Educator Guide Career and College Readiness Lesson Plans

Career & College Readiness Lesson Plans

Educator Guide

Introduction

The California Career Resource Network (CalCRN) program in the California Department of Education (CDE) is pleased to offer these Career and College Readiness Lesson Plans (CCRLPs).

The CCRLPs provide a set of age-appropriate lessons for grades five through twelve and have been written so they can be used in sequence or as stand-alone lessons. These lessons provide California educators with a key tool for implementing and incorporating critical career and college readiness knowledge and skill development into their classroom instruction.

When you introduce students to the CCRLPs, it is recommended that you have them create a hard copy Career Portfolio so they have a place to save copies of all the work they complete. Many lessons will use CalCRN online tools that allow students to save work online; but as students’ progress through middle and high school, they will find it helpful to have their accumulated career and college readiness work in one place so it is easy to access as one cumulative record. A hard copy Career Portfolio also provides a resource that is easy to share with a counselor, teacher, parent or guardian.

The CCRLPs are posted on the CalCRN Web site at

Table of Contents

Purpose

Organization

Lesson Plan Structure

Student Handouts in Spanish

Career and College Readiness Glossary

CalCRN Resources

Naming Conventions for Student Accounts on CalCRN Resources

Career and College Readiness Lesson Plans Contents

Appendix A: Lesson Plan Development

Purpose

The CCRLPs have been developed to support the following expected student outcomes. After completing the CCRLPs student will:

  • Be able to identify career and occupationalgoals.
  • Be able to describe postsecondary education and training options.
  • Understand the role that interestsand values play in career selection.
  • Understand the financial implications of career decisions, including the cost of education and training in relation to specific occupational goals.
  • Possess an initial postsecondary Career Action Plan.

These lessons will enable students to identify a broad range of careers and occupations, explore potential life and work goals, and build awareness of the array of postsecondary education and training options available to them.

Because many of the lessons require using a computer with Internet access, please note:

  • State and federal laws govern the conditions and limitations for Internet usage by children under the age of 13. Before using the Internet, check your district policies and/or state and federal regulations.
  • For homework assignments, students without home access to computers and the Internet may need time in the school computer lab or library.

Organization

The CCRLPs are organized by grade levels and topic areas. In each grade level, there are five or six lessons,each addressing one of the four topic areas. Although the lessons are organized this way, you are encouraged to review all the lessons to determine which lessons will best meet your students’ needs. Additionally, lesson plans can be downloaded as Word documents which you can revise to better suit your students’ needs.

A key element to consider when bringing these lessons into your classroom is how much time you have available. The lessons are designed to be offered over a period of six to ten class sessions throughout the school year.If more time is available, it would be helpful to students to complete a lesson from another grade level or topic to increase understanding.

If time is limited, you are encouraged to use at least one lesson from each of the four topic areas to provide students a broad,basic understanding of career-related issues and an opportunity to answer the four core questions as they develop their career goals.

The four major topic areas that address core career development questions are:

Self-knowledge

These lessons help students address the core question: “Who Am I?” They focus on building a student’s understanding of their interests, values, and skills through assessments and activities that help them reflect and learn how these relate to the identification of career goals.

Career Exploration

These lessons help students address the core question: “Where Am I Going?”They focus on conducting research to help students explore careers and occupations, understand the job market, and learn how labor market information can help determine career and occupational goals.

Career Planning

These lessons help students address the core question: “How Do I Get There?”They focus on developing middle school and high school plans, understanding requirements for postsecondary options including the military, skilled trades, and college, and creating a viable postsecondary plan (Career Action Plan) that identifies at least initial occupational goals and conveys an understanding of the steps necessary to achieve those goals.

21st Century Skills

These lessons help students address the core question: “How Do I Succeed?”They focus on helping students identify essential workplace skills, workplace safety issues they need to be aware of, develop financial literacy skills, and become media/technology literate for the 21st Century workplace.

Lesson Plan Structure

The following provides an overview of the structure and elements common to every lesson plan.

Lesson Identification

The first page of each lesson includes the program title, “Career & College Readiness Lesson Plans”, the lesson plan title, and the topic area.

Header

Each page of the lesson has a header which includes the lesson title and the topic area.

Grade Level(s):

Thisshows the recommended grade level for this lesson; however, in most cases,a lesson can be used in a variety of grade levels.

Overview

The Overview is a brief description of the information the lesson is designed to convey and the activities students will undertake to complete the lesson.

Learning Outcomes

The Learning Outcomes describe what skills, knowledge, or abilities, studentswill acquire and what products students must complete by the end of the lesson.

Language Objectives

The Language Objectives describe how students will demonstrate their mastery of the lesson by reading, writing,speaking, or listening.

Standards Alignment

This section describes how the lesson aligns to the various educational standards or guidelines that will help students become career and college ready, including:

  • California Common Core State Standards: College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards [PDF]
  • California Career Technical Education Anchor Standards
  • California Standards for Career Ready Practice[PDF]
  • National Career Development Guidelines [PDF]
  • International Society for Technology in Education Standards
  • English Language Development Standards

Materials

This sectionlistsall the materials neededto teach the lesson.

