Kale

I know I have been terrible about keeping up with this blog (sorry grandpa!!), but I'm going to write about a couple of different things that have stood out in my mind throughout the past few weeks.

This past Thursday, I went to Maynard to teach a nutrition lesson to a second grade class at West Central Community School. I decided to teach a lesson on local kale, so I made crispy kale chips for taste testing and came up with a lesson plan. I brought heads rainbow curly kale and regular curly kale for students to pass around and feel while I spoke to them about the importance of local food. I also taught them that kale is an excellent source of calcium and vitamin C, and I taught them hand movements to remember the nutrients in kale (punch they air for vitamin C, because it's like a soldier that fights off germs for your body, and give a big smile for calcium because it gives you healthy bones and teeth).

I also broke the second graders up into small groups of four and we did a "kale experiment." I labeled paper bags 1, 2, and 3, and in each bag there was either raw, steamed, or crispy kale. The second graders had to reach into the paper bags and without looking, feel the kale and decide which was raw, which was steamed, and which was crispy. The kids loved the experiment and couldn't wait to yell out their answers!

Then we taste tested the crispy kale and the teacher and the students loved it!! They even wanted to try the raw kale that I had brought! I couldn't believe it. It was so inspiring- kids really will eat their fruits and vegetables, especially if you make it fun for them.

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures during this lesson, but I will next time. More coming soon!