VISUAL-MOTOR INTEGRATION (VMI) Information

Links:

Home

[lessonplanbuilder.org aided in building the structure of this lesson plan]

NUTRITION: ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS and FOOD LABELS

Subject: Health
Grade Level: 9 - 12 (can be adapted for grades 6 - 8)

Instructional Setting:
Single Student, Small Group, Full Class

Student Population:
General or Special Education

General Description of Lesson:
Basic and practical nutrition information and the influence of nutrition on health will be presented using multisensory methods (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic).

Content Standards:
See your state's applicable standards (Health or Biology/Life Sciences).

Lesson Objectives:
***Students will learn the names of the six basic nutrients.
***Students will understand how the quality and quantity of nutrients influence health.
***Students will be able to read food labels and assess nutrients that are healthy and those that are not healthy and why.

Specialized resources included in this lesson plan:
***Overhead projector (to enlarge copies of food labels)
***Data processor: CPU unit and/or mobile unit (for possible student use)
***Dragon Naturally Speaking Standard Edition voice-recognition software (for student use)

Software Applications:
Word Processor, Voice Recognition Software

Computer Equipment:
CPU computer, possible mobile data processing unit, Internet access, projection device

Student Technology Competency Level :
***General Computer Skills: Intermediate
***Word Processing: Intermediate

LESSON PROCEDURE:

Time Required:
Varies depending on class composition, but count on four to five class periods of 50 minutes each.

Materials and Resources used by teachers and students:
***Whiteboard and whiteboard colored pens for graphic organizer
***Copy machine (copy graphic organizers for students with VMI or dysgraphia--they will try to make their own copy with the other students, but will be assured that they will have teacher-copies)
***Several food labels (bring in entire food package when possible, e.g., entire cereal box)
***Overhead projector
***Paper (long blank for graphic organizer and lined for assignment)
***Pencils or pens, highlighters optional
***Possible use of data processor: CPU unit or mobile unit
***Possible use of voice-recognition software

Preparation for Teacher:
***Research and use of textbook to find essential nutrients and their influences on health. (particularly cardiovascular disease and cancer).
***Prepare assessments (informal and formal).
***Develop graphic organizers for whiteboard and student learning tool.
***Collect food labels; ask students to bring some
in two weeks before the lesson begins.

Step by Step Teacher Procedure:
***Ask students what they had for breakfast that
morning;then ask them what they had for dinner
the night before; then ask them what they plan
on having for lunch/brunch that same day.
***Preview lesson orally and with bullet-point
notes on the whiteboard.
***Over three (at the least) class sessions,
present lesson on essential nutrients,
influences on health, and nutrition labels:
Direct instruction with graphic organizers
being built on the whiteboard and on students'
blank long sheets of paper. One graphic
organizer is on both sides of the paper
(essential nutrients). Another graphic
organzer is on a single side (influences on
health).
***Informal assessments: check graphic organizers as students work; question students randomly (e.g., using name sticks) concerning content.
***Food label in-class project/assignment; students work in PAIRS: ask students to choose five containers from those provided. Ask students to write down on lined paper: (1) at least one thing healthy about the food; (2) at least one thing unhealthy about the food; and (3) a disease that could be influenced by eating too much of the particular food.
***Formal assessment (see below).

Assessment Types:
Informal and Formal
Assessment Plan:
Students' progress will be assessed by observation, project/assignment results, oral questioning-and-answering, and a written multiple choice/short answer/fill-in-the-blank exam.

STUDENTS WITH VMI OR DYSGRAPHIA can demonstrate their knowledge with these assessments which do not require them to write much (or at all).

If writing is required, for example, if a short answer question requires more than a few words or if a short or long essay is necessary, then there are four options for students with VMI or dysgraphia:
(1) use of a data processor (could be a computer or a mobile data processor);
(2) use of a computer with voice-recognition software installed on it;
(3) allow bullet-point responses; and/or
(4) oral testing (allow verbal responses)

Note:
STUDENTS WITH VMI OR DYSGRAPHIA will have teacher-copies of the graphic organizer available and will not be the person in the pair to write down the project/assignment answers.
Accommodations concerning the formal written assessment has been noted, above.
Of course, extra time is a standard accommodation for students with VMI or dysgraphia.
See also INTERVENTIONS and ACCOMMODATIONS pages.