Discussing the Menu for Three-Year-Old Children

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title: Early Childhood Education

  Course Title: Early Childhood Education 1

  Course Number: 8405110

  Career Cluster: Education and Training

  CIP Number: 0419070913

  Course Type: Career Preparatory

  CTE Standard(s) and Benchmarks:

  Focus

  04.01 Identify the nutritional needs of infants through school-age children (birth through age 8).

  Supporting

  04.05 Describe how to encourage positive food choices and good eating habits for toddlers through school age children.

  04.04 Identify foods that are potentially dangerous for young children’s consumption.

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “Mealtime with Toddlers.” See CPALMS resource ID #207741.

• Career Connection

  
  

  This lesson supports the career building skills of oral communication, active listening, and being a member of a team. In addition, this lesson practices supporting children’s nutritional needs and encouraging positive food habits with young children, essential skills for early childhood educators.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Role-play as two different individuals working together, one presenting concerns and the other actively listening.
  • Describe ways to encourage positive food habits with three-year-old children.
  • Apply knowledge of nutritional needs of three-year-old children to evaluate a menu.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/able to:

  • Age-appropriate food service and nutritional needs for children three-years of age.
  • Developmental growth and skills of three-year old children.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How can a weekly menu help meet the nutritional and safety needs for three-year-old children?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, refer to the case study, Mealtime with Toddlers, (See CPALMS Resource ID #207741).
  • Consider providing students with a copy of the case study so that they can highlight important details of Taylor’s observations.
  2. Pose the following discussion questions as the case study is read.
  • What are Taylor’s concerns? Are her concerns justified by her observations?
  • What are the most pressing issues with Taylor’s concerns?
  • How does the menu support (or not support) her concerns?
  • Who should Taylor speak with about her concerns?
  • How do you suspect Taylor is reacting to these observations in the moment?
  3. Explain to students that they will be role-playing a discussion about Taylor’s concerns. They will act both as Taylor and as Morgan in two different situations.
  4. Provide students with time to plan their main discussion points/claims, observations, and suggestions for when they are acting as Taylor in the role-play.
  • Provide students with the Role Play Notes handout (see attachments). Students should choose at least three main claims related to each factor (nutrition, food habits, and safety).
  5. Before the role-plays begin, review classroom etiquette for discussions. Although the students are role-playing, their actions should remain appropriate for the context and classroom.
  6. Conduct two rounds of role-play scenarios so that each student can act as Taylor and Morgan.
  • See the Teacher Notes for pacing and grouping suggestions.
  7. To bring the lesson to a close, have students complete the Role Play Exit Ticket (see attachments). Students will decide whether their peer, in the role of Taylor, sufficiently expressed concerns about the menu and persuaded you, in the role of Morgan, to consider alternatives.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • A time limit for each role-play scenario is recommended. This can help provide structure and conciseness to their conversations. Mimicking a real-world situation, where Taylor and Morgan have limited time to debrief each day, a time limit between five and eight minutes is suggested.
  • Teachers can choose to partner students and have each student switch roles with one another. Another suggestion is to change up the partners after the first round of role-plays. This may help eliminate the redundancy of some role-play conversations. For classes with odd numbers of students, conduct three rounds of role-plays by dividing the class into three, and having the groups take turns as Taylor, Morgan, and as listeners.

• Optional

  
  

  Formative Assessment Ideas:

  • The Role Play Handout can be used to determine students’ understanding of identifying the nutritional and safety needs of students, and ideas for encouraging positive food habits.

  Accommodation Suggestions:

  • Allow students to prepare and record a discussion as Taylor presenting her concerns to Morgan, without the role-play piece and allowing students extra time to practice.

  Extension Ideas:

  • Have students imagine that their discussion with Morgan didn’t go so well. Have students discuss what Taylor’s next steps might be if her concerns continue.