Health and the Newspaper

 

For teachers grades K-5

 

1. Have students look for articles and advertisements that appear concerning dieting, grooming, health and personal appearance. Have them prepare an oral presentation using this article or product. The presentation could be in the form of a skit, commercial or a public service spot. Have the presentations broadcast over the school public address system.

 

2. Divide your class into five sections and give each section one of the five food groups: cereal and grains, meat and poultry, fruits, dairy products and vegetables. Let them explore the grocery ads and feature pages to find pictures of foods that would fit into your category.

 

3. Using the grocery ads in the newspaper, have the class choose appropriate foods for planning a breakfast, a lunch, a picnic, a birthday party for a classmate, a birthday party for Mom and Dad and a holiday dinner.

 

4. Have each student plan their favorite meal by cutting out pictures of the foods they would include in the meal. Have them paste the meal on a paper plate. Do they have a food from each food group?

 

5. Find several recipes in the newspaper. Examine the ingredients needed to prepare the recipe to see which food groups are represented. Discuss with the class the necessity of a balanced diet. Does this recipe make a nutritious dish? What is needed if it does not?

 

6. Examine the school lunch menus. Which meals are balanced? Which are not? What items are needed to make them nutritious?

 

7. Locate an article in the paper about a disease or virus. Use this information to plan a lesson on preventing the spread of contagious diseases.

 

8. Have the students write a fictional news story about how they found the spread of a mysterious disease.