Rationale
I have a particularly deep personal interest in this unit of study as food choice and exercise play a major role in my life. I believe that our bodies are a fascinating, complex, and unique set of systems that we must value and protect. Two of the ways we can do so are by what we choose to eat and how we use our bodies during our recreational time. It is important to note that I do not have unrealistic expectations. I do not want children to "give up" the foods that are tastiest and most enjoyable to them, like ice cream and sweets; rather, I hope to help them realize that eating a balanced diet, containing foods from all food groups, can be both pleasurable and beneficial. Students who are armed with the knowledge of what food is healthiest and how to maintain a balanced diet, even at a young age, will be able to make more informed decisions about what they eat in the future (be it that school year or when they get older) and will also have the potential to help their friends and family members make similar healthy choices. By sharing knowledge with them about the human body, and how what we eat affects our bodies and our minds, I hope to encourage them to make informed choices.
I teach a sixth grade bilingual class including special education students at Agua Fria Elementary School in Santa Fe, New Mexico. My school is in Restructuring Phase II, as mandated by the state, due to failure to make Adequate Yearly Progress for four consecutive years. We must therefore prepare an Alternative Governance Plan and develop and implement a two-year Educational Plan for Student Success to enhance both instruction and professional development. In addition, 100% of our students receive free breakfast and lunch which means that 90% are at the poverty level. There are approximately 575 students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade at Agua Fria, 66 % are English Language Learners (ELL), and 92% of the student population is Hispanic while 16% of the students receive Special Education services. My school has adopted an inclusion model of Special Education and is a Title I school meaning that there is a high poverty rate and low rate of literacy. Many of the students live in single-parent homes, and the majority have limited or no access to computer technology at home. Gang activity and levels of violence are rising among the community, and have become particularly prevalent in the sixth grade.
I teach the core content area subjects, including reading, language arts, social studies, science, and math to my sixth grade class. An overwhelming majority of those students are ELL with a home language of Spanish; most are from Mexico and are eleven or twelve years old. Few students have been in the United States for less than three years, while many have been in this country for much of their elementary school career. Nonetheless, the mobility rate of these students is quite high, only a handful each year has been at Agua Fria since kindergarten.
Each year, the academic levels of my students vary greatly. Because I teach a bilingual class, there are students who are truly bi-literate whereas others lack proficiency in either language. Most students have literacy skills well below the sixth grade level, and only a few are reading at grade level in English. Additionally, some of the students qualify for special education services due to academic and/or behavior issues (a few have tendencies towards violence). As a result of the varied levels and behaviors of my students, I organize my instruction in such a way as to meet the needs of all students while addressing our state standards for the sixth grade. In order to increase comprehension, it is important to introduce the subjects of study in multiple ways, for example, allowing the students to experience education in the physical sense. Together, using this philosophy and a series of activities that cut across ability and literacy levels, we will examine and answer the question, how do the quality of food intake and exercise affect academic achievement.
Because the majority of my students live in economically disadvantaged settings and often come to school hungry and tired, I will examine the connection between nutrition, exercise, and academic achievement. We live in a fast-paced, efficiency driven society. Many of my students live in single parent homes in which their care-takers work more than one full-time, low-paying job and are not able to be at home with their children after school. The students, who are between the ages of eleven and thirteen, are often left to care and cook for both themselves and their younger siblings. After school, many of them are not enrolled in sports-centered activities or music classes (for various economic and cultural reasons) and sit inside at home, unsupervised, playing video games or watching the television. They eat whatever is in the kitchen, which is often not very nutritious. Our school's "Wellness Team," consisting of the counselor, nurse, and social worker in charge of the Family Resource Center, provides some families with "Healthy Backpacks" filled with snacks for the home and I work after school with girls in grades three-six to teach them about making healthy life choices. Though all of our students are eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch, they generally do not eat the healthy, fresh salads and fruits given in the cafeteria and leave for recess still hungry and unable to perform their best work in the classroom. Through this curriculum unit, I not only aim to provide my students with the experience and knowledge that food choice and physical activity affect one's ability to succeed but also arm them with the tools necessary for eating better and exercising more.
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