Career Videos

During the month of May we are focusing on careers.  I thought it would be a fun idea to have parents share their careers, but organizing schedules for speakers would disrupt our normal classroom routines and sounded a little overwhelming.  Then a lightbulb inside me went off!  What if I used our emphasis on technology to help share our parent's careers???

I created a private youtube channel and invited parents to upload short 2-3 minute videos using the criteria below.  Then I had students log in and peruse the videos, increasing both engagement and differentiation for their unique interests.  I sent home the following letter to parents to enlist their help:
 

Since not all careers are represented, I supplemented with additional careers using Kidsgov's TeacherTube channel.  Here you can watch additional kid friendly videos on a variety of careers.

Animal Keeper:


Marine Pilot:


Marine Biologist:


Army Dentist:


Archeologist:


Biologist & Chemist:



White House Chef:


Architect:
 

Careers Taboo

In third grade we played Careers Taboo (you can download the cards here) to introduce the topic of careers! I split the class into 2 teams and had them sit in a line.  The student at the front of the line would draw a card and try to describe the career on the card without saying any of the "hush" words.  Their team had 30 seconds to guess the name of the career.  While they were describing the career, the student at the front of the line on the opposing team would look over their should to make sure they weren't saying any of the off-limit words.  Teams were awarded points by guessing correctly in the time limit.  If a team was not able to guess the career, the other team had an opportunity to steal.  Each team took turns describing and guessing.  We had a great time and there were lots of laughs to the difficulty of not saying the hush words!

Career Bingo

To continue our emphasis on careers, we played bingo in kindergarten!  I began by going over a variety of careers that would appear on their bingo boards.  We discussed the title of the job, responsibilities and their interest level with each using these posters:

Then I introduced how to play bingo and we were off!  I read aloud descriptions of different careers and they searched their bingo board for the accurate match.  I created the boards using pictures from the Career Day Activity Packet.

Exploring Colleges: Monsters University

During the month of May our focus is on our future.  In 4th grade we began discussing colleges as a way to further our education and open more doorways to careers.  Using our downstairs bulletin board as a springboard, we discussed the importance of selecting a college that matches our interests.  Real college websites are a great resource, but I thought I'd increase their engagement by having them explore Monsters University!

Students explored the site looking for the requirements to get in, classes available and clubs they could join.  They filled out reflection sheets to take home and convince their parents that they wanted to apply.  You can download a copy of it here.

Lee's Pathways to Success

To kickoff our month on careers and college, I created a staff bulletin board to highlight our unique pathways that brought us to Lee Elementary.  I collected high school and college information from each staff member to proudly display.  I included all of our staff members, including teachers, office staff, administration, special areas, nurses, custodians, and our childcare helpers.  I added graduation caps to everyone!

Here are some close ups:

Careers in 1st Grade: Being Wendy

In first grade we have begun our month on thinking about our futures.  Where do we want to go to college?  What do we want to be when we grow up?  Our first lesson focused on the career options that are out there.  To get their brains thinking, we read Being Wendy written by Fran Drescher.

This story follows a young girl named Wendy on her journey of thinking outside of the box.  She lives in Boxville, where everyone must pick a box that shows their career choice.  Even the dogs where boxes!  Wendy cannot figure out just one career that she would like to have because she has many interests.

Throughout the story we talk about the following points (from The Corner on Character blog):

1.  Do you think everyone grows up to get the job they wanted when they were a kid? Share responses from the teachers at your school at this time to demonstrate that dreams change as we grow.

2.  If you set a goal to have a specific career someday and you grow up to be something different, does that mean you failed at your goal? 

3.  Wendy said that she felt different from everyone else, but was afraid to tell someone. Why do you think she was afraid? 

4. Is it a bad thing to be different from others? How do you treat people who are different from you?

5.   The author stated, “Wendy tried to take her dad’s advice, but the more she thought about it, the more she hated thinking inside the box.” Have you ever heard the expression, “thinking inside/outside the box”? What does it mean? How does it apply here?

6.  What do you think the town of “Freedomland” is like?

After the story we start brainstorming what we might want to be when we grow up.  Then we narrowed down what career we would want to have if we lived in Boxville, with one exception: it can be more than one idea!  Students created their Boxville character and wrote down many career options they are interested in pursuing.  You can download the body template from The Corner on Character here.

Here are some of the Boxville residents they created:

It's Not a Box

In kindergarten I introduced careers with one of my favorite stories, Not a Box written by Antoinette Portis.  This book just screams imagination!  We follow a rabbit as he uses a "box" as many different items - guessing before we turn the page to see what he is pretending to be this time.  I like the springboard into careers it provides and message that you can be anything.

After the story, we watched this adorable music video that highlights even more careers:


Then I passed out coloring books (you can download for free here) that had a variety of careers you could choose to color.  Some students even drew their own ideas of what they'd like to be when they grew up.

Someday...A lesson on Careers

In 2nd grade we began our talks about the future by reading Someday by Eileen Spinelli.  This book is a great springboard into careers because it takes a young girl imagining her future career, then ties it into how what she is doing today is preparing her for each pathway.  For example, she is digging in the couch cushions for coins and dreams of being a paleontologist digging for bones.

After the story we played "I Have, Who Has" with careers.  I downloaded this game from The Career Day Activity Packet from Teachers Pay Teachers.  Each class competed to get the fastest time.

Then I challenged them to come up with as many careers as they could using an Alphabet Chart.

For an extra hint, I played them this video:

6th Graders Encouraging our Newest Test Takers

Each time spring rolls around the topic of our standardized test, STAAR, begins to enter the conversations of our students at Lee Elementary.  Since we have some resident experts on the ins & outs of what the STAAR test is really like, I thought it would be a good idea for them to impart their knowledge onto our newest test takers: 3rd graders!  I typed up a list of all of our 3rd graders and then our 6th graders picked 2-3 to write an encouraging letter to.  They could write encouraging words, test taking tips, confidence boosters and any idea that they thought would help lower their anxiety about testing.  We had a great conversation about empathy and tried to remember back to when it was our first time taking the STAAR test or even how we feel now about it.  Once all of the letters were all written onto colorful bordered stationary, I put them into an "Special Delivery" envelope from the White House (also our nickname for the house beside our school that 6th grade is housed in) and delivered them to their homeroom teachers for students to receive before the test.

Test-Taking Foldable

In third grade we began our talk about the STAAR test.  Each year students come in with many false rumors about STAAR that often catastrophize the situation.  I like to take time to explain the reality of STAAR, answer all of their questions and dispel any myths they've heard.  After our discussion, I like to read Hooray for Diffendoofer Day written by Dr. Seuss, with help by Lane Smith and Jack Prelutsky.  What's great about this book is that it puts a silly spin on standardized testing and it also commemorates the legacy of Dr. Seuss, who was unable to finish the book before his passing.  There is a second part in the back of the book that explains how this story came to be, showing his original rough drafts and drawings.

In the story students love their school, their teachers and all of the quirky things they are learning.  But one day their principal informs them that they will have to take a test in 10 minutes and if they do not perform well their school will close down.  Agh!  Worst case scenario!  I won't ruin the story, but there is a positive message that comes from it and our students always sigh in relief that our testing is nothing like theirs.

After the story we make test-taking foldables that students can use to remind them how to put their best foot forward.  I downloaded the template from Savvy School Counselor on TeachersPayTeachers and let the students be creative with the title for each tab.  Here are some of their completed tips: