Week 1: Intro to Fast Food and the Power of Advertising

Day 1: Introduction to Fast Food Objective/Purpose: Students will be introduced to the Fast Food Unit by doing some pre-reading exercises that will jump-start their thinking on the topic of fast food, such as Clustering and Think-Pair-Share. Activities: Clustering: begin class by asking students to make a cluster brainstorming map with the words fast food Think-Pair-Share: After students have thought individually about their cluster maps and have written them on a piece of paper, have them find a partner and share their ideas/associations Whole Class Discussion: From this group work we will transition into a whole class discussion on students first impressions of fast food. o What do you know about how the food is made? o Would you want to work for a fast food restaurant? What do you know about how employees are treated? o Do you like fast food? Is it something you eat often? o Do you think that pricing for food is fair? Day 2: Power of words in advertising Objective/Purpose: Students will be introduced to the first big topic within the unit, which is advertising. They will have time to discuss as a class the power of effective advertising after we read the last half of Chapter 2 from Fast Food Nation. Activities: Anticipation Guide for Fast Food Nation reading excerpt: o Can you recall an ad that you saw on television or maybe in a magazine that made you want to buy a product? o Once you have recalled an advertisement consider what made it appealing. Was it the visuals, the words, the product, etc.? I will read aloud to the class the last half of Chapter 2 from Fast Food Nation which focuses on the power of advertising in the success of fast food restaurants (i.e. MacDonalds) while students use sticky notes to follow along and mark any important places or any questions they may have Write-Around: Students will get together in groups of 4-5 and write short notes around the circle to one another about the information that was just read in the book. Some questions to get the writing process flowing o Do you think the advertising discussed in the chapter is ethical? Is it okay to target children, so that they will convince their parents to eat fast food? o What seem to be the elements of strong marketing/advertising?

o Did specific fast food advertisements you have seen come to mind while we were reading? o What is the authors point of view? Day 3: Advertising cont (The Power of Persuasion) Objective/Purpose: Students will examine the elements that make a strong advertisement, in order to prepare them for writing their own advertisement during the last two days of the week Activities: Begin class by viewing a British McDonalds commercial and an American Burger King commercial o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI-PPoDvxSk (UK McDonalds add) o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE-uCWwfFLI (Burger King commercial) Compare/Contrast: Using a Venn Diagram have students work with a partner to come up with the similarities and differences between these two ads Whole class discussion on what groups came up with o Which ad do you think was more effective? o Why would fresh ingredients be more popular in this day and age? o The power of words! Burger Kings was simply arent you hungry whereas the UK McDonalds ads focused the viewer on the fresh ingredients Prep students for the activity we will be doing for the next two days which is to write their own advertisement and demonstrate the power of persuasion Day 4: RAFT on Advertising/Persuasion Objective/Purpose: Students will put into practice the various elements we have been discussing throughout the week about advertising by creating their own script for a fast food advertisement using the RAFT writing technique. This writing exercise will help them apply their knowledge on persuasive writing techniques Activities: Have a 15 minute mini-lesson at the beginning of class to discuss the RAFT model (Role, Audience, Format, Topic) o Students will have the freedom to choose their perspective/stance (i.e. they could be writing an advertisement for a fitness center that persuades people not to eat fast food and live a healthier lifestyle)

o Students will also have freedom to choose format (i.e. script for a commercial, poster with a catchy slogan, magazine/newspaper clipping, etc.) o Remind students that advertisements must be effectivethey must make someone want to buy the product Students will get the rest of the hour to brainstorm and determine the four different categories they will choose for their advertisement

Day 5: RAFT Work Day Objective/Purpose: Students will get the hour to write/revise their RAFT advertisements. Activities: Students will individually work on their RAFT advertisements If times permits then they can swap with a partner for revisions

Week Two: Ethics

Day 6: Examining Ethical Practices Objective/Purpose: Students will be introduced to some of the ethical concerns that surround the fast food industry and will learn how to sufficiently work with others to analyze them. Activities: Jigsaw Discussion: Students will examine the following news article on the 7 worst things about MacDonalds using the jigsaw format: http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/7-worstthings-about-mcdonalds?page=0%2C1 o Each group of about 3 students will tackle one of the 7 items on the list and in their groups they will discuss these three questions 1. Whats the problem? 2. Has the problem been solved? 3. How do you feel about it? o Groups will be restructured so that each of the 7 items is represented in a group and they will teach each other what they talked about in their previous groups

Day 7: Fast Food Nation Chapter 3 Objective/Purpose: Class time will be spent reading Chapter 3 of Fast Food Nation in order to give students more insight on the ethical treatment of employees and the practices that go on behind the counter. Activities: Read aloud of Fast Food Nation: Students will implore active reading strategies while we read chapter 3 as a class o Using sticky notes to mark important quotes, confusing sections, or key ideas It says, I say, And So: After the reading is done we will wrap up class with the students response to: o What was the overall message of chapter 3? o What was your personal opinion/response to this message? o What is the significance of this message in everyday life?

