I will begin the lessons in this unit by writing the word obese and asking the students to state what they think it means. I will then present the journal article titled
Childhood Obesity: The Health Issue
to facilitate an open forum discussion on the information presented in the journal article.3 The students will state their opinions on childhood obesity and the reasons for the increase in the amount of overweight children. I will chart their responses on chart paper and hang the chart paper in the classroom. This chart of responses will be revisited to see if any of the reasons stated are actual reasons for childhood obesity. The students will also predict if they think an obese child will become an obese adult. I will then go on to inform the students that obesity is not just what we see on our bodies, but that there are underlying factors involved and underlying organ systems that are affected.
The lessons will be presented using the correct terminology. The students will be given a journal to write all new unit vocabulary words and their definitions. The students will also be encouraged to draw a quick sketch of the unit vocabulary word to gain a clearer understanding and a better connection to the unit vocabulary words introduced. At the end of each lesson the students will also be asked to summarize the information presented in the lesson. In summarizing the information presented in the lesson the students will be synthesizing the information to gain a better understanding of the nonfiction information presented. Along with summarizing the students will also be encouraged to add any sketches/drawings that can help them personalize the information.
This journal will also serve as a daily assessment tool for me and through these daily assessments I will be better able to provide students with immediate feedback and/or redirect any misunderstandings. The lessons will be presented in the four sections stated in the unit overview.