Academic Vocabulary

This section identifies key vocabulary that will be used in the lesson.

Activity

This section provides a brief description of the activity/ies that students will engage in as they participate in this lesson.

Lesson Procedures

This section provides a sequential set of steps to follow for teachingthe lesson.

Estimated Time

This section provides an estimate of how many class periods it will take to completethe lesson. Most lessons can be delivered in one class session.

Evaluation

This section identifies the student outcomes which can be used to evaluate student performance.

Additional Resources

This section provides additional resources you may wish to use to enrich your lesson delivery,extend the lesson activities, or build on the lesson.

Adaptations

This section identifieschanges which can be made to enhance the lesson, to use different activities, or better address the needs of various student populations.

Attribution

This section identifies and credits lesson ideas or topics that were initially developed by outside sources.

Student Handouts in Spanish

The student handoutsin the lesson plans have been translated into Spanish to support English Learners who might need primary language support. Please note this was done as an attempt to support the largest student population that speaks a language other than English; in this case, Spanish speaking.

Career and College Readiness Glossary

A CalCRN Career and College Readiness Glossary is available and provides educators and students with the key vocabulary and definitions foundthroughout the lesson plans. This Glossary is posted with the lesson plans on the California Career Resource Network Web site.

Start-Up Videos

The Start-Up Videos offer a brief and engaging way to introduce students to the lesson. Every lesson has a Video. They range from one to two minutes and provide a brief overview of the lesson topic and key activities or concepts students will learn.

California Career Resource Network(CalCRN) Resources

The CalCRNprogram was established pursuant to California Education Code Section 53086. Its primary duty is to distribute career information, resources, and training materials to middle school and high school counselors, educators, and administrators, in order to ensure that middle and high schools have the necessary information available to provide a pupil with guidance and instruction on education and job requirements necessary for career development.

The CCRLP promote use of coreCalCRN career and college exploration and planning resources. Lessons include directions for setting up free accounts so students can save assessment results, plans, journals, and key content pages. See Naming Conventions for CalCRN Resources with Student Accounts for suggestions for naming conventions that are useful when groups of students are establishing accounts.

The California Career Center (Career Center) ( Web portal is a comprehensive “virtual counselor” with career and college resources and tools to help students begin their career journey. The Career Center’sfocus is on students, but it contains hard-to-find resources for counselors, teachers, parents, and guardians. Go to the Educators section for workshop handouts, parent handbooks, and more. Free user account feature.

The California CareerZone ( is a career exploration system providing four easy-to-use career assessment tools. It connects users with information on more than 900 California occupational options as well ascolleges across the country. The “Make Money Choices” budgeting tool helps students make the connection between lifestyle choices and the occupations that can financially support those choices. Free user account feature. There is a free downloadable workbook (8 pages) that can be used by educators as an overview of the CareerZone features, it can be found on the Additional Resources page under the “Decide” option.

Career Surfer is mobile application for beginning career exploration and planning. Students can explore careers on their mobile devices by viewing snapshots of the more than 900 occupations detailed on the California CareerZone. Career Surfer is a free download from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Naming Conventions for Student Accounts on CalCRN Resources

Consider creating a naming convention for your class if they are creating user accounts for a CalCRN resource. A naming convention can be any combination of words, letters, or numbers which are uniformly applied. Thepurpose of naming conventions is to make it easy to manage onlineresources. Whether or not you use a naming convention to assist students in setting up online accounts, you must ensure student identities are protected.

Here are some naming conventions examples:

Usernames:

  • The student’s first and last initials +the student’s ID number; for example, js382945.
  • The student’s first name, last initial, +a consecutive number or class period; for example, JakeS01 or jakesperiod1.
  • School’s initials + student first name + student last initial + any number: AHSjesseS01
  • Student’s first name + last initial + school mascot + year: JesseSTiger2015
  • Teacher’s first name + student first name + class name: JohnJesseEnglish
  • Student’sfirst name + last name initial + class number + year: JesseS1022015

These are just a few examples; you can use any combination of elements that works best for you.You may also want to discuss with your students the best way to create passwords.

Student Accounts

California CareerZone

Students can establish a free account with no foreseeable expiration date.An e-mail address is not required but is needed to help students if they forget their username or password. E-mail addresses are not used for any other purpose and remain confidential.

California Career Center

Students can establish a free account with no foreseeable expiration date. An e-mail address is required. Before having your students sign up, you may wish to take this time to suggest theycreate appropriate usernames for career and college pursuits.
Career and College Readiness Lesson Plans Content

Key: Lesson Title – Topic Area (Number of Class Sessions)

5th Grade

  • Learning about Myself—Self-knowledge (1 Session)
  • Name That Job—Career Exploration (1 Session)
  • What’s the Market for My Labor?—Career Exploration (1–2 Sessions)
  • Studying For Careers—21st Century Skills (2 Sessions)
  • Who Am I?—Self-knowledge (1 Session)

6th Grade

  • Me and My Career—Career Exploration (1 Session)
  • My Dream Career—Career Exploration (5–7 Sessions)
  • I Have “M.I.” Strengths!—Self-knowledge (1 Session)
  • Roadmap to Success—Career Planning (2 Sessions)
  • An Online Tool I Can Use—Career Planning (1 Session)

