Category: 4 C’s

New Real Food Guide Pyramid Lesson & Activities

Admittedly, creating this new food guide pyramid has been challenging! I can see why there have been many requests for updated lessons and activities around it. So here goes…In this Real Food Guide Pyramid Lesson & Activities, you will find engaging hands-on activities to use with students to check their pre-existing knowledge on the new guide, learn background info about it and the food it encourages, followed by a culminating group assignment. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Unspoken Rules for Life and Work

The idea for this mini-lesson came after reading an article on Linkedin by Robert Glazer. Unspoken Rules for Life and Work are considered common behaviors and expections that society expects us to know. They are learned by observing others and noting what is accepted and approved of versus those that are disapproved of. This is a great way to introduce your students to these, possibly before they learn them the hard way!

Marry Me Dishes: Recipes, Activities & Challenge

It all started about a decade ago when a Marry Me Chicken recipe went viral on social media! Since then, the Marry Me Chicken as evolved into a variety of versions. In this post, Marry Me Dishes: Recipes, Activities & Challenge, students compare and contrast different recipe versions of the dish before preparing them in the lab. And, if you’re looking for a creative twist or competition, have students develop their own version of a Marry Me dish via a cooking challenge.

Finance Facts Analysis

I know many of you who teach financial literacy utilize the Next Gen Personal Finance resources. The Financial Facts Analysis is an activity I created that utilizes their customizable posters which are free if you have an account with them (also free). It’s a great activity to use at the begining of the course to introduce students to a variety of financial statistics as well as getting them acclimated to working in small groups, collaborating and communicating with one another.

On Brand: Kitchen Appliances

If you haven’t watched the new reality show “On Brand with Jimmy Fallon“, you don’t know what you’re missing! This show is basically a gamified competition where participants create and pitch marketing campaigns for a variety of well known products. As I was watching this series, I couldn’t help but think that this would be a great activity to adapt to topics within our course content. As previously promised, I’m sharing On Brand: Kitchen Appliances, developed by Lindsey Harlan of Arkansa! Stay tuned as I’m working on another one that will share at a later time!

Teen Life Through the Generations

A FACS teacher reached out about a new course she was teaching called Middle to Late Lifespan Development. Her textbook explores how becoming an adult during specific periods in history impacts a person’s life and was looking for help in developing a lesson around it. After brainstorming some ideas and making sure it was what she was looking for, Teen Life Through the Generations was created. Maybe it will be helpful for one of your classes too!

On Brand & The Real Food Guide Pyramid

If you haven’t watched the new reality show “On Brand with Jimmy Fallon”, you don’t know what you’re missing! This show is basically a gamified competition where participants create and pitch marketing campaigns for a variety of well known products. As I was watching this series, I couldn’t help but think that this would be a great activity to adapt to topics within our course content. The first one I’ll be sharing is On Brand & The Real Food Guide Pyramid. But wait! There will be more ideas coming as Lindsey Harlan has a great one she is working on and will be shared at a later time…so stay tuned!

Shrinkflation

For years products have been decreasing in size, but not in price! This is known as Shrinkflation and in this lesson, students will learn what the concept means as well as how to calculate the percentage change in product sizes and then how consumers can fight back. This is a great lesson for a consumerism class, a financial literacy class or even a foods class!

Infant Temperaments

We are all born with characteristics that influence our behavior, mood, disposition and adaptability to our environment; AKA “temperament”. The focus of this lesson titled, Infant Temperament, is to help students understand what it is, how it is determined and how it applies to parenting and babies in very engaging ways.

Elevate the Box: Remixing Hamburger Helper

After watching an episode of The Bear and seeing Sydney elevate an ordinary box of hamburger helper into a gourmet worthy dish, I knew I had to create a lesson and cooking challenge lab around it. Thus, Elevate the Box: Remixing Hamburger Helper was born!