How Many Ways Can We Eat…?

1. Discover nutritious foods. Colorful foods—fruits and vegetables—help keep children healthy! When children eat a variety of produce colors, they get a range of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Have students brainstorm a list of different fruits and vegetables. If they like, group them by color, such as juicy orange, radiant red, deep purple, yummy yellow, even hot pink! Write their names in matching Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencil colors.
2. Students talk with someone in their family about how to prepare these vegetables and fruits—fresh, frozen, or canned. Add these ideas to the class list.
3. Choose a cool (or hot) color. Choose one favorite colorful fruit or vegetable, such as broccoli or pineapple. How many ways can you eat it? Students make a cool cube to show your their ideas. On posterboard, draw six paper-plate-sized circles. Within each circle, draw a square so all four corners touch the circle’s sides. Cut out the circles with Crayola Scissors.
4. Inside four squares, students use Crayola Markers and Twistables® to draw different ways to serve their food choice such as soups, sauces, stir-fry, juice, raw with dip, and salads. In one square, include nutritional information about the food, such as the vitamins a serving contains. In the last square, write a recipe. Students ask a family member for one that reflects their heritage, such as pasta sauce or blueberry scones.
5. Construct the cube. Decorate the circles with bright patterns and designs. Along the lines that form each square, fold upward.
6. Place one circle face down on its edges. Select one edge from each of four other circles. Attach them to the edges of the circle facing down with a Crayola Glue Stick. Glue edges to adjoining edges, and add the last square to form a cube. Share the information gathered with classmates and family. Exchange recipes with friends!

LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

LA: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

LA: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

VA: Intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of experiences and ideas.

VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of ideas.

Possible classroom resources include: Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert; The Monster Health Book: A Guide to Eating Healthy, Being Active & Feeling Great for Monsters & Kids! by Edward Miller; Grover's Guide to Good Eating by Naomi Kleinberg

Students interview family members about healthy eating habits. Prior to the interviews, students collaborate to write questions to ask during the interview. Students write responses or audio-tape the interviews for follow-up discussions with classmates.

Students collect healthy recipes from family collections to share in the classroom. Students word process the recipes and use Crayola Colored Pencils to illustrate each recipe. Organize recipes into book format. Create an original cover for the recipe books.