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8th Grade Integrated Career Unit
Middle School/School-Based Activity
by
Jill Brooks, Kim Campbell, Ken Leahy, Dawn Lane, and Regina Bevivino
Description:
This Career Unit is an integrated 8th grade curriculum for Home and Career Skills, Technology, English, and Social Studies. It is designed in such a way that other subject areas are easily added so others may participate.
The competencies being addressed are from the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee. The booklet, Pathfinder , is used as the primary text. An assembly of guest speakers address students about their careers as part of the unit. Relevant follow-up activities are planned to continue at least once per month for the remainder of the school year. Topics addressed in each subject area are:
Social Studies: Growth and change, benefits of educational achievement to career opportunities, relationship between work and learning (topics above are addressed in all 3 classes), skills necessary to seek and obtain jobs-including job application, skills to interact with others, appropriate behavior, appropriate dress, the process of career planning, and skills evaluation; the influence of a positive self-concept; the interrelation of life roles, and summary and critique of assembly speakers.
Home and Career Skills/Technology: Why we study home and career skills and technology, investigating personal interests, resume writing, interrelationship of life roles, different occupations and changing male/female roles (also addressed in Social Studies), and other factors which influence career choices.
English: Why do we study English, skills to locate, understand, and use career information, career planning, career interest groups and how they relate to jobs and activities, and use of computers and word processing skills for resume writing and thank you notes to assembly guests.
Assessment Tools & Techniques:
1. A Career Folder containing the following documents:
* Application.
* Mid-year Self-evaluation.
* Resume.
* References.
* Application to 9th grade.
2. A mid-year conference is held with each student to discuss and evaluate their progress accomplishing their goals to date. A short written evaluation is added to the student's file, which refers the student back to their "skill evaluation" completed in social studies at the beginning of the school year. This is valuable in helping the student recognize where they stand at this point in the school year in terms of their work habits and interpersonal skills.
Materials:
Pathfinder by Norene Lindsay, published by JIST. Computer lab.
Time Required:
The unit is delivered over eight school days. Follow-up activities continue throughout the school year. One full week in the summer to prepare and plan for the program and one
2-hour meeting to evaluate the program after implementation are recommended.
Reflections:
We begin the school year with this program to instill a purpose in the student as to the relevance of courses to them in the "real world".
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For more information contact:
Jill Brooks or Ann Falvey
Westmoreland School District
Route 233
Westmoreland, NY 13490
(315) 853-5571
Learning Standards:
ELA #1, 3, 4
Health, PE, FCS # 3
C-DOS #1, 2, 3a
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