1. Combining Classroom and Cafeteria Nutrition Education
By: Angie Frost, RD, CD
Healthy Living Specialist

2. Team Nutrition Materials
Materials are:
Free!
Current
Developmentally appropriate
Adaptable to time frame and audience
Based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Meet education standards
Fun and engaging
As a former nutrition educator for a small mid-western school corporation, I became familiar with Team Nutrition materials quickly. I typically had a small or non-existent budget to work with so Team Nutrition materials really helped develop our nutrition education program. Team Nutrition materials are free, always current and developmentally appropriate. The materials can be modified to meet your time frame, audience and needs so they are very adaptable. Some TN materials are limited in the number of items that can be ordered by one person. In the next slide, I’ll tell you how I was able to have all the supplies I needed.
TN materials are based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and meet education standards for science, math, English language arts and health. And they are fun and engaging for the students.
At the beginning of each school year, I go on the TN website and order materials for the year. Those materials include posters, handouts and stickers that I, and my dietetic interns use to reinforce messages and encourage kids to try new foods both at school, in the classroom and the cafeteria, as well as at home.

3. Nutrition Education Resources
MyPyramid for Kids
The Two Bite Club book
Serving Up MyPlate: A Yummy Curriculum
Discover MyPlate
Posters, Songs, Handouts, Stickers, and Recipes
I used TN materials for 10 years while working with the school and started with MyPyramid for kids which I had great success with in grades I adapted the materials for a younger audience and used my version of the lessons in kindergarten and 1st grade while also using the Two Bite Try Club book with this age group. During that time we had a USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program grant which helped us combine the nutrition messages from MyPyramid with fruit and vegetable taste testings which we did in the classroom and in the cafeteria. Our mission has always been to keep our messages consistent throughout the school environment.
The Two Bite Try club book was first written using MyPyramid and has been updated to incorporate MyPlate. As the materials were updated to reflect the addition of MyPlate, I switched to using Serving Up MyPlate: A Yummy Curriculum for grades 2-5 and Discover MyPlate for kindergarten and 1st grade. Team Nutrition website also includes posters, songs, handouts, stickers and recipes as well as links to electronic games and e-books.

4. Implementation - Classroom
Classroom education
Nutrition lesson
Taste testing
Materials to take home
As I said, I most recently have used the Discover MyPlate materials in the kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms. The materials include everything you need from handouts that can be sent home to parents to emergent reader books, a workbook for kids and lesson plans for the teacher or guest speaker. In the classroom, dietetic interns and I used the materials by providing the students with a lesson featuring one of the food groups. After the lesson the students were treated to a small sampling of at least two foods from the food group we just learned about. For instance, when we learned about protein the students sampled hummus with pretzels sticks and black beans, for fruits we sampled fresh blueberries and dried apricots and for grains we tried toasted whole grain waffles and whole wheat penne pasta. For the final lesson, we brought the whole MyPlate concept together to illustrate balanced and healthy eating. The students were given toasted whole wheat English muffins with peanut butter (or Sunbutter), shredded carrots and raisins. They also were given a glass of milk and allowed to create fun faces out of the foods they were given. They were then allowed to eat their special art work and celebrate all the food groups being used for one great snack. (next slide). A helpful tip for this type of lesson is to have a presenter and a helper. The presenter reads a book to the class or does a small nutrition lesson while the helper portions out the snacks and places them at the students desk.
At the end of each lesson the students are given the emergent reader book that corresponds with the lesson of the day and handouts including recipes and messages for their parents.
This is how I’ve used and adapted the materials to fit my teaching style and time available in the classroom. The materials are very easy to use even if it’s your first time presenting nutrition information. Everything is laid out in easy to follow instructions with all materials included.
Helpful tip: For the Discover MyPlate curriculum, the order form allows you to order 1 set at a time. The set includes everything you need for a classroom of 25 students and the teacher. So, I asked all the kindergarten and any interested first grade teachers to order one set of supplies for their own classroom. I also ordered a set which assured me that we would have enough materials for each classroom using the teachers materials and my own set to cover all the kids as some classrooms have more then 25 students. This worked really well for me as teachers were eager to have the lessons taught in their classrooms by a dietitian!

5. MyPlate Snack

6. Implementation - Cafeteria
Bulletin boards in cafeteria
Interns choose topic and decorate boards
Topics reinforce classroom nutrition education
Photos
To reinforce the message from the classroom even further, I had dietetic interns create a bulletin board in the cafeteria featuring MyPlate or nutrition message of their choice. The bulletin boards in our cafeterias are very large which allowed for great creativity. I’ll show you some of the bulletin boards in the next few slides.
After the weekly classroom lesson we would visit the cafeteria during the lunch service to talk to students about the foods they chose or brought from home. This is a great opportunity to reinforce our classroom message, encourage trying new foods –especially new items being offered in the cafeteria, and make suggestions for a more balanced meal. The kids love to have us see what they are eating! (Provide some examples here)
Sometimes the cafeteria monitors ask us to wrap it up and leave the cafeteria because they kids get so loud and excited. If I’m being completely honest, I secretly love getting booted from the cafeteria!
Now, let’s take a look at some of the bulletin boards that have been created in the past.

7. What’s for lunch?

9. Make your Mission Good Nutrition

10. Fall in Love with
Fruits & Veggies

11. Eat A Rainbow!

12. Implementation Taste testing Classroom Cafeteria
We work closely with the cafeteria staff to not only provide taste testing with classroom lessons but also in the cafeteria. On days when we have tastings, we try to decorate the cafeteria following a theme and make the atmosphere extra special and fun. (photos are included next of an intern and the salsa tasting station along with a sample of the flyer and info handed out to students).
Students are encouraged to at least try two bites of each new food item. They are provided with a recipe for the food being offered and a flyer detailing the origin of the food, fun facts, recipes and a physical activity tip. Students are also given score cards so they can rate the food sample and provide feedback to me and the cafeteria staff.

13. Reinforcement
Nutrition education messages must be consistent from the classroom to the cafeteria to the home and community
Nutrition education messages must be consistent from the classroom to the cafeteria to the home and the community. A strong wellness policy is crucial as is a strong and fully-invested leader such as the superintendent. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have buy-in and support from those in leadership roles. I was fortunate to have a superintendent who truly believed that students need to be fed well and participate in physical activity in order to be the best learners they can be. A strong wellness policy and nutrition education, in the classroom and in the cafeteria, help support and reinforce the messages.

14. Team Nutrition materials are free and easy to order
Bonus
Team Nutrition materials are free and easy to order
Materials are delivered quickly and are easy to implement into any program
So let me finish by reiterating that TN materials are free and easy to order and the materials arrive very quickly.
Wrap up!

15. Questions?