EDFN 305

Praxis Project: Unit Map

Unit Theme / Topic / Problem?
Grade?
Culture, Media, & Community: Health
7 Grade English
Unit Relevance? (Why is this topic
Duration?
important for students to study / act
4 Weeks
upon?) To be aware of ones body and what
you are putting into it/treating it to prevent
diseases, obesity, and be able to live longer.
Students will understand the types of foods
that are good and bad for them. They will
learn how to set appropriate goals that
pertain to a healthy lifestyle. Students will
also understand how the community and
media influence their health.
th

Essential Questions? (Brainstorm 2

to 4 driving ?s)
What resources are available in your
community to support a healthy
lifestyle?
What role does the media play in
influencing what you eat?
In what ways does your culture
influence your state of health?

Culminating Learning Action /

Product / Assessment?
(What will students do to present their
learning and take action?)

Learning Product #1:

Food log and Analysis: Be able to track school
lunch for one week and then be able to reflect
on ones diet analyzing all aspects of their
school lunches and knowing how to improve
ones diet.

Learning Product #2:

Self-Assessing Writing Product: Be able to

In what ways can students take action describe positive and negative aspects of ones
current state of health. Know how Jordan
and make a healthy change within
Elementary is contributing to or hurting ones
their school?

health. Analyze community factors contributing

to ones health, and make the community aware
of what students are consuming in school.

Learning Product #3:

Nutritional SMART goals: Be able to
understand what a SMART goal is and be able
to set a SMART goal for ones self, following
through with the goal. Also, be able to create a
SMART goal to have in their own homes.
Finally, be able to create a SMART goal for the
community to work towards a healthier
lifestyle.
Culminating Group Project: Students
will all write formal letters to the principal to
make healthy changes to their school lunches.

Students will collectively create a brochure of

what changes they want to see and why to
inform the school. Within the brochures,
students will each place an image they had
taken for a week of their school lunches to
establish a visual aspect of what theyre being
given as a healthy nutrition. With a teachers
assistance, students will collaborate as a class
and create a twitter account to establish an
engagement with the public in addressing
Jordan Elementary school lunches. Students
will also go around the school with the
brochure and a petition, getting it signed by
their peers, teachers, faculty, etc. to enable the
change of school lunches. As a result of their
accomplishment, their work will be updated
within their class twitter account informing the
progress in changing their school lunches to a
healthier lifestyle.

Essential Threads? (Place an X for

those that apply)
class(ism) labor
politics / gov.
culture X land / geography race(ism)
economics migration

resources X

gender

resistance

oppression

Other Understandings Students Will Applicable Disciplines and Specific

Standards?
Gain?

Place an X for applicable disciplines

(write in details)

Local: Current and/or Historical

Language Natural Visual
Understandings
Arts X
Sciences Arts X
Billboards: Recognizing unhealthy and
healthy billboards
Local restaurants: Recognizing healthy Mathemati Psycholog Specific
cs
y
Disciplin
vs. unhealthy options on menu
X
e: ELA and
Local parks/YMCAs/recreational
Reading
Media /
Social
facilities: Gain knowledge of their
Sciences
surroundings in their neighborhoods so Tech
X
they can continue to learn and exercise.
Theater /
Sidewalk vendors: Understanding that Music
Drama
it is junk food and they need to just
keep walking.
Convenient Stores: Good and bad in
convenient stores, and recognizing item
placement within the stores and
knowing what to avoid.
Key Competencies (Common Core,
Global Connections (Current /
ACT, or ILS)(use Skills Cluster Maps for

additional planning)
Historical)
CCSS. ELA-LITERACY.W.7.5 With some
Television/Movies: Recognizing that
commercials show thin models eating a guidance and support from peers and adults,
develop and strengthen writing as needed by
giant cheeseburger from Hardees for planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or typing
example, and have mostly skinny actors a new approach, focusing on how well purpose
and actresses in TV shows. TV can
and audience have been addressed.(Editing for
conventions should demonstrate command of
promote weight gain with
(McDonalds) advertisements, as well Language standards 1-3 up to and including
grade 7.)
as promote weight loss through
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.2.F Provide a
workout DVDs etc. Understanding the concluding statement or section that follows
contradicting messages can lead to
from and supports the information or
body image issues and/or eating
explanation presented.
disorders.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.6 Use technology,
Internet: Websites are geared towards including the Internet, to produce and publish
writing and link to and cite sources as well as to
young men/women that are packed
with extreme thinness, beauty, muscle interact and collaborate with others, including
linking to and citing sources.
one, which can lead to an unrealistic
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.2.A Introduce a
image and create low self-esteem.
topic clearly, previewing what is to follow;
Magazines: How they portray how men organize ideas, concepts, and information,
using strategies such as definition,
and women should look, but use
classification, comparison/contrast, and
airbrush techniques and Photoshop
cause/effect; include formatting(e.g.,
with professional models to give
headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and
unrealistic images to readers.
multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.1.B Support
claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant
evidence, using accurate, credible sources and
demonstrating an understanding of the topic or
text.
CCSS.ELA-READING.RI.7.3 Analyze the
interactions between individuals, events, and
ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence
individuals or events, or how individuals
influence ideas or events).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and
analyze its development over the course of the
text; provide an objective summary of the text.
Main Texts? (Readings, video, photos, art,
music, etc.)
Choosing Health By: April Lynch, Barry
Elmore, and Jerome Kotecki Media and
Health page 11
Movie: Fed Up
Article: Position of the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics: Total Diet Approach
to Healthy Eating
Choosing Health Media and Body
Image page 128
Website: nhli.nih.gov Calculate your Body
Mass Index
Website: These Teens Hate Their School

