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Nate Parsley & Ashlie Gaynor
Teaching Reading and Writing in Content Area
Thursday 1:45-4:15
November 11, 2023
Focus Lesson Plan: After Reading Activity
Learning Outcome/Objective(s): SWBAT… (Must be observable and measurable)
Using the “It says – I say – And So” strategy, students will be able to use the text and
evaluate the author’s perspective, contributing their own thoughts to what they learned in
the books through the provided chart.
Topic/Concept: (Content specific) Health Education/Nutrition
Title of Text read (or would be read): “Food Rules” by Michael Pollan. My partner
and I chose various “food rules” for “modeling” and “Application/Practice”
Targeted Skill: (Ex: vocabulary, questioning the text, making an inference) Utilizing
reading material and applying what was learned in order to critically think and apply to
life
Strategy: (Ex: Knowledge rating, semantic feature analysis, anticipation guide)
It Says – I Say – And So
Materials Needed: (Copies of Frameworks/Organizers/Handout; Text)
 Journals for each student (30)
 Lesson handouts (30)
 Rule signs (7)
 Tape
 Computer
 Projector
 Modeling/Guided Practice Posters (2)
 (9) Construction Paper – Guided Practice
 Dry-Erase Markers
Steps to implementing the strategy: (Explain what you will do and what your students
will do at each step).

Rationale/purpose of the strategy (Why are we doing this? How does the
strategy help students as thinkers/readers/writers?)
The purpose of this strategy- “It Says – I Say – And So” - is to facilitate the
student’s understanding of the content in the book and then take it one step further
by applying that information to their life. With this, they have an opportunity to
agree or disagree with what the author offers. By doing so, they can really
internalize the rules and begin to understand the impact that nutrition has on
everyday life.
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
Modeling (using easier example or model first part of strategy)
We will complete the activity three different times. The first time, my partner and
I will model the strategy. The second time, we will ask a volunteer student to
participate and help us create our interpretation of the rules and the last time they
will be on their own using their journal packet that we will hand out
My partner (Ashlie) will act as if she is the teacher and I (Nate) act as if I am a
student new to this strategy. We will post a sample journal on the board and fill
out the “It says – I Say – And So” portions. The sample will also be provided on
a handout packet given to the students. My partner will explain how to complete
the assignment as if I am learning them for the first time. After this, I will
complete my chart out loud – just as I am thinking through the information. This
will be important for learning students because so that they can understand how I
arrive at my conclusions. After I am done completing the chart, my partner
(Ashlie) will review what I wrote, asking me to critically think about my
conclusions. Below is a sample of our modeling chart:
Rules
It Says
I Say
And So
From the Book
Definition
Agree/Disagree
Why you picked
that answer and
how to apply or
change
“The whiter the
bread, the
sooner you’ll
be dead” #37




White flour is no
different than sugar
Eating whole grains
(darker bread) has
been tied to living
longer and healthier
Whole grains
contain fiber, B
vitamins, and
healthy fat
Agree
When choosing a
bread, I will go
for the darker
bread
Application/Practice (guided practice will require one volunteer student – the
remainder of the activity will be completed individually)
(Guided Practice)
During this section, my partner and I will invite one student to join in the activity
and we will assist them during the process. We will provide them with another
sample chart to fill out. The student will be given a food rule (“Eat when you are
hungry, not when you are bored”) and then asked to fill out what the rule means,
their interpretation (whether they agree or disagree) and finally why they picked
that and how they would apply or change the rule. We will remind the student that
all answers are correct as long as they are adequately explained. The chart they
will be filling out is included below:
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Rules
It Says
(Definition)
I Say
(Agree/
disagree)
And So
(Answer – why & how to
apply/change)
“Eat when you are hungry, not
when you are bored”
(Independent Practice)
The students will be given a journal packet, which included a chart for them to
complete. We will walk around to provide any help they need. Below is the table
provided to the students:
Rules
It Says
(Definition)
I Say
(Agree/
disagree)
And So
(Answer – why &
how to
apply/change)
“Avoid food
products with the
wording ‘lite’ or the
terms ‘low-fat’ or
‘non-fat’ in their
names” #9
“Do all of your
eating at a table”
#58
“Try not to eat
alone” #59
“Treat treats as
treats” #60
“Leave something
on your plate” #61
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Discussion (entire class)
The entire class will complete a psychomotor task and be asked about the rules
they learned and enjoyed throughout the lesson. We will discuss if they know
how to use the strategy and how they felt about the activity.

Debriefing on Strategy (How did this strategy help them? Did they find
anything difficult about using the strategy? Could it be used with other texts?)
My partner and I will facilitate the class discussion and ask about their feelings
using the above questions.
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
Assessment: Formal/informal (Did the students meet the objective(s)? How do
you know? Can use informal assessment during the lesson and formal assessment
of student work after the lesson). My partner and I will use the following tools to
assess whether the students meet the objectives: observing students’ responses,
participation and performance during modeling and practice sections, listening to
their comments during the psychomotor activity, collecting their assignment
journal to track progress.
Lesson Reflection: (What did you like about your lesson? What would you change next
time? What did you learn about your teaching?)
I really enjoyed teaching our lesson and receiving feedback from the students.
When we began to design our focus lesson, we really tried to implement a strategy that
would excite and interest the students to value what we were teaching. We also chose a
book in our own content area that we felt could impact our students and facilitate
understanding in the field of health and exercise science. Through our presentation, we
had full class involvement. I noticed a great deal of self-reflection on behalf of the
students, where they were actually taking part in the experience and taking responsibility
for the material. From my perspective, with all of these things taken into consideration,
the lesson went remarkably well. As a teacher, one is not always granted instant
gratification; however, with our affective strategy of applying the “food rules” to each
individual’s life and asking for feedback, we were able to gain great insight into how
each person interpreted the rules and to what degree they appreciated the reading.
For a future lesson, I cannot truly pinpoint one dramatic aspect of the presentation
or less that I would change. I feel that with teaching, there are minor improvements that
one can work on to help better understanding, but in general, the lesson was fantastic.
With my own teaching strategy, I do feel as if I can be more relatable as a teacher. I’m
finding more and more that it is difficult to bridge the gap from being a friend to being a
superior. It is my belief that the best teachers are the ones that can mesh the professional
and friendly boundary. If one is too superior and dictates to students, then the students
will not respond to this and most likely become resentful or disinterested. If a teacher is
less professional and friendly toward students, they may take advantage or lack respect. I
feel that during this presentation, I was less personable than I could have been which
could increase learning from students.
Through all of this lesson and the actual presentation, I learned how to essentially
carry out a full lesson with my students. You do not realize the background work needed
to really be an effective teacher. Between setting up posters, printing out papers, and
setting up activities to evaluate psychomotor, cognitive, and affective objectives, there is
a lot of work involved. It was definitely a mind opening experience. I am glad to have
completed this because I know now that I can present a fantastic lesson, but I am also
aware that it takes much time and energy.