demonstrate an understanding of what a balanced diet is and how to provide a nutritious meal on a budget.

Standard: HPE/FCS Standard # 1 and Standard # 3

Learning Goal: Students will read and evaluate food labels to determine the nutritional values of food.

Learning Goal: Students will write business letters to solicit community involvement.

Standard: ELA Standard #1- and ELA Standard # 3 AND standard # 4 MST # 1, # 2, # 3

Service

Community need: A lack of good nutrition among families who are economically disadvantaged.

Possible Community Partners: soup kitchens, local groceries/businesses, PTA, school clubs, food manufacturers, local restaurants, local food pantries

Objective: Students will create brochures/newsletter that demonstrate their understanding of proper nutrition.

Objective: Students will design a method of collecting, sorting and distributing food items and brochures to those in need.

Objective: Students will organize and run a fund raising activity (ex. bake sale) to raise money to be donated to a local agency that distributes food to families in need.

Character

Virtue: Caring

Objective: Students will gain compassion for those who are economically disadvantaged.

Virtue: Giving

Objective: Students give of their time to complete this project.

Virtue: Civic Virtue and Citizenship

Objective: Students will build public awareness about the importance of a balanced diet and how to manage nutritious meals on a budget.

Key Activities

Key Planning Activities

1. Students will write letters to local food manufacturers and businesses asking for donations of non-perishable food items and permission to distribute brochures in their stores. Students will also create fliers to send home requesting family donations.

2. Students will organize and create posters to advertise a fund raising activity (bake sale) within their school to raise funds for a local food shelf agency. Students will help prepare some of the food items for the bake sale as well as run the sale during the school day. This activity could be done along with activity number one or instead of depending on your specific needs.)

3. Students will take a trip to the local grocery store to research and practice comparing food labels. (If a field trip is not possible, other ideas include: having students bring in food, asking the local food store manager to speak to the children, asking the district’s food service coordinator to speak, seeking out the assistance of parents and/or nutritionists to speak to the students, asking food pantry leaders/soup kitchen supervisors to come to school to speak to the children.)

4. A variety of food items will be purchased (generic vs. name brand) for the students to complete a taste testing activity. (The focus of this activity is to show the students that many generic items taste the same as name brand items and your family can save a lot of money by purchasing them. The students will not know which items they are sampling (generic vs. name brand) and they will pick which one they like better. Results will be reviewed and discussed.)

Key Service Activities

1. Students will create donation boxes to be placed in local supermarkets and places of worship. They will then arrange groups of students to collect items.

2. Students will create the food baskets to be distributed to economically disadvantaged community members.

3. Students will design brochures/newsletters that will be distributed to the community in the food baskets as well as at the local grocery stores.

4. Students will organize and run a fund raising activity (bake sale).

5. Students will visit the local agency that the funding is being given to. (if possible)

Key Reflection Activities

1. (oral – civic virtue and citizenship) Students will discuss in groups what benefits, if any, their new knowledge provided the community. What about the project was effective and what could be improved for the future? What frustrations did they meet? This oral reflection will be done throughout the entire project.

2. (written – caring) Students will write poems about what food means to them, to their family, and to economically disadvantaged members of the community. They will then compare and contrast these different perspectives.

3. Students will design a newsletter to be sent home and distributed in the local community about the project. Updates can also be placed in the school wide newsletter sent home weekly.

4. (performance – giving) Students will host a “fact a day” for the school at which they will share with their schoolmates facts about nutrition and its real-life applications for students. (This may be done in any fashion based on your school activities)

5. Students will participate in a taste testing activity with generic vs. name brand items and choose which items they prefer. (A cost comparison will also be part of this activity.)

Celebration Activity

Pictures will be taken throughout the project. Students will organize these pictures and report to the public and the school board about their project. Information will be provided to the newspapers and other local merchants about the project. Community members will be invited to a night of GOOD EATING where the students will present their information about nutrition and show the work they have done to promote it in the community. Certificates and thank you letters will be created by the students and will be given to local merchants who participated in the FOOD for THOUGHT project. Their names will be provided to the local newspapers so they can be recognized. Food pantry and soup kitchen supervisors, grocery store managers, etc, will be invited to attend this event. (Note: This celebration event can be modified based on your community/classroom needs.)