Unit Title: Career Planning

Grade level: 11th grade Special Education

Length of unit: 3 weeks
Stage 1 Desired Results
Meaning
Enduring Understandings/Generalizations:

Essential Questions:

Each job, career and profession comes with a set of

What options are there after high school?
preparation requirements
How do I decide what I want to do?
Career plans are flexible and include a variety of life
What do you want to do after high school?
experiences, skills and education
Why do I need a career plan?
Your actions today may have an effect on your future
What steps will you take to get there?
employment
In todays world, you are likely to have multiple careers
and jobs
Knowledge & Skills Acquisition

Learning Goals: (e.g., Iowa/Common Core standards.)

Demonstrate initiative and self-direction through high achievement and lifelong learning while exploring the ways individual talents and
skills can be used for productive outcomes in personal and professional life.

Students will know

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

The types of post-secondary education (2 year, 4 year colleges)

Vocational training options (apprenticeships, schools)
Steps in getting a job: searching, applications
Degrees: Associates, bachelors, masters
Tests for education: ACT, SAT
College majors
Interview etiquette and appropriate language
Resumes: references and how to get them

Resources/Materials:
Laptops

Students will be able to

o create a resume
o apply for jobs, college, and vocational training
o conduct an interview appropriately

Resume example
Resume template
Video about ACT/SAT tests
Exit slips
College pamphlets
KWL chart about ACT/SAT tests
Graphic organizer about essential questions
Rubric for final project
Job application example
Career and Education Level worksheet
Compare and contrast maps
Blank vocational school application
Articles on vocational schools vs. college
Videos of interview etiquette
Stage 2 Evidence (Assessment)

Pre-assessment:
I will use informal pre-assessments by creating concept maps with the students. The first week on employment we will complete the
concept map on employment. The second week will start with the post-secondary education concept map and the third week we will start
with the concept map about vocational training. These concept maps will not be graded but students are expected to use them to track
their knowledge through out the lesson.
Types of pre-assessment strategies:
o I will use concept maps. The concept maps will be on the topics of: employment, post-secondary education, and vocational
training.
o I will start off by providing students with a few ideas of key vocabulary words that describe employment, post-secondary
education, and vocational training. I will then ask students to add a few more ideas to each one of their concept maps while
working in table groups. I will also tell the students that they are expected to add ideas to these concept maps to track their
knowledge through out the unit as we discuss the three topics more in depth. They will be able to use some of these ideas

when they are working on their final assessment.

If a student(s) has demonstrated mastery I will have them write about which path (employment, post-secondary education, or vocational
training) they plan to take after high school and explain it.

Formative Assessment:
o Students will answer short response questions (via exit slip) about employment, post-secondary education, and vocational
trainings
o Students will conduct mock interviews and reflect on it afterward. Students will be grouped in pairs based on similar career
interests and conduct the interview specific for that field. They will be provided with example interview questions to ask.
o Think-pair-share about the interview etiquette video
o Compare and contrast maps
o Class discussions after presentations made be the teacher
Students will answer the short response questions after we have discussed more details about employment, post-secondary education and
vocational training. Students will be expected to go back to their concept maps about employment, post-secondary education and
vocational training and add things through out the unit that they have built more knowledge on.
Students will pair up with another student and conduct a mock-interview with materials provided to them & reflect on the interview
afterwards. I want students to have a turn being the interviewer and the interviewee, so they will switch with their partner after a set
amount of time.

Summative Assessment:
o Students will turn in their resume they have created in class
o Students will complete the career and education level chart according to their interests
o Students will create a poster plan of their future
Knowledge or skills targeted:
o If the students know what to include and how to organize their resume
o Students can answer the essential questions:
What options are there after high school?
How do I decide what I want to do?
What do I want to do after high school?
Why do I need a career plan?
What steps will I take to get there?
Performance assessment:
o Students will create a poster about the essential questions based on their own future plans as of right now with the
understanding that this isnt permanent and that they are likely to end up doing something else in the future as jobs change.
They will present these posters to the class and students will have the opportunity to ask questions about each others
posters. These posters and presentations will be graded based on a rubric.

Stage 3 Learning Plan

Unit: Career Planning

Class Periods: 90 minutes
Week
Monday
Week 1

Introduction
Pre-assess: Concept
maps on employment,
post-secondary ed.,
vocational training

Class discussion over
concept maps

Go over the essential
questions and give an
introduction to the
unit

Week 2

Post-secondary ed.

