Everyday English · Lunchtime at an Ontario elementary school: packing a lunch at home, eating during a nutrition break, cleaning up and going outside for recess.
School Lunch & Nutrition Breaks: 16 Everyday English Words
Learn the words for eating lunch at school, such as nutrition break, thermos, ice pack, litterless lunch, nut-free and yard duty, and what to do after you eat.
What to do
Many elementary schools in Ontario do not have one long lunch hour. Instead, the day has two nutrition breaks. During each break, students eat first and then usually go outside for recess. Your school's schedule may be different, so listen to your teacher.
Most students pack a lunch at home. A lunch bag might hold a sandwich in a reusable container, a thermos of warm soup or leftovers, a snack and a water bottle. An ice pack keeps cold food cold until it is time to eat.
Many students eat at their desks in the classroom. Some schools are nut-free because a few students have serious food allergies, so families are asked not to send foods with nuts. Some schools also encourage a litterless lunch, with little or no garbage, and students take their wrappers home.
When you finish, you might use hand sanitizer, brush the crumbs off your desk and pack up your lunch bag. Then the teacher on yard duty watches the schoolyard during outdoor recess. These words are here so you understand them when you hear them, not to memorise in one day.
Core everyday words
nutrition break
noun phrase · noo-TRISH-un BRAYKa break in the school day when students eat their food and then usually go outside
Example: At the first nutrition break, we eat for twenty minutes and then play outside.
pack a lunch
verb phrase · PAK uh LUNCHto put food and a drink into a bag or box to take with you
Example: Dad and I pack a lunch together the night before.
lunch bag
noun phrase · LUNCH BAGa small soft bag, often with a zipper, for carrying food to school
Example: Put your lunch bag in your cubby when you arrive.
reusable container
noun phrase · ree-YOO-zuh-bul kun-TAY-nura box with a lid that you wash and use again instead of throwing away
Example: My crackers are in a reusable container, not a plastic bag.
thermos
noun · THUR-musa container that keeps hot food hot or cold drinks cold for hours
Example: Mom put warm soup in my thermos this morning.
ice pack
noun phrase · ICE PAKa small frozen pack you put in a lunch bag to keep food cold
Example: The ice pack keeps my yogurt cold until lunch.
sandwich
noun · SAND-wichfood made of two pieces of bread with something in between
Example: I have a cheese sandwich today.
leftovers
noun (plural) · LEFT-oh-vurzfood from an earlier meal that was not eaten and is saved for later
Example: I brought last night's leftovers in my thermos.
snack
noun · SNAKa small amount of food eaten between meals
Example: My snack is apple slices and crackers.
wrapper
noun · RAP-urthe paper or plastic around a food, such as a granola bar
Example: Put the wrapper back in your lunch bag to take home.
litterless lunch
noun phrase · LIT-ur-less LUNCHa lunch packed with reusable containers so that there is little or no garbage
Example: Our class is trying to have a litterless lunch every Friday.
nut-free
adjective · NUT-FREEwith no nuts or foods made with nuts
Example: Our school is nut-free, so I bring sunflower butter instead of peanut butter.
hand sanitizer
noun phrase · HAND SAN-ih-ty-zura liquid or gel you rub on your hands to clean them when there is no sink nearby
Example: Use a squirt of hand sanitizer before you open your lunch.
crumbs
noun (plural) · KRUMZvery small pieces that fall off bread, crackers or cookies
Example: Brush the crumbs off your desk into the garbage.
yard duty
noun phrase · YARD DOO-teethe job of a teacher or adult who watches students outside during breaks
Example: The teacher on yard duty blows the whistle when the break is over.
outdoor recess
noun phrase · OWT-dor REE-sessbreak time that students spend outside in the schoolyard
Example: After we eat, it is outdoor recess, so put on your jacket.
Recognise the word
Recognise the word
Choose the meaning or the word that fits.
