Healthier Cafeteria Food

Introduction

Hey 4th Graders,

Do you want school lunches to contain healthier foods?  There are so many opinions on what schools need to do to provide healthier meals for students. Some people suggest getting rid of meat and bringing in more vegetables into our lunch plates. As you begin this assignment, be thinking about your favorite cafeteria lunches (pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, Taco Tuesdays and our very favorite: BBQ Day!) You will read two articles and watch a short video about what people and kids are saying about this hot topic. You will write an essay, as the principal of our school, stating your opinion about whether school cafeterias should stop serving meat to make/serve healthier meals for students. So, prepare to wear your principal hat and decide what our school will do next year!

 OUR FATE IS IN YOUR HANDS!!!

Task

Today, you will be our school principal and have the super-power to choose the best lunch option for ALL the students in our school. As a principal, you have to consider:

  • What do the students like to eat?
  • What is good for them ( think about the balanced diet)?
  • How expensive will it be for the school?
  • How expensive will it be for the families?

You will then write an essay and send it to our Board of Directors. Your opionion matters the most in this matter and will be taken very seriously.

For the essay, your focusing question will be:

"Should School Cafeterias stop serving meat to make/serve healthier meals for students?"

You will support your thinking with facts and reasons from the articles and video.

Process

#1: Read the article:School Cafeteria With no Chicken Fingers or Meatballs Hmm..

http://www.dogonews.com/2013/5/6/a-school-cafeteria-with-no-chicken-fin…

On a separate piece of paper, please take notes of facts or opinions that you could use or agree with. You may need them when you are thinking through your response. Think about the question: "Should school cafeterias stop serving meat to make/serve healthier meals for students?"

#2 Read the article: Kids Chefs at the White House.

http://www.timeforkids.com/news/kid-chefs-white-house/167466

Take notes! Write down any facts, opinions or quotes that you like.

#3 Watch the video: Judging of the 2014 Healthy Lunchtime Challenge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_Dg_cKzhNw

Once again, write down what you think might be useful for you when you write that essay.

#4 Partner Talk

Think about our essential question: "Should school cafeterias stop serving meat to make/serve healthier meals for students?"

Talk to your partner about this question. Also try to talk about your opinion and reasons and get some feedback! You may also use this time to read through each other's notes.

#5 Write your essay

On the paper provided to you, please write your essay on the following topic: Should school cafeterias stop serving meat to make/serve healthier meals for students? 

You may use the articles and notes when writing your response.

REMEMBER, a good opinion essay:

  • Has an introduction
  • Clearly states your opinion/claim in a focus statement
  • Uses specific evidence from the text(s) to support your opinion and explains your thinking
  • Groups ideas in paragraphs
  • Has a conclusion
  • Uses precise language and linking words to connect ideas
  • Has correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation

 

Evaluation

Your essay will be graded based on the following rubric:

Performance Level

4*Advanced

3 Meets Standards

2 Approaching Standards

1 Below Standard

FOCUS
  • Responds  to all parts of the prompt
  • States an opinion and provides supporting details
  • Supports opinion using cited texts.
  • Responds to most parts of the prompt
  • States an opinion and provides supporting details
  • Does not cite resources accurately
  • Responds to some parts of the prompt
  • States an opinion but does not provide supporting details
  • Does not respond to the prompt
  • Fails to state an opinion or provide supporting details

Organization
  • Has an introduction
  • Ideas are grouped into paragraphs
  • Has a concluding paragraph that summarizes essential information
  • Has an introduction
  • Ideas are grouped appropriately into paragraphs.
  • Has a conclusion that only restates the main idea
  • Does not introduce the topic.
  • Ideas are not grouped and the essay lacks organizational structure.
  • Conclusion is repetitive.
  • Identifies the topic
  • Ideas are not grouped into paragraphs
  • No conclusion

Language Conventions
  • Varied sentence structures are used, including complex sentences
  • Proper grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling
  • Content vocabulary is used
  • Uses correct and varied sentence structures
  • Minor errors in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling
  • Some content vocabulary is used
  • Uses some repetitive sentence structures
  • Moderate errors in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling that affect understanding
  • Some content vocabulary is used
  • Uses little to no correct sentence structure
  • Serious in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling that make it very difficult to understand the writers point
  • No content vocabulary used

 

SCORES

FOCUS   ___/4

ORGANIZATION  ___ /4

LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS ___/4

 OVERALL SCORE _____ ( AVERAGE OF ALL THREE SCORES)

 

 

 

Conclusion

Excellent job, Principals!  I am sure you have made the best choice for your students today. As you proofread your work please check for and review the important elements of opinion writing outlined below.

Does your essay...

  • Introduce the topic you are writing about
  • Clearly answer the question
  • Give lots of reasons and explanations
  • "Wrap up" the piece with a concluding sentence
  • Use capitals, periods and question marks, and spell words correctly.

Please watch the following videos to further strengthen your understanding of opinion and persuasive writing.

https://learnzillion.com/lessons/1880-identify-and-describe-opinion-wri…

http://study.com/academy/lesson/how-to-write-a-persuasive-essay-and-use…

 

Credits

I would like to thank and credit:

  • Mount Pleasant School District for selecting and outlining this opinion writing prompt
  • Youtube, Study.com and Learnzillion.org for the videos
  • Timeforkids.com and dognews.com for the articles