Eat a Rainbow on Your Plate

by Allison Beeman ~ Glenn County Health WIC
Maria Carrasco and Yvonne Duron ~ Delta Health Center WIC ~ CA

A few words of Introduction by Valerie Uccellani, GLP Partner
 
This presentation was created by a team of staff from the Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) Program of California. They are Allison Beeman (Glenn County Health) Maria Carrasco and Yvonne Duron (Delta Health Center).
 
They created the session for colleagues who, in turn, teach women and other caretakers at WIC community-based centers. The staff work mostly with pregnant women and Moms of children ranging from birth to 5 years of age. The clients are ethnically diverse so all have different preferences and traditions when it comes to eating fruits and vegetables, or feeding them to their children. The session lasts an estimated 30 minutes and could be done with as few as two or as many as thirty learners.
 
As you review the outline of this presentation, you'll see that it is chock full of principles and practices of Dialogue Education.  You'll also see the "Four A's: Anchor, Add, Apply, Away."  Notice, in particular, the use of color to organize the content presented in the "add" task.  First, they lay out six colors which are important to get in your daily diet:  blue, red, yellow, green, white, and orange. Then, they invite learners (in this case all educated WIC staff who work with Moms) to name fruits and vegetables in each color category. Finally, they do an illustrated lecture (using colorful papers) to show four key health benefits of eating each color. I would call this a "layered" learning task because it offers new information in layers (first the fact that there are six colors you should eat, then the types of foods you should eat of each color, and finally the benefits of these foods). The use of color and images allow people to take in, process, and remember the information. Pausing between each layer of content allows people to digest what they've seen and to pose questions. Without such images it would be too much information for people to handle.
 
As you review this presentation, you will also spot a number of open questions, each extremely practical and provocative. For example, I especially like the "apply" question:  "Having reviewed these benefits, what color do you need to eat more of?" Also, there is ample attention to the "away" task without being rushed at the end. The goal is to help folks use what they learned here both in their home life (with their family) and in their work life (with their clients.) There are many possibilities for this before folks go "away." For example:  "Sort through the pictures of fruits and vegetables. Choose one which you think you'd like to buy or prepare more of for yourself. Choose one which you'd like to offer your family. Choose one which you could encourage among your clients."
 
As you can see, the use of visuals is powerful throughout such a presentation and illustrates many ways in which we could use images to teach other topics. 

• This design begins with the overarching image of a rainbow in order to help learners attach their learning to something familiar and pleasant. What overarching image would aid your design?
• This design uses color to organize new and existing knowledge within the group.  How could color help to prioritize or categorize knowledge?
• This design uses pictures to connect people with the actual changes they are encouraged to make (such as eating more fruits and vegetables).  How could pictures help encourage and reinforce change among your learners?

Click here to see the presentation outline. (Adobe Acrobat Reader required.)

 

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