Introduction:                                This activity was developed to promote
                                                      healthy alternatives to fast food, in the context of          the healthy living curriculum.  In today's fast paced society, a very large percent of children consume fast food products many times a week.  These large corporations target children through advertising, disregarding healthy living and nutrition.
 

Audience:                                    This activity is focused for a kindergarten thru second grade classroom studying healthy living.  The students in second grade will need some background knowledge in order to access information off the internet.  If the teacher chooses not to use the internet, the lesson my be adapted by using other outside resources.
 

Objectives:       From the Healthy Living Curriculum
                          Kindergarten
                          1.1  Describing influences on health
                          5.2  Naming and categorizing foods
                          5.3  Identifying health promoting foods

                          First grade
                          5.2  Choosing healthful breakfast menus from variety of alternatives
                          5.4  Naming important guides for healthful eating: eat breakfast,
                                 eat many different kinds of foods, don't eat too much of any
                                 one food.

                          Second grade
                          5.1  Categorizing simple and processed foods according to the major
                                  food groups in a balanced diet.
    `                     5.2   Identifying the sweets, fats, and oils food group as the least
                                   important for healthful eating.
                          5.3   Distinguishing between balanced and unbalanced meals in own
                                  eating patterns.

                                                  Objectives from the Information Skills Curriculum:

                                                    *  Information Skills Curriculum *

Activity:                                        To engage the class in discussion we begin with a survey of the
                                             students' favorite places to eat.  The data that we collect will be
                                             displayed by a pictograph on the overhead or chalkboard.  By
                                              reviewing the pictograph the students will choose the top three
                                              places of choice made by the class.  They will then pick one of
                                          three restaurants for further nutritional information.  For the second
                                     graders they will use the internet to access their choice's home pages.
                                Kindergarten and First grade students will review a taped segment of fast
                        food commercials, and will then as a class be asked to create a list of things that
                        they saw. Here, the teacher will create a list on the board for the students.
                            Next, the teacher will introduce the food pyramid and how to distinguish
                        between balanced and unbalanced meals.  The older students will do
                        research on the internet to find the food pyramid. The younger students will
                        create their own pyramid by cutting pictures from magazines.
                        For independent practice the students will record their weekly diet of
                        breakfast, lunch and dinner in their personal journals.  At the conclusion of the
                        week, the students will review what they have eaten during the week and
                        make a list of healthier alternatives they could have chosen.
 
 

                                                                 
                                                                Click here to find more
                                                                information on the food
                                                                        pyramid.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Media Analysis                      Media Literacy Key Concepts

1.  All media are constructions.  Media products are carefully crafted constructions, the results
of many decisions, conscious and unconscious.

2.  The media are commercial entities.  All media products are shaped, in terms of both their
form and their content, by commercial considerations.

3.  Media communicate values and ideology.  All media products contain implicit and explicit
value messages and assumed truths about the nature of human beings and the world in which we
live.

4.  The media have social and political implications.  The mass media have the potential to
affect out behavior as individuals and citizens in a variety of ways.

5.  Media forms are related to content.  Different media represent reality in different ways:  the
form of a given piece of media shapes the message it sends.

6.  The media have aesthetic qualities.  Familiarity with the aesthetic dimensions of media can
lead to deeper understanding and greater enjoyments.

7.  Audiences are involved in the process of creating meaning.  What a viewer makes of a
piece of media depends on his or her past experiences, viewing skill, and current state of mind.