Cassandra's Reflection

Obesity is a major epidemic in our country. I believe that much of it has to do with the convenience of "junk foods" and lack of education on healthy eating habits. Never the less, it is an issue. Before this blog I had no idea of how severe this issue really was. For my service learning project I wanted to do something to impact the future generation. So for my project I decided to do a lesson on nutrition with my group of first graders. I read them the story, "How Did That Get In My Lunchbox?" and taught them about important nutrients they need to ensure that they stay healthy. After reading the book and teaching them about nutrients, the children participated in a variety of activites. I found an online interactive game for them to play which focused on "nutrient superheroes." The game presented several scenarios, and asked the children to choose an appropriate nutrient super hero to help in the situation. For example, one scenario was about a child who broke the bones in his arm. It then asked the children to choose which nutrient super hero would help to build stronger bones. The answer was Captain Calcium. Following this online activity students were given a worksheet with a plate on it in which they would create a healthy meal with five items. Students seemed to love the activity and the teacher even wrote down the website I used for future refrence.

Doing this service learning project felt awesome! I truly felt that I was making some type of differnce. I think that the first step to change is to educate people, of all ages, on the issue. I think that helping the children to understand that foods play an important job in keeping us healthy might  influence their eating habits. I do feel as though service learning projects are useful teaching strategies because it allows the students to build a passion for the topic. By sharing their thoughts and knowledge with others it helps to build the sense of compassion and interest that the student running the service lerning project feels. I do think that I would continue to do this service learning project with my future students because it is such an important issue. Many children do not understand what constitiutes a healthy meal and it is something that all individuals should know no matter how small they are!

I think that to make this assignment better you should aware students straight from the begining of the semester to plan a day to get their service learning done. Once they know their topic, they should plan their service learning. I think that the planning of service learning would be a great initial assignment. I feel as though many of us felt rushed to complete our service learning which detracts away from its value.