MyPlate

OMB Control # 0584-0524

Expiration Date: 04/30/2013

Attachment F - Moderator’s Interview Guide for Teachers

Grades 1 - 6

Prepared by

Research undertaken to inform the development of nutrition education materials for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service

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Section I. Getting to know each other. (5 minutes)

• Hello, my name is _____________ and I’m a researcher from the Michael Cohen Group. On behalf of the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, we are conducting an independent evaluation of the MyPlate lessons that have been implemented at your school. As part of that evaluation, I am interested in learning about your experience with the MyPlate lesson plans.

The research will not be used in any advertising. All data will be identified only by an ID number, not by any name. The research may be audiotaped for research purposes only. Any audio collected as part of the research will be destroyed once the study analysis is complete. Your name will never be used in any documentation of our research findings. Your comments, voice, or image will never appear in public without your written consent.

Let’s start with some general questions:

• What are your favorite activities in the classroom? (Probe: What is it about these activities that you enjoy?)

• What are the most challenging aspects of your classroom? (Probe: Time issues, Behavioral Problems, Resources?)

• What are some things that take up the most time during the school day?

I want to switch gears for a minute. We’re interested in learning about the MyPlate lesson plans and how those were implemented in your classroom.

Section II. Nutrition Experience (4 minutes)

• How much experience have you had teaching nutrition in your classroom?

• Did you use any MyPyramid materials in you classroom?

  • Were there any that you liked in particular? What did you like about them?

• How comfortable did you feel with integrating MyPlate into your teaching?

Section III. Lesson 1 (5 minutes)

Now we’re going to talk specific lessons from the MyPlate curriculum, so let’s start with Lesson 1.

• Do you think it was meaningful for your students? (Probe: Why, or why not?)

• What do you think was successful? And what was not successful?

• What do you think your students learned from Lesson 1?

• Did the lesson successfully teach your students about MyPlate and the five main food groups?

• Tell me about the take-home/reproducible components? (Probe: Were they helpful? What did the students think of them?)

Section IV. Lesson 2 (5 minutes)

• Do you think it was meaningful for your students? (Probe: Why, or why not?)

• What do you think was successful? And what was not successful?

• What do you think your students learned from Lesson 2?

• Did the lesson successfully teach your students about MyPlate and the five main food groups?

• Tell me about the take-home/reproducible components? (Probe: Were they helpful? What did the students think of them?)

Section V. Lesson 3 (5 minutes)

• Do you think it was meaningful for your students? (Probe: Why, or why not?)

• What do you think was successful? And what was not successful?

• What do you think your students learned from Lesson 3?

• Did the lesson successfully teach your students about MyPlate and the five main food groups?

• Tell me about the take-home/reproducible components? (Probe: Were they helpful? What did the students think of them?)

Section VI. Original Nutrition Songs (8 minutes)

• Did you use any of the original songs as part of your lessons?

• If so, which ones did you use and what did you think about them? (Probe: Do you think they engaged and inspired your students?)

• Are there any things that you would change about the songs?

Section VII. Home and Classroom Link and Wrap up (8 minutes)

• Would you recommend the MyPlate lessons to other teachers? Why, or why not?

• How can we inform other teachers about the MyPlate lessons?

• How can we get teachers to use them in their classrooms?

• What did you think of the overall look & feel of the lessons?

• What changes or modifications, if any, would you suggest to improve the MyPlate lesson plans? Why those?

• Tell me about your experience with the extension activities? (Probe: Was there enough information provided to successfully complete these activities? What were the student’s reactions? Did you find them useful?)

• What types of feedback, if any, did the parents provide about the take home assignments or the parent handout?

  • Are there any things you would change about the take home assignments?

You have been great and have helped me a lot. Thanks so much for talking with me today!