Lunches and They Are Blaming Michelle

Obama for it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/21/
thanksmichelleobamahashtag_n_6200618.html?
&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

Critical Vocabulary Terms?

Self-Assessment/Evaluation
Self-Monitoring
Proper Nutrition
Daily Values of food groups
SMART goals
Community Resources
Behavior Change
Self-efficiency
Relapse
BMI: Body Mass Index
Modifications / Differentiation?
Students read grade-appropriate text for
centered topic
Students read in pairs
Modify reading material to meet 7th
grade reading level
Print out website article section to be
read by students
Given more time to complete homework
assignments

Primary Instructional Approaches?

Compare and Contrast
Cause and Effect
Peer editing
Brainstorming and mapping
Using resources

Community connection? (field

trips, speakers, events)
Local Field Trip: Take a walk around the
school to analyze school neighborhood to
recognize surrounding restaurants, grocery
stores, YMCAs, Rogers Park Food Market,
etc. How does the community support or
not support a healthy lifestyle in terms of
resources?
Speaker: Local trainer/nutritionist from a
YMCA facility speaks in the classroom
about the long-term benefits of healthy
living, how they can get involved with what
the YMCA has to offer, etc.
Event: Host a school-wide Jump Rope for
Heart to encourage everyone to make
healthier life choices. Jump Rope for Heart
is an educational fund development
program that is co-sponsored by the
American Heart Association and SHAPE
America. It teaches kids about having a
healthy heart through a fun activity like
jump rope, which many different
techniques and tricks are taught to the kids.

Scope and Sequence (a list of

key activities / steps towards the learning project
/ action)
See folders 2c for skill support, 2d for
instructional support and 2e for assessment ideas
in the Curriculum Toolkit, 3rd ed.

I.

Students will be keeping a food log

everyday for one week. They will be
tracking what they eat for their
school lunch, not only documenting
in written form but also by taking a
picture of their lunch. After the log is
completed, students will be able to
write a 2-page reflection about their
diet. Analyze your school lunch. What
could you do better? Do you have
healthier alternatives? Are you
meeting daily requirements for
optimal nutrition? Etc. How does the
media influence your choices of what
you eat? Conclude with two general
goals you would like to commit to
over the next few weeks towards a
healthier lifestyle. Students will be
able to track and understand exactly
what they are eating and whether or
not there is nutritional value behind
the foods consumed. They will also be
able to reflect on what foods they ate
and then set goals towards a healthier
diet.

II.

Students will write a paper over their

current health state. They will
describe both healthy and unhealthy
habits they display, while also
answering these questions: What
would you change about your overall
health? How is your community
aiding/hurting your health? What
surrounds your neighborhood? What
do you have access to? Etc. They will
then collectively create a flyer to be
hung around the community to
inform people of what Jordan
Elementary is feeding the students.
This will engage community
involvement. At the end of this
lesson, students will have an
understanding of what their daily

eating habits are and have an

understanding of what needs to be
changed to move towards a healthier
lifestyle.

III.

Nutritional SMART Goal. Complete a

SMART goal as discussed in class,
track yourself. Are you completing
your goal? Is your culture
contributing to what you are in taking
or prohibiting you from essential
nutrients? Explain. Create a poster of
SMART goal including visuals, color,
cutouts, etc. for a homework
assignment. Students will be able to
understand and create an appropriate
and realistic goal and take
responsibility in following through
with the goal through a visual aid
created and personalized by them.
Next, students will create a SMART
goal to use and follow in their own
homes. This will consist of a smaller
version of the personal poster. Using
a blank sheet of paper students will
write out the SMART goal and then
hang it somewhere in their kitchen.
Finally, they will create a SMART
goal for the community to get
everyone involved and to help
everyone make healthier choices. At
the end of this lesson, students will
know what foods they should include
in their everyday diet and how to
properly set realistic and effective
goals for themselves, for their homes,
and for their community.