Healthy and Wise

Monthly - Elementary/Middle/Family

Using Healthy and Wise Within and Across the Grade Levels

Nutrition, physical activity, and effects on the body and body systems are the foundation of a good health program. Healthy and Wise presents these concepts each month. A progression of these topics offers ongoing support for poor or sedentary health behaviors. Simply teaching a unit on nutrition or the benefits of exercise and physical activity will not provide the ongoing intervention and support needed to change students’ health behaviors. Healthy and Wise also covers additional health concepts each month and provides a comprehensive health curriculum. In addition, Healthy and Wise publishes a separate Middle School Coordinated Health Program each year that can be used in grades 6 – 8 to supplement the monthly Healthy and Wise issues.

Many of the activities in the monthly Healthy and Wise program are appropriate for all grade levels or can be easily modified. Sequential health activities for each grade level (K-8) are available in the instructional guide. Students from upper grades can work with younger children and teachers can select activities most appropriate for a student’s developmental level rather than their assigned grade level. Students that are above grade level can participate in more challenging activities. This approach will ensure that teachers can differentiate instruction so that each student has an opportunity to engage in developmentally appropriate activities and have success.

By using Healthy and Wise within and across the grade levels, a school provides the opportunity for support staff, such as the school nurse, counselor, and community resource individuals, to maximize their time by addressing a topic that is presented in all grades, without having to prep for topics presented in specific grade levels. Most importantly, a school can implement a coordinated team approach when teaching important health concepts.

As a guide, use the strategies and competencies below when utilizing the monthly Healthy and Wise program within each grade level.

Kindergarten

Read the articles and stories to the students.
Ask discussion questions and comprehension questions.
Let students identify and describe pictures and behaviors.
Encourage students to represent ideas with drawings or illustrations.
Have students find specific letters in the text.
Use the art and physical education activities in Healthy & Wise on a regular basis.
Students can write and color on the pages.
Focus on whole-number concepts and using patterns and sorting to explore numbers, data, and shapes.
Let students count items or objects on a page.
Students can use informal language and observation of geometric properties to describe shapes, solids, and locations in the physical world.
Students begin to develop measurement concepts as they identify and compare attributes of objects and situations.
Select other activities appropriate for kindergarten students. Modify as needed.
Complete the Kindergarten health activities in the instructional guide.

First Grade

Let students attempt to read titles, words, simple sentences, and questions.

Read the articles and stories to the students.
Have students make predictions.
Ask discussion questions and comprehension questions.
Have students retell the story or describe what the article is about.
Students can spell words from the article.
Students can identify words, sentences, and paragraphs.
Students can write simple sentences.
Students will learn to add and subtract whole numbers and organize and analyze data.
Students can use informal language and observation of geometric properties to describe shapes, solids, and locations in the physical world.
Students begin to develop measurement concepts as they identify and compare attributes of objects and situations.
Select activities appropriate for first graders. Modify as needed.
Complete the 1^st grade health activities in the instructional guide.

Second Grade

Give students the opportunity to read and write independently.
Encourage students to use a variety of strategies to identify words they do not recognize.
Let students summarize what they have read and use charts, graphs, and drawings to represent their ideas.
Let students use reference materials, such as dictionaries and glossaries, to build word meaning and confirm pronunciation.
Students can participate in discussions and form opinions.
Students use singular and plural nouns and adjust verbs for agreement.
Students should take simple notes and develop outlines.

Students compare and order whole numbers, apply addition and subtraction, and use measurement processes.
Select activities appropriate for second graders. Modify as needed.
Complete the 2^nd grade health activities in the instructional guide.

Third Grade

Students will read and write more independently than in any previous grade.
Encourage students to plan presentations.
Students will use prefixes and suffixes to recognize words.
Students demonstrate knowledge of synonyms, antonyms, and multi-meaning words.
Students can distinguish fact from opinion.
Students write longer and more elaborate sentences.
Students write contractions and are proficient spellers.
Students write several drafts to produce a final product.
Students are multiplying and dividing whole numbers, connecting fraction symbols to fractional quantities, and standardizing language and procedures in geometry and measurement.

Select activities appropriate for third graders. Modify as needed.
Complete the 3^rd grade health activities in the instructional guide.

Fourth Grade

Students should spend a significant amount of time engaged in reading and writing.
Students expand their vocabulary across the curriculum.
Students are able to compare, contrast, and connect ideas.
Students can identify cause and effect relationships.
Have students select and use different forms of writing.
Students vary sentence structure and use adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and conjunctions.
Students edit their writing based on their knowledge of grammar and usage, spelling, punctuation, and other conventions of written language.
Students compare and order fractions and decimals, apply multiplication and division to solve problems.

Select activities appropriate for fourth graders. Modify as needed.
Complete the 4^th grade health activities in the instructional guide.

Fifth Grade

Students are able to judge the internal consistency or logic of stories and texts.
Students recognize an author’s point of view and how information is organized.
Students write to inform, persuade, or entertain.
Students use literary devices such as suspense, dialogue, and figurative language in their writing.
Students produce final, error-free pieces of written composition on a regular basis.
Students complete research reports or projects.
Students compare and contrast lengths, area, and volume of geometric shapes and solids.
Students represent and interpret data in graphs, charts, and tables.
Students apply whole number operations in a variety of contexts.

Select activities appropriate for fifth graders. Modify as needed.
Complete the 5^th grade health activities in the instructional guide.

Sixth Grade

Students read independently and a variety of texts.
Students understand idioms, multi-meaning words, and analogies in text.
Students take notes during oral presentations.
Students use study strategies to learn and recall important ideas.
Students use different forms of writing to inform, persuade, or entertain.
Students edit their writing and produce final, error-free pieces of written composition on a regular basis.
Students search out multiple texts to complete research reports and projects.
Students use ratios to describe proportional relationships involving number, geometry, measurement, and probability.
Students add and subtract decimals and fractions.

Select activities appropriate for sixth graders. Modify as needed.
Complete the 6^th grade health activities in the instructional guide.

Seventh Grade

Students read a variety of texts including informational texts.
Students use prefixes and suffixes to help decode words.
Students are able to recognize how tone and mood contribute to the effect of the text.
Students use different forms of writing to inform, persuade, or entertain.
Students edit their writing and produce final, error-free pieces of written composition on a regular basis.
Students draw data from multiple primary and secondary sources for use in research reports and projects.

Students use ratios to describe proportional relationships involving number, geometry, measurement, and probability.
Students add and subtract decimals and fractions.
Students use statistical measures to describe data.

Select activities appropriate for seventh graders. Modify as needed.
Complete the 7th grade health activities in the instructional guide.

Eighth Grade

Students continue to read widely and read informational texts.
Students select different types of writing for specific purposes such as to inform, persuade, or entertain.
Students produce final, error-free pieces of written composition on a regular basis.
Students use citations competently.
Students write following accepted formats for research reports.
Students present oral and written reports.
Students use a variety of media and visual aids to strengthen their presentations.

Students use ratios to describe proportional relationships involving number, geometry, measurement, and probability.
Students add and subtract decimals and fractions.
Students use statistical measures to describe data, draw conclusions, evaluate arguments, and make recommendations.

Select activities appropriate for eighth graders. Modify as needed.
Complete the 8th grade health activities in the instructional guide.