Peanut Butter Jelly Time: An Interest Approach for HAACP

I must admit, I had quite the "lesson plan writer's block" in preparation for this lab. We were tasked with creating an entire lesson and sharing our 5-10 minute interest approach. For this class, I decided to go with my Food Science class with the lesson on Food Safety and HAACP.

For my interest approach, I decided to put a twist on the simple task of building a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I selected a student at random and asked them to stand at the back of the classroom. When they were facing the wall, they were tasked with giving me instructions on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I followed exactly what the student told me and ended up with a single piece of bread folded in two with the knife in the open peanut butter jar. At the end of the exercise, I asked the students if they thought Amanda did a good job of explaining the instructions on how to create a sandwich.

This would then transition in to the explanation of what a HAACP plan is and the importance of it. When I do this lesson at my student teaching site, I will have the students create their own HAACP plan on creating maple syrup using the facilities available to them at Oley Valley.

From the feedback from my peers, I learned they would have all liked to been involved in the activity. I could possibly show one example as the interest approach and then have more students try later in the classroom if they have extra time.

I really enjoyed this lab and lesson! I am looking forward to actually giving this lesson to my students at Oley Valley this spring. It will help them understand and appreciate the importance of following correct instructions.