Literature and Information

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 15.01.03

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Demographics
  3. Rationale
  4. Background Knowledge
  5. Content Knowledge
  6. Teaching Strategies
  7. Navajos and Farming (Week One)
  8. Fruits/Vegetables and our Body (Week Two)  
  9. Navajos, Diabetes & Exercising (Week Three)
  10. Annotated Bibliography
  11. Appendix A: Implementing Standards
  12. Notes

Farming, Food and a Balanced Navajo Lifestyle

LeTanya Krista James-Austin

Published September 2015

Tools for this Unit:

Introduction

“You are what you eat!” Ponder on that thought for a moment…

Now think about saying this to a five-year-old Kindergarten student. I wonder, do they understand what this means? Do they really know that what they eat on a daily basis affects their body? This powerful statement is the essential understanding that will steer my curriculum unit and will pique the curiosity of my eager, young scholars.

Jessica Brantley, Professor of English at Yale University was the seminar leader of “Literature and Information” which I had the honor of attending during the 2015 Yale National Initiative. In this session, we explored a variety of texts (novels, poems, picture books, speeches, etc.) and looked at the different ways of reading them. Each fellow had his or her interpretation of the texts and during the course of the seminar sessions, we were able to hear different views from each of the fellows, which in many cases, led to a whole group discussion. The discussions were intriguing, awe-inspiring and from time to time, emotional and personal. During these times, we also had a chance to explore the relationship between fiction and non-fiction. In the end, we all left with a greater knowledge of the seminar topic. Through the discussions, I came to the conclusion that fiction and non-fiction combined together is a powerful tool in teaching a new concept to Kindergarten students.

“Farms Feed the World” by Lee Sullivan Hill, is a non-fiction book that opens one’s eyes to how important farmers are in our world. We will constantly refer to the information from this book and make connections with other pieces of fiction and nonfiction literature that will be presented throughout this unit. The goal of this curriculum unit is to teach my students about the importance of their everyday well-being and how all the things that we eat in our daily lives have a direct effect on our bodies. Combining classroom education and healthy fresh food helps children to make healthy choices and educates them about where their food comes from1.

Comments:

Be the first to comment on this unit!

Add a Comment

Characters Left: 500

Unit Survey
Feedback