Unit title*Exploring Tomorrow Today
Subject area*Social Studies
Secondary subjectCareer Expeditions
Grade*10th
Duration/time* Eight weeks; the number of days per week varies
Overview*The students will be provided with an opportunity to research then job shadow in a career area of their choice. The experience will allow career exploration so career decisions can be made realistically. The end result will be a career fair where the 10th graders present career information to the 7th grade class who will soon to be having a job shadowing experience in the 8th grade.
Technology overview*

click on level for description

 
Level 1: Students will access information. 
Students go on-line to get information from the website about careers and employability.
Level 2: Students will collect data for research.
Students use information from the Internet and information about themselves to complete a variety of forms and activities.  All of these are prompted by links on the website.
Level 3: Students will analyze information.
Students review the information that they have collected, and using new activities and prompts from the website, analyze career pathways and possibilities that are right for them.
Level 4: Students will synthesize and communicate information.
The 10th grade students involved in this unit present a career fair with their information to present to 7th grade students.
Focus questions*How prepared are you for your chosen career?

How can you become better prepared?

What career area are you suited for considering interests, abilities, and aptitude? How did your job shadowing experience change your view of your selected career area?

Content standards and benchmarks*

(Mastery)

ELA.I.3.HS.3: Read and write fluently, speak confidently, listen and interact appropriately, view critically, and represent creatively. Examples include speaking publicly, demonstrating teamwork skills, debating formally, performing literature, and interviewing for employment.
ELA.IV.6.HS.4: Document and enhance a developing voice with authentic writings for different audiences and purposes. Examples include portfolios, video productions, submissions for competitions or publications, individual introspections, and applications for employment and higher education. CE2.HS: All students will acquire, organize, interpret, and evaluate information from career awareness and exploration activities, career assessment, and work-based experiences to identify and to pursue their career goals.
C10.HS: All students will integrate employability skills into behaviors which prepare one for obtaining, maintaining, advancing, and changing employment.

Content standards and benchmarks*

(Secondary)

ELA.VI.8.HS.1: Identify and use selectively mechanics that facilitate understanding. Examples include organizational patterns, documentation of sources, appropriate punctuation, grammatical constructions, conventional spelling, and the use of connective devices, such as transitions and paraphrasing an oral message completely and accurately.
ELA.IX.11.HS.2: Determine, evaluate, and use resources that are most appropriate and readily available for investigating a particular question or topic. Examples include knowledgeable people, field trips prefaces, appendices, icons/headings, hypertext, menus and addresses, internet and electronic mail, CD-ROM/laser disks, microfiche, and library and interlibrary catalogue databases.       
ELA.IX.11.HS.3: Synthesize and evaluate information to draw conclusions and implications based on their investigation of an issue or problem.
CE5.HS: All students will display personal qualities such as responsibility, self-management, ethical behavior, and respect for self and others.
CE6.HS: All students will identify, organize, plan, and allocate resources (such as time, money, materials, and human resources) efficiently and effectively.
Technology standards and benchmarks*

(Mastery)

NETS5.HS: Use technology tools and resources for managing and communicating personal/professional information (e.g., finances, schedules, addresses, purchases, correspondence).
NETS7.HS: Routinely and efficiently use online information resources to meet needs for collaboration, research, publication, communication, and productivity.

Technology standards and benchmarks*

(Secondary)

  
Resources* Career and Employability Skills. 2000. npag. Online. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW: http://mtn.merit.edu/career.html.

Career and Employability Skills Content Standards Overview. 2000. npag. Online. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW: http://mtn.merit.edu/mcf/CES.html

Delta County Career Preparation 10th Grade Job Shadowing. Escanaba: Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District, 2000

How to Have a Successful Interview. 1998. npag. On-line. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW: http://www.pittsburghjobs.net/subresume/archive/how.htm

MICareer<Start>. 2000. npag. On-line. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW : http://www.micareerstart.org/.

Michigan Department of Career Development (MDCD). 2001. npag. On-line. Internet. June 26, 2001.Available WWW : http://www.michigan.gov/mdcd/

Michigan Occupational Information System. 2001. npag. On-line. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW: http://www.mois.org/.

O*NET. 2000. npag. On-line. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW : http://www.doleta.gov/programs/onet/

Ready-for-School-Ready-for-Work.  National TeleLearning Network, Inc,1996.

Resumes Strategies that Work.2000.npag. Online. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW: http://cpp.camden.rutgers.edu/resume.html.

Stix, Andi, Ed D. US Department of Education “Creating Rubrics Through Negotiable Contracting and Assessment” ERIC #TM027246, 1997 npag. Online. Internet. June 26,  2001. Available WWW: http://www.interactiveclassroom.com/006%20-%20Creating%20Rubrics.pdf

Talent Freeway. 2000. npag. On-line. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW : http://www.talentfreeway.org/

The Interview Process. 8/22/00. npag. On-line. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW: http://www.uwstout.edu/place/intrview.html

University of Scranton Office of Career Services. Resume Writing Guide. 2000.npag. Online. Internet. June 26, 2001. Available WWW: http://academic.uofs.edu/department/ocs/resguide.html

Lesson Plan(s)* Step One: Know Thyself 

Know thyself PowerPoint 

Step 2: Writing a successful resume 

Step 3: Finding the right “pathway” 

Step 4: Interviewing  techniques 

Step 5: Knowing what employers expect 

Step 6: Portfolios 

Step 7: Reality meets research 

Step 8: Show and tell 

Example student materials 
Assessment*The first assessment tool used will be the presentation of a student’s soft skill self-appraisal “For Hire: ME!”   

The second assessment tool used will be in Step 8 when they write their Comparison between Reality and Research 

The third assessment tool will the their presentation    at the Career Fair.

The fourth assessment tool will be their portfolio 

ReflectionNone, as of now. This will be our first attempt at using this lesson plan. We have had our students strongly consider their soft skills, research through both MOIS and Choices, interview an employer, and write up a research paper using the information. This will be our first “For Hire: ME!” and our first attempt at a 7th grade career fair.

Wish us well!

Home activitiesMuch of the project is set up for home activity. The web sites are filled with good information. In addition, a WebQuest is available for a career project.
CreditsCredit for this project must in a large part go to Gayle DeShambo and the Delta-Schoolcraft ISD (http://www.dsisd.k12.mi.us). The student manual, which was created by the Tech Prep and School-To-Work, has been an essential part of this project.  This unit was revised and converted to an electronic format by Jan Robitaille, High School English teacher, Escanaba High School, Escanaba, MI   49829      jrobitaille@dsisd.k12.mi.us