Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

My Plate Assignment
Blanca Zamora
Arizona State University
PPE 310: My Name Plate Assignment
Dr. Hesse
March 20, 2016

Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

Introduction
The health of students should be the main priority when it comes to eating
nutritious meals. Healthy eating not only helps the body, but it reduces the risk of many
diseases such as heart disease, cancer, strokes and diabetes as stated in the Dietary
Guidelines for America. In addition, healthy eating can prevent them from health
problems such as obesity, dental issues and osteoporosis (The Dietary Guidelines for

Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

Americans, 2010). Healthy eating is important for their proper growth and development,
and teachers can make a difference one step at a time.
The United States Department of Agriculture created an easy to
access web tool. The web tool Food Tracker, allows anybody to track what
exactly it is theyre eating. This is beneficial for teachers, parents and even cafeteria staff
to track what students are consuming each day.
National Standards for School Meals
The National Standards for School Meals provides schools with an idea of what a
nutritious meal should consist of. This gives schools an accurate balance of how much
grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and protein foods a school meal should have.
Reflecting on Cesar Chavess breakfast and lunch, I originally thought they did a
pretty good job providing the students with and appropriate meal just by observing what
they ate every day. The Roosevelt School District has a good reputation when it came to
their nutritious foods they provide for their students. The food they served on March 10,
2016 met the National Standards for School Meals. The only thing that they failed to do
is, providing the right amount of food they needed to eat for that day. During breakfast
students picked what type of milk they wanted. They did not have a choice of what type
of fruit they got. Students were also obligated to get some type of fruit or vegetable
during lunch.
At Cesar Chavez they are on a free-reduced policy. The Roosevelt School District
policy states Our District has developed a Wellness Policy that is focused on improving
the health of students. The policy was developed by the health and wellness advisory
council that includes teachers, parents, administrators, and the district nurse. The key

Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

elements of this policy include; nutrition education, physical activities, and other schoolbased activities that are designed to promote student wellness (RSD 2016).
Dietary Guidelines for Americans
The main purpose of these guidelines are to provide evidence-based food and
beverage recommendations for Americans ages 2 and older and they aim to promote
health, prevent heart disease and to help people reach and maintain a healthy weight (The
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010). The Dietary Guidelines for Americans are also
centered on five overarching guidelines. The first one is to encourage healthy eating
patterns, the second one is to focus on different foods across the food groups in
appropriate amounts, the third one is to limit the calories from sugars and saturated fats,
the fourth one is shifting to healthier food along with healthier beverages, and the last one
is to support healthy eating patters for everyone, as stated in the Dietary Guidelines of
2015-2020.
The pretend student that was used for the Food Tracker assignment would not
have met The Dietary Guidelines. In detail, the first reason is because; the physical
activity target was 150 minutes per week. The students have a total of 30 minutes of
lunch each day, they use 10 minutes to play during lunch. That is a total of 50 minutes a
week. Students also get 10 minutes of recess in addition to their lunch. In addition, the
students only have their physical education class once a week for 45 minutes. However,
the total amount of physical activities they are exposed to is a total of 145 minutes, which
does not meet the target goal on the Food Tracker.
The second reason students do not meet these guidelines is because, they are not
exposed to the right amount of food across the food groups. The daily food group targets

Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

are 6 oz of grains, 2 cups of vegetables, 2 cups of fruits, 3 cups of dairy and 5 oz of

protein groups. On March 10, 2015 the students only ate 2 oz of grains, 1 cup of fruits,
1 cup of dairy and 3 oz of protein foods. They did not receive the daily food target
amount that the Food Tracker suggested.
To reflect on this, the students are not meeting all of the 5 guidelines. They are not
encouraged to healthy eating patterns because we are not promoting them. They are being
exposed to different food groups, but not the right quantity. The sugars and saturated fats
are met according to the Food Tracker, but are very low. The school does not provide
healthier beverages for them, as observed on March 10, 2016.
Nutritional Improvements
When looking through the results of the information I entered for the Food
Tracker, I was amazed on what I was seeing. The students are receiving less than the
daily group targets. The target for March 10,2016 consisted of 2 oz grains when they
needed to intake 6 oz, which is under the daily group target. For vegetables the target was
2 oz and they only ate 1 cup, fir fruits the target was 2 cups and they ate 1 cup, dairy
they ate 1 cup and the target was 3 and finally
One way to improve this, is to inform the school cafeteria. Letting them be aware
of this situation will encourage them to provide the students with more food choices. As
of right now the students are not getting a choice of what kind of breakfast or lunch they
might want. The school food calendar states that students have a variety of food to
choice from, but yet they fail to provide those choices. The second way to improve this is
to send out a newsletter to parents informing them to bring extra snacks for the kids. By
doing this the kids will get the right amount of grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy and protein

Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

foods. The third way we can improve this is by informing the students of what exactly
theyre eating. Showing examples such as the Food Tracker can be a good start to many
class lessons. Then students will then see that they are not consuming enough of.
Reflection
As educators it is key for us to promote awareness of healthy food. The way we
can do that is by incorporating the Dietary Guidelines and the National Standards for
School Meals into school curriculum, along with incorporating physical activities into
each lesson. By doing this, students will most likely start picking up healthy eating
habits.
Teachers can provide students with web tools such as the one used to track what
they ate for breakfast and lunch. Providing them with these tools will help them keep
track of what it is they are eating and they will visually see what it is they need to
improve their food choices. Doing an activity like this would only take a maximum of
five minutes. Students can keep a journal and write a reflection on what they saw and
what they can improve on. For the primary grades you may do it as a class and the
students can write 1-2 sentences with a picture explaining or showing what they saw.
Every courter students can prepare to present to the class about their progress.
They can share their healthy eating choices and some of their reflections. Students can
present this information using a web tool such as; Glogster, Prezi, Weebly or
Po2werPoint. Students will have practice presenting this to their peers and would be
allowed to speak in assemblies, conferences and any other event. During parent,
conferences students can share their journals and talk about what theyve been doing.

Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

Students who are in the primary grades can do something similar but work in groups or
can be done as a whole class and a few students can be picked to present in assemblies.

Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

References
Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (2010, January). Retrieved March 14,
2016, from
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/
Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.
(2012). Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, 77(17). Retrieved
March 23 2016, from http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-01-26/pdf/20121010.pdf
Roosevelt School District No. 66 - School Nutrition And Fitness. (n.d.). Retrieved March
22, 2016, from http://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?
sid=1506091857328281
SuperTracker: My Foods. My Fitness. My Health. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2016, from
https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/foodtracker.aspx

Criteria
Introductio
n
SCORE:
x1

Points (5)
Points (3) Proficient
Exemplary
Introduction was
Introduction was
well organized and
somewhat organized
created a plan for
and created a plan
the paper
for the paper

Points (1) Need

Improvement
Introduction was
disorganized and d
not create a plan fo
paper

Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

ChooseMyP
late
Analysis
SCORE:
x1

Application
of results
and
proposed
changes
SCORE:
x1

Summary/R
eflection
SCORE:
x1

One breakfast and

one lunch (or 2
restaurant
options) were
evaluated
Results reflect a
hypothetical
student
Screen shot was
included

Contained a very
detailed
application of
National
Standards for
School Meals
Contains very
detailed
applications of
Dietary Guidelines
for Americans
Contains very
detailed
discussions for 3
changes to
improve nutrition
A summary of the
current state of
the schools
nutrition was
included
Summary of
changes were
included
A detailed
reflection
regarding how this
teacher
knowledge of
students impacts
your students
inside and outside

9
Only one breakfast or
lunch (or 1 restaurant
option) was
evaluated
Results reflected a
hypothetical student,
but not enough
information was
provided
Screen shot was
included, but
incomplete
Contained a
somewhat detailed
application of
National Standards
for School Meals
Contained somewhat
detailed applications
of Dietary Guidelines
for Americans
Contains somewhat
detailed discussions
only 2 changes to
improve nutrition

A summary of the
current state of the
school in terms of
nutrition was
included
but did not align with
paper
A summary of the
proposed changes
was included but did
not align with paper
A general reflection
of how this data
impacts your
students

Only one breakfast

lunch (or 1 restaura
option) was evalua
but was incomplete
Results did not refl
hypothetical studen
Screen shot was no
included

Contained little det

the application of
National Standards
School Meals
Contained little det
the application of
Dietary Guidelines
Americans
Contained little det
only included 1 cha
to improve nutritio

A summary of the
current state of the
school in terms of
nutrition was not
included
A summary of the
proposed changes
not included
A reflection of the
practical data as it
relates to your
classroom was mis
or incomplete

Running head: MY PLATE ASSIGNMENT

10

your classroom

Writing
SCORE:
x1

Referencin
g Style
SCORE:
x1

Proper grammar
and punctuation is
used throughout
the proposal
All sentences are
clear & developed
Paper was at least
3 pages with
standard margins,
font, & text size

APA style

referencing used
throughout paper
and on the
reference sheet
The file document

name contains
Lastname.firstnam
e.assign#.course#
This rubric was
attached

Most grammar and

correct punctuation is
used throughout the
proposal
Most sentences are
clear & developed
Paper was 1-3 pages
with standard
margins, font, and
size of text

APA style referencing

mostly used
throughout the paper
and on the reference
sheet with some

errors
The file name
somewhat contains
the
Lastname.firstname.a
ssignment#.course#
This rubric was added
but not at the end

Many grammar and

correct punctuation
issues are found
throughout the pro
Many sentences ar
clear and
underdeveloped
Paper was less than
page in length with
larger than standar
margins, font text s
Many errors in APA
referencing through
the paper and on th
reference sheet
The file document
does not contain th
Lastname.firstnam
gnment#.course#
This rubric was not
added to the docum
submitted