Browse lesson plans

Breakfast builds brains

In Food for thought: Elementary lessons on nutrition and healthy living, page 3.2

This second-grade lesson plan, from the Food for Thought nutrition curriculum, stresses the importance of starting the day off right by eating a good breakfast that includes foods from the grains, fruits, milk, and meat food groups.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Healthful Living)

Don't forget breakfast

In Food for thought: Elementary lessons on nutrition and healthy living, page 4.4

This third-grade lesson plan, from the Food for Thought nutrition curriculum, teaches students that starting every day with a good breakfast helps them get ready for the day by fueling their bodies and brains.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Healthful Living)

Healthy choices: Part I

In Food for thought: Elementary lessons on nutrition and healthy living, page 6.1

We all like to eat snacks, but are our choices healthful? This fifth-grade lesson plan, from the Food for Thought nutrition curriculum, teaches students about the food groups, the nutrients that make up foods, and how to make smart snack choices.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Healthful Living)

Healthy foods = super kids

This lesson focuses on how the foods we eat affect our bodies in both beneficial and harmful ways. Students will learn that grains provide energy; vegetables are needed for healthy skin, hair and eyes; fruits help the body heal, milk builds strong bones and teeth; meat builds muscle and gives strength; and sweets, fats, and oils are high in calories and give few vitamins and minerals and do little to help our bodies grow.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 English Language Arts, English Language Development, and Healthful Living)

By Phyllis Bass and Rubetta Carr.

MyPyramid

In Food for thought: Elementary lessons on nutrition and healthy living, page 2.1

Eating nutritious foods and getting plenty of exercise is important for everyone. This first-grade lesson plan from the Food for Thought nutrition curriculum teaches students about MyPyramid for Kids and the nutritious foods that belong in each of the six color-coded food groups.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Healthful Living and Mathematics)

MyPyramid for kids

In Food for thought: Elementary lessons on nutrition and healthy living, page 3.1

This second-grade lesson plan from the Food for Thought nutrition curriculum teaches students about MyPyramid and how a balanced diet from each of the food groups, along with plenty of exercise, will keep them healthy.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Healthful Living and Mathematics)

MyPyramid: Eat a variety of foods

In Food for thought: Elementary lessons on nutrition and healthy living, page 1.1

Foods and their packaging come in many different shapes. In this kindergarten lesson plan from the Food for Thought nutrition curriculum, students learn about the food groups found in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid and look for foods, packaging, and cooking utensils shaped like squares and rectangles.

Format: lesson plan (grade K Healthful Living and Mathematics)

Whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy

In Food for thought: Elementary lessons on nutrition and healthy living, page 2.2

We all have favorite foods we like to eat, but it is important to eat all kinds of foods to have a balanced diet. This first-grade lesson plan from the Food for Thought nutrition curriculum teaches students about the nutritious foods that can be found in the five food groups of MyPyramid.

Format: lesson plan (grade 1 Healthful Living)

Resources on the web

Combining foods

In this lesson, the fourth of a six-part unit from Illuminations titled “Food Pyramid Power,” students explore addition and comparison subtraction by modeling and recording related addition and subtraction facts for a given number. The students... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Healthful Living and Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations

Eating patterns

In this lesson, the second of a six-part unit from Illuminations titled “Food Pyramid Power,” students sort pictures of food and create patterns. They also analyze a partner's patterns and extend those patterns. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Healthful Living and Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations

Pyramid power

In this lesson, the third of a six-part unit from Illuminations titled “Food Pyramid Power,” students make sets of a given number, explore relationships between numbers, and write numbers that name how many elements are in a group. They make... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Healthful Living and Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations

Sorting foods

In this lesson, the first of a six-part unit from Illuminations titled “Food Pyramid Power,” students visit a website to play a game related to the food pyramid and sort foods using the categories of the food pyramid. They also create sets up... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Healthful Living and Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations

Try for five

In this lesson, the fifth of a six-part unit from Illuminations titled “Food Pyramid Power,” students explore the many ways to decompose numbers and then build on their knowledge of addition and subtraction to find missing addends. They also... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 Healthful Living and Mathematics)

Provided by: Illuminations