September 30, 2010 (Updated March 2, 2023)

Teaching Recap: “Cheese isn’t a Grain!”

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

13 comments

Hello friends!

Whew, it’s been a busy couple days! As I mentioned, yesterday I taught a lesson on the Food Pyramid to 3rd graders with a couple other classmates as part of the experiential component of our Maternal and Children’s Health Nutrition class. It was fun! The kids at the elementary school were super cute and very into the lesson, raising their hands to tell us their favorite foods and what they knew about nutrients and everything. I was impressed with how smart they were!

food_pyramid

We played a game at the end to review what they learned, giving them index cards with food names and having them put the cards into the bag labeled with the correct food group! They had fun with it 🙂

There was one really funny exchange with a rather sullen kid, though, ha — in the first minute of class, too! Check it out:

Me: The first section of the Food Pyramid we’re going to talk about today is Grains! What are some of your favorite grains?

Kids raise hands and say rice, pasta, bread, etc., and then:

Blonde kid: Cheese!

Me (smiling): Cheese isn’t a grain!

Blonde kid (hostile): I don’t CARE if cheese is a grain.

Me: Well, that’s not very nice, now is it? You can tell us all about your favorite cheese when we get to the dairy category.

Lol. I’m glad I’ve taught kids before so I wasn’t phased! Kids are so funny. He did actually cheer up later on in the lesson and tell us his favorite cheese was pepper jack… poor guy was probably just having a bad day!

We helped weigh and measure some of the kids with the school nurse afterwards — I’d forgotten they do that in schools so they can track their growth on charts! It was good practice for our RD internships 🙂

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Guest Post Extravaganza

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I’m off to relax (and see “Easy A” with the girls later, heh!), so I will leave you with some fun guest posts I wrote that appear on other blogs/websites today!

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lists_in_my_pocket

  • First up — my former college roommate and good friend Lisa’s blog! Her blog, called lists in my pocket, is about ways to simplify your life, whether it be decorating your home, juggling priorities, or managing your life. For her “Simplify Series,” I wrote a guest post with my favorite food-related tips for making my life both easier AND healthier! Check it out 🙂

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daily_spark

  • Next up: a new guest post on the awesome Spark People blog, dailySpark! I’ve written a couple posts for them now, and my first post in particular, “How To Pack Lunch in 5 Minutes,” was a HUGE success, so for this month’s post they asked me to do a follow up 5-minute lunch post with some new lunch ideas! Click here to read it!

~ ~ ~

savvy_eats

  • And lastly: I’m featured on miss Savvy Julie’s “Savvy Spotlight” today! She’s on her honeymoon in Italy right now and is featuring other bloggers and friends while she’s gone. In my spotlight, I talk about how I practice being savvy in life, food, and fitness 🙂 Please go take a looksie!
- anne

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13 comments
  • Haha kids know everything, don't they?!?! LoL, it's worse when you get to the high school kids. Then they really have all the answers. I sometimes think, "what am I even doing here?! They know it all." :)
    Reply
    • Oh man, I remember that from teaching the 8th and 9th graders in Prague! Haha
      Reply
  • looks like you've been busy! great stuff!! I bought the groupon for franklin st yoga so maybe I'll see you there!! Hilary
    Reply
    • Oh yay! Say hello if you see me there :) I'm terrible at recognizing people, haha!
      Reply
  • That was very mature of you not to embarrass the child by calling him out. He probably got up on the wrong side of the bed. Even kids have bad days. Love your post on teaching the class. If you do it again share, please.
    Reply
  • Haha, sounds like you had an interesting day of teaching! :-) I guess I'll have to go and check out some of your guest posts...by the way...how do you find time for all of the blogging, guest posts, and school?! I am having such a hard time with it. :-?
    Reply
    • Well, I've actually had to turn down a lot of guest posting opportunities this fall because I just haven't had time. :( These three just happened to be posted on the same day, but I actually wrote them over the past month (actually one was even written back in August!), so they were very spread out. Otherwise, I'm considering blogging my part time job, so that way I don't feel guilty spending time on it even though it's fun :) But school work comes first, of course!
      Reply
  • Savvy, indeed. That's you. And glad your first time back in a classroom since Prague went so well! Great work!
    Reply
  • HAHA! That is a cute story. I am kind of surprised that a kid likes pepper jack. I hated spicy things as a kid.
    Reply
    • I was surprised, too! Another said goat cheese - that surprised me majorly as well I would basically only eat regular cheddar when I was little!
      Reply
  • Hey Anne, I came across this recently (new and improved food pyramid) which I think is great and it's about time :o) I think the current Food Pyramid is way outdated, though the one you have posted is definitely the cutest one I've ever seen! haha Cheers to teaching kids the difference between grains and cheese! http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/ http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/files/Healthy-Eating-Pyramid-handout.pdf
    Reply
  • So cool that you're doing a guest-post on Lisa's blog! Love it! :)
    Reply