Day 8: Fishbowl Discussion on Fast Food Nation Objective/Purpose: Students will have a chance to closely and critically respond to the previous days reading by having an open and thought-provoking discussion with their classmates on the issues that were addressed Activities: Fishbowl Discussion: Students will be split into two large groups for the fishbowl discussion and they will respond to the following questions while inside the fishbowl: o What was something that disturbed you about the way fast food employees treated? o Do you think its okay for fast food companies to treat their employees this way just because its efficient and cost-effective? Can you think of any other things in our society that run on this mentality? o Share some experiences you have heard about from family members or friends who may have worked at fast food restaurants.

Day 9: Response to Ethical Practices Objective/Purpose: Students will have an opportunity to respond in writing about the ethical practices and controversies we have been discussing as a class throughout the week. This will give them a chance to examine their own thoughts on the topic and formulate set opinions, and then consolidate those thoughts with group members Activities: Nonstop Write: Students will spend the first 10 minutes of class in a nonstop writing mode where they will respond to the prompt: o How are you going to respond to the information we have discussed over the past few days about the ethical practices of fast food restaurants? (i.e. will you not eat fast food anymore?) Brainstorm with workshop groups (4 students each): Students will meet with their workshop groups to share what they wrote in their nonstop writing time. o Student 1 should be the recorder (writing down group members ideas) o Student 2 should be the questioner (testing all possible problems with the solutions each member comes up with) o Student 3 should be the researcher (looking up new info on laptops in classroom) o Student 4 should be the summarizer (gives teacher a 5 sentence summary of the different ideas group members shared)

Day 10: Letter to the Editor Objective/Purpose: Students will use the ideas they came up with in their groups the day before to create a hard copy form of their concerns and plans of action when it comes to the ethical practices of fast food restaurants and will structure it in a letter to the editor format. Activities: Letters to the editor: In their workshop groups, students will formulate a letter to the editor about the action they plan to take, based on the brainstorming that took place the day before Students will have the entire class period to work on this letter and should turn it in by the end of class If time permits, students will share their letters with the whole class

Week Three: Final Project

Day 11: Introduce the final project Objective/Purpose: Students will be introduced to the ELA portion of the final project, which will be informational writing in the form of a brochure, and will spend the hour exploring a model text, reviewing rubric, and brainstorming. Activities: Anticipation Guide for final project: o If you could create your own fast food restaurant, what would your mission statement be (i.e. the focus of your company)? Explain to students that they will be creating a brochure (informational writing) with their group members for a restaurant that they will create together. Review Rubric Bacon House Model text: Show students The Bacon House brochure as a model text and go through each element of the rubric to explicitly connect what each element looks like on the brochure. Brainstorming: Give students time in their groups at the end of class to brainstorm the name, mission statement, and logo of their fast food restaurant

Day 12: Brainstorming cont Objective/Purpose: Students will have the hour to extensively brainstorm their brochure, in order to come up with a rough sketch by the end of the hour and finalize a mission statement for their company Activities: Brainstorming: students will come up with a rough sketch of their brochure by the end of the hour and turn in a finalized mission statement

Day 13: Computer Lab Objective/Purpose: Students will have the hour to work on their brochure in the computer lab, turning their rough sketch into a more finalized product Activities: Work with groups members in the computer lab, and have at least two panels of brochure done by the end of the hour

Day 14: Computer Lab Objective/Purpose: Students will have one more day to work on their brochures in the computer lab, having a finalized product by the end of the hour Activities: Work with group members in the computer lab, and have a printable, polished copy of brochure by the end of the hour

Day 15: Present Objective/Purpose: Students will have the hour to present the final version of their brochure to rest of the class to end this culminating experience of planning their own fast food restaurant. Activities: Presentations: Students will present their brochure to the rest of the class with their group members.