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Reading a Nutrition Label

8th grade nonfiction passage about food and health: 267 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade nonfiction food and health 267 words

Reading a Nutrition Label

Every packaged food in a grocery store carries a nutrition facts label, and learning to read it can help you make smart choices. The most important line to check first is the serving size. All the numbers on the label describe one serving, not the whole package. A bag of chips might contain three servings, so eating the entire bag means tripling every number printed on it.

Next comes the calories, which measure the energy a food provides. Your body needs energy to grow, think, and play, so calories are not bad. The question is whether the food gives you useful nutrients along with the energy. The label lists fat, sodium, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and sugars, as well as several vitamins and minerals. Fiber and protein are usually good things to look for. Added sugars and sodium, which is the part of salt that matters most for health, are things that most people should limit.

The label also shows the percent daily value, written as percent DV. This compares a serving to the amount a person is advised to eat in a whole day, based on a diet of 2,000 calories. As a quick guide, 5 percent or less is considered low for a nutrient, and 20 percent or more is considered high. So if you want less sodium, look for foods with a low percent DV.

Finally, check the ingredients list, which names everything in the food from most to least by weight. If sugar appears near the top, the food contains a lot of it. Reading labels takes only a few seconds, and it turns guessing into knowing.

Questions

  1. What do the numbers on a nutrition label describe? in the text

  2. What does the percent daily value compare? in the text

  3. In what order does the ingredients list name things? in the text

  4. A bag holds three servings. What happens to the numbers if you eat the whole bag? think about it

  5. What does it tell you if sugar is near the top of the ingredients list? think about it

Words to know

serving
the amount of food that the label treats as one portion
nutrients
substances in food that the body needs to live and grow
sodium
the part of salt that people should not eat too much of
fiber
a part of plant foods that helps digestion
ingredients
the foods and other things a product is made from
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 251 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.5

Every packaged food in a grocery store has a nutrition facts label. Learning to read it can help you make smart choices. First, check the serving size. All the numbers on the label are for one serving, not the whole package. A bag of chips might hold three servings. If you eat the whole bag, you triple every number on it.

Next are the calories. Calories measure the energy that food gives. Your body needs energy to grow, think, and play, so calories are not bad. The question is whether the food also gives you useful nutrients. The label lists fat, sodium, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and sugars. It also lists some vitamins and minerals. Fiber and protein are good things to look for. Most people should limit added sugars and sodium. Sodium is the part of salt that matters most for health.

The label also shows the percent daily value, or percent DV. It compares one serving to the amount a person is told to eat in a whole day. It is based on a diet of 2,000 calories. Here is a quick guide. Five percent or less is low. Twenty percent or more is high. So if you want less sodium, look for foods with a low percent DV.

Last, check the ingredients list. It names everything in the food, from most to least by weight. If sugar is near the top, the food has a lot of it. Reading labels takes only a few seconds. It turns guessing into knowing.

▲ This passage · 267 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.6

Every packaged food in a grocery store carries a nutrition facts label, and learning to read it can help you make smart choices. The most important line to check first is the serving size. All the numbers on the label describe one serving, not the whole package. A bag of chips might contain three servings, so eating the entire bag means tripling every number printed on it.

Next comes the calories, which measure the energy a food provides. Your body needs energy to grow, think, and play, so calories are not bad. The question is whether the food gives you useful nutrients along with the energy. The label lists fat, sodium, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and sugars, as well as several vitamins and minerals. Fiber and protein are usually good things to look for. Added sugars and sodium, which is the part of salt that matters most for health, are things that most people should limit.

The label also shows the percent daily value, written as percent DV. This compares a serving to the amount a person is advised to eat in a whole day, based on a diet of 2,000 calories. As a quick guide, 5 percent or less is considered low for a nutrient, and 20 percent or more is considered high. So if you want less sodium, look for foods with a low percent DV.

Finally, check the ingredients list, which names everything in the food from most to least by weight. If sugar appears near the top, the food contains a lot of it. Reading labels takes only a few seconds, and it turns guessing into knowing.

■ Harder · 277 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 10.1

Every packaged food in a grocery store carries a nutrition facts label, and learning to interpret it can help you make sensible choices. The most important line to examine first is the serving size, because all of the numbers on the label describe a single serving rather than the entire package. A bag of chips might contain three servings, so consuming the whole bag means tripling every figure printed on it.

Next come the calories, which measure the energy that a food provides. Your body requires energy to grow, think, and play, so calories are not inherently bad. The real question is whether the food supplies useful nutrients along with that energy. The label itemizes fat, sodium, carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and sugars, in addition to several vitamins and minerals. Fiber and protein are generally worth seeking out, whereas added sugars and sodium, which is the component of salt that matters most for health, are things that most people should limit.

The label also displays the percent daily value, written as percent DV. This compares a serving with the amount that a person is advised to consume over an entire day, based on a diet of 2,000 calories. As a quick guideline, 5 percent or less is considered low for a nutrient, while 20 percent or more is considered high. Consequently, if you hope to reduce your sodium, you should look for foods with a low percent DV.

Finally, scan the ingredients list, which names everything in the food in descending order by weight. If sugar appears near the top, the food contains a great deal of it. Reading labels takes only a few seconds, and it transforms guessing into knowing.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put serving, nutrients, sodium, fiber and ingredients on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 3 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 4 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Reading a Nutrition Label"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 267 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.6. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are five. 3 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 3 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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