1. What is a nutrition break?
- a short trip to the school nurse
- a break in the school day for eating and then playing outside
- a class about healthy food
- the time after school when you go home
2. What does a thermos do?
- keeps food or drinks hot or cold for hours
- heats food up like a microwave
- measures the temperature outside
- keeps food fresh for many days
3. What is a litterless lunch?
- a lunch with no snacks
- a lunch eaten outside
- a lunch packed so there is little or no garbage
- a lunch bought from the school
4. Which word means food saved from an earlier meal?
- snacks
- crumbs
- leftovers
- wrappers
5. What does an ice pack in a lunch bag do?
- keeps the food cold
- stops the bag from leaking
- keeps soup warm
- makes the bag lighter
6. Who is the teacher on yard duty?
- the teacher who looks after the school garden
- the adult watching students outside during the break
- the teacher who teaches gym class
- the person who drives the school bus
Use the word in a situation
Use the word in a situation
Think about what students and teachers really say at lunchtime.
7. "Our school is ___, so please don't send peanut butter."
- reusable
- nut-free
- litterless
- full
8. "There is no sink in the classroom, so use some ___ before you eat."
- ice pack
- thermos
- wrapper
- hand sanitizer
9. "Brush the ___ off your desk before the next lesson."
- leftovers
- crumbs
- lunch bag
- snack
10. "My soup is still warm at lunch because it's in a ___."
- lunch bag
- ice pack
- thermos
- reusable container
11. The teacher says, "Finish eating, then get your jacket for outdoor recess." What happens next?
- Students stay in their seats for a math lesson.
- Students eat a second lunch.
- Students go home for the day.
- Students go outside to play in the schoolyard.
12. Which lunch makes the least garbage?
- a sandwich in a plastic bag and a juice box
- a sandwich in a reusable container and water in a refillable bottle
- crackers in a wrapper and a fruit cup
- a granola bar and a yogurt tube
Quick-check answers
- 1. a break in the school day for eating and then playing outside
A nutrition break is time set aside during the school day to eat, usually followed by time outside. It is not a health class, a visit to the nurse or dismissal at the end of the day. - 2. keeps food or drinks hot or cold for hours
A thermos keeps food at the temperature it was when you packed it. It does not heat cold food, it is not a thermometer, and it does not keep food safe for days. - 3. a lunch packed so there is little or no garbage
Litter means garbage left behind, so a litterless lunch uses reusable containers instead of wrappers and bags. It can still include snacks and be eaten anywhere. - 4. leftovers
Leftovers are food from a meal that was saved, like last night's pasta. Snacks are small foods between meals, crumbs are tiny pieces, and wrappers are packaging. - 5. keeps the food cold
An ice pack is frozen, so it keeps things like yogurt or cheese cold. It cannot keep soup warm, which is a thermos's job, and it does not stop leaks. - 6. the adult watching students outside during the break
Yard duty means watching the schoolyard during breaks so everyone is safe. It is not gardening, a gym class or driving the bus. - 7. nut-free
Nut-free means no nuts, which is why peanut butter is not allowed. Reusable and litterless are about containers and garbage, and full means you have eaten enough. - 8. hand sanitizer
Hand sanitizer cleans your hands when you cannot wash them at a sink. An ice pack keeps food cold, a thermos holds food, and a wrapper is packaging. - 9. crumbs
Crumbs are the tiny pieces left on a desk after eating. Leftovers are saved food, not mess, and you would not brush a lunch bag or a whole snack off a desk. - 10. thermos
A thermos is built to keep food hot. A plain container or lunch bag lets soup cool down, and an ice pack would make it colder, not warmer. - 11. Students go outside to play in the schoolyard.
Outdoor recess is break time outside. It is not a lesson, the end of the day or more eating. - 12. a sandwich in a reusable container and water in a refillable bottle
A reusable container and a refillable bottle are washed and used again, so nothing is thrown away. The other lunches all leave a bag, box, wrapper, cup or tube behind.