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September 2015

The kids are back at school and getting into a routine. Now is the perfect time to take steps to make sure your school is encouraging healthful food choices and physical activity.  Share on how you are helping to create healthier schools by including #TeamNutrition20th in your blog posts and tweets.



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For 20 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Team Nutrition initiative has provided free nutrition education resources for schools. Team Nutrition supports national efforts to promote lifelong healthy food choices and physical activity by improving the nutrition practices of the Child Nutrition Programs. We provide resources to schools, child care providers, and summer meal sites that participate in these programs.



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At Triplains USD 275 in Winona, KS, high school students gave a presentation about nutrition to third and fourth grade students as part of a Family and Consumer Science and Speech project. The presentation included a skit about a family eating dinner together, a quiz to test the students’ nutrition knowledge, and an activity to teach correct portion sizes. One of the students even created and wore a giant MyPlate costume. In turn, the fourth graders shared what they learned from the presentation with the entire elementary school during lunch.



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[cid:image011.gif@01D0F461.C6D7C960]1. Get Your Elementary School Students involved in Nutrition and Health Lessons

These ready-to-go nutrition lessons for elementary school students are connected to educational standards, including Common Core. The lessons also include timing and pacing suggestions to help you fit activities into your class schedule.

• Discover MyPlate: Nutrition Education for Kindergarten <http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/discover-myplate-nutrition-education-kindergarten>

• Serving Up MyPlate: A Yummy Curriculum<http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/serving-myplate-yummy-curriculum> (Grades 1 – 6)



[cid:image005.png@01D0F46D.1137B320]2. Play in the Garden! Garden-based Resources for Elementary Schools Want to get started with a little gardening this year? Research shows that students who are involved in growing foods in school gardens are more likely to try new fruits and vegetables. Try out these garden-based resources at your school this year:

• The Great Garden Detective Adventure: A Standards-Based Gardening Nutrition

  Curriculum for Grades 3 and 4 <http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/great-garden-detective>

• Dig In! Standards-Based Nutrition Education from the Ground Up<http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/dig-standards-based-nutrition-education-ground> (Grades 5 – 6)

• There is also a Gardening Guide just for schools<http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/diginTG_gguide.pdf>!



[cid:image016.gif@01D0F461.C6D7C960]3. Make your Middle School into a Healthier Middle School Are your middle school students exploring healthier options? Using a theme of exploration, Nutrition Voyage<http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/nutrition-voyage-quest-be-our-best> is a resource for your students in Grades 7-8 that includes three mini-lessons per grade and reproducible worksheets that connect nutrition education to Math, Science, and English educational standards. Healthier Middle Schools: Everyone Can Help<http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/healthier-middle-schools-everyone-can-help> is a communications kit for Grades 7-8 and includes videos and handouts for engaging teachers, principals, parents, school nutrition managers, and students in school wellness efforts.



[cid:image006.png@01D0F46D.1137B320]4. Fill Your Walls with Healthy Reminders

Wall and bulletin board décor is essential to having a bright, inviting, classroom. Could your students use a reminder about the importance of eating breakfast? Do they need a little nudge to choose fruits and vegetables for snacks? It only takes a minute to hang up these colorful posters and bulletin board materials:

• Team Nutrition Elementary School Posters<http://www.fns.usda.gov/team-nutrition/elementary-posters>

• Team Nutrition Middle School Posters<http://www.fns.usda.gov/team-nutrition/middle-school-posters>

• The Great Garden Detective Bulletin Board Pieces <http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/gd_bbpieces_0.pdf> and Instructions <http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/gd_bbinstructions_0.pdf> to chart how your school garden is growing

• Team Nutrition Graphic Library<http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/graphics-library>



5. Add a Little Health to your School Events

It’s a birthday! It’s fall festival! It’s Earth day! There are lots of reasons to celebrate throughout the school year and celebrations can be a great time to get students to be physically active and to get excited about healthy foods. Get ideas:

• Team Nutrition Popular Events Idea Booklet<http://www.fns.usda.gov/team-nutrition-popular-events-idea-booklet>

• Discover MyPlate Classroom Celebrations<http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/tn/dmp_tgcelebrations.pdf>



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Schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program may request free printed copies of materials. Everyone can access and download materials online. Find them in our Resource Library at: http://teamnutrition.usda.gov<http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/>. Follow us on Twitter @TeamNutrition.<https://twitter.com/teamnutrition>



Join TN-ENews<file:///C:UsersdstapleyAppDataLocalTempTemp1_TeamNuNewsLet.zipTeamNuNewsLetTeamNewsLet.html>, our e-mail discussion group





[cid:image023.gif@01D0F461.C6D7C960]http://www.fns.usda.gov/team-nutrition [cid:image024.gif@01D0F461.C6D7C960] @TeamNutrition<https://twitter.com/teamnutrition>

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