7th Grade

  • Planning for Middle and High School—Career Planning (2 Sessions)
  • Workplace Skills—21st Century Skills (2 Sessions)
  • My Future Lifestyle—21st Century Skills (2 Sessions)
  • Possible Careers—Career Exploration (1–2 Sessions)
  • Where Am I Going?—Career Exploration (2–5 Sessions)
  • The Next 6 Years—Career Planning (2 Sessions)

8th Grade

  • Preparing for My Future—Career Planning (2 Sessions)
  • Transitioning to High School—Career Planning (1 Session)
  • Exploring Military Career Options—Career Exploration (1 Session)
  • How to Succeed in Life—Self-knowledge (2–3 Sessions)
  • Evaluating Web Sites—21st Century Skills (1 Session)
  • Safe at Work—21st Century Skills (1–2 Sessions)

9th Grade

  • What Skills Do I Need?—Career Exploration (1–2 Sessions)
  • Gaining By Giving—Career Exploration (1 Session)
  • Plagiarism is Stealing!—21st Century Skills (1 Session)
  • Learning the Skills to Pay the Bills—Career Planning (1 Session)
  • What's the Plan?—Career Planning (1 Session)
  • Matchmaking: Interests & Careers—Self-knowledge (1 Session)

10th Grade

  • Choosing My Lifestyle—21st Century Skills (1 Session)
  • What Matters to Me?—Self-knowledge (1 Session)
  • What’s a Hot Job?—Career Exploration (1 Session)
  • I'm Ready to Work—Career Planning (1 Session)
  • What Are My Options—Career Planning (2-5 Sessions)

11th Grade

  • What Occupation Interests Me?—Career Exploration (2–5 Sessions)
  • My Best Resume—Career Planning (1 Session)
  • Hazards in the Workplace—21st Century Skills (1 Session)
  • Due Dates, Deadlines, & Decisions—Career Planning (1–2 Sessions)
  • Ready, Set, Test!—Career Planning (1 Session)
  • College: Plan Well and Pay Less—21st Century Skills (1 Session)

12th Grade

  • Telling My Story—Career Planning (1 Session)
  • Writing Right—21st Century Skills (1 Session)
  • Etiquette? What’s That?—21st Century Skills (1 Session)
  • Learn to Reach Out—21st Century Skills (2–3 Sessions)
  • In the Interview Hot Seat—21st Century Skills (1 Session)
  • What’s Next?—Career Planning (1–2 Sessions)

Appendix A

Lesson Plan Development

The Career and College Ready lesson plans were developed in response to the growing awareness of the critical need for students to develop career and college readiness skills if they are to be successful in life after high school.

The lessons were produced under contract with the Yolo County Office of Education and are the result of a large, dedicated team of California educators:

Yolo County Office of Education:

  • Ronda DaRosa, Executive Director
  • Edgar Lampkin, Program Manager & English Learner Expert
  • Viola DeVita, Program Coordinator
  • Andrea Barajas,Program Secretary
  • Marco Raya,Program Translator

Content Experts:

  • Lesley Farmer, Librarianship Program/Dept. Chair of Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling at California State University, Long Beach
  • Terri Griffin, Capital Region Academies for the Next Economy (CRANE) Career Specialist, Placer County Office of Education
  • Lauren Sneed, Educational Liaison, San Mateo County Office of Education
  • Kathleen Steele, Curriculum Design and Professional Development for Regional Occupational Center, San Bernardino County Office of Education

Woodland Joint Unified School District teachers piloted lessons and provided content:

  • Julie Bourdet, Sixth Grade Teacher, Ramon S. Tafoya ElementarySchool
  • Angela Davies, English & English Language DevelopmentTeacher, Lee Middle School
  • Florina Davila, Fifth Grade English Language Learners Project Specialist, Gibson Elementary School
  • Shannon McClarin, Teacher on Special Assignment–English Learners, Elementary School, Woodland Joint Unified School District
  • Graciela Marlene Molina, Seventh Grade Englishand Seventh and Eighth Grade World History, Lee Middle School
  • Maria Orozco, Teacher on Special Assignment – English Learners, Woodland Joint Unified School District
  • Vicki Schauer, Sixth Grade Teacher, Ramon S. Tafoya ElementarySchool
  • Shannon Suesens, Grades Nine through Twelve AVID Teacher, Pioneer High School
  • Heather Torres, Grades Nine through Twelve AVID Teacher, Pioneer High School
  • Pat Welty, Sixth Grade Teacher, Zamora Elementary School

Additional content and editing was provided by:

  • Lori Perez, Coordinator, College and Career Readiness, Yolo County Office of Education
  • Devin Merris-Coots, Special Education Resource Specialist, Washington Unified School District
  • Angela Alexanian, California Department of Education Summer Intern, University of California Berkeley

CalCRN staff provided support for the development of the CCRLPs:

  • John Merris-Coots, Education Programs Consultant
  • Jesse Stevens, Associate Governmental Program Analyst
  • Cheryl Reyes, Office Technician

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