Presentation on the
types (2 year, 4 year)
and degree types

Requirements for the
types of schools

School college and
career counselor will
come in to the
classroom to talk with
students about what
their office can help
students with

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Resumes


Power point on resume
format

Show example of
teachers resume

Give students a
template to use for
creating their own
resume

Discuss references and
how to ask for
references


Work time for resumes
to be turned in at the
end of the week
Tests & applications

ACT/SAT: students will
fill out a KWL about ACT
and SAT tests


Video on ACT and SAT
tests
https://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=UadrdPHT
O1o

College application
process ( I will show an
example and go over it)

We will discuss college
application essays and
common topics for
those essays

Job searching

Students will take a
career survey

Teacher shows
students how to look
for jobs online and in
the newspaper

Students practice
searching for jobs on
the laptops

Class discussion about
job searching and
what they found
difficult and what they
liked about it

Applying

Show students how to
fill out an online job
application

Students practice
filling out an
application provided
to them on paper

Students will fill out an
exit slip regarding
employment. Writing
about three things
they took away from
the unit so far

Interviews

Interview etiquette
video

Think-pair-share about
video

Mock-interview with
practice questions

Class discussion &
reflection about
interviews


Check that students are
adding to concept maps

Majors in college

Students will have the
opportunity to view
different programs
offered by colleges
with pamphlets
provided by the
teacher and college
and career office

Students will do a
gallery walk with these
pamphlets and make
notes about things that
interest them

How to pay for college

Loans and grants
overview presentation

Students receive short
readings on loans and
grants

Students will do a
jigsaw activity about
loans and grants

Class discussion about
which one is better,
loans or grants?

Tell students that next
class will focus on
applying for
scholarships

Scholarships

Where to find
scholarships

Go over a list of common
scholarships

Tell students about
scholarships they can
get through their high
school/district

How to apply for
scholarships



Check that students are
adding to concept maps

Week 3

Vocational Options

Presentation on
vocational schools

Review why
vocational schools are
different than college

Students will do a
cloze reading exercise
with articles on
vocational schools
and colleges

Compare and contrast
map as a class about
the articles

Local programs &

applying

Show students the
available careers that
stem from going to a
vocational school

Model how to find
vocational schools in
the area. Students will
have laptops so they can
follow along with the
process

Students will fill out an
application for a local
vocational school

Wrapping it up

Quick check that
students are adding to
concept maps

Students will fill out
the Careers Requiring
Education worksheet,
which includes a quick
write. This is turned in
for points (laptops
required)

We will review the
essential questions
and students will
receive a graphic
organizer of these
essential questions to
help them with their
final project. They will
have work time to get
started

Students will receive
the rubric for the final
project to start
planning

Workshop day

Students will have the
entire class period to
work on their final
poster and prepare for
their presentation

They will be provided
with materials and
laptops for any
research they need to
do

Presentations

Students will present
their posters to the class

They will turn in their
posters along with their
rubric for a grade

Career Planning Unit Assignment Sheet

Through out this unit you will be required to turn in various assignments including:
Personal resume (50 points)
Career & education level chart worksheet (10 points)
Final project (50 points)


You will complete a final project in the form of a poster that represents your plans for the future. This assignment will be graded based on a rubric and
will be worth 50 points. As discussed in class, I want you to incorporate your answers to the essential questions within your poster. The essential
questions are listed below for you as a reminder. You will present your poster to the class and answer questions any questions that the class has about
your poster. Posters need to be legible and visually appealing!

Essential Questions to incorporate into your final project:
What options are there after high school?
How do I decide what I want to do?
What do I want to do after high school?
Why do I need a career plan?
What steps will I take to get there?



Target
Content
(20 points)

Final Poster Rubric

A
B

Student explicitly incorporates
Student incorporates some of
answers to all essential questions their answers to the essential
in their poster
questions, without much detail

Visual Representation
(10 points)

Students poster is legible,

organized, includes color and is
visually appealing

Presentation
(20 points)

Student presents on all

information included on their
poster

Student does not read directly off
their poster

Student is able to ask students for
questions and answer any
questions about their project

Student completes the poster

with the basics of their future
plan

Answers to the essential
questions are not in detail

Students poster is legible.
Student creates a poster with

visible material
Neatness and organization are

not apparent
Neatness, color and organization

are not apparent

Student presents information on
Student does not present or
the basics of their poster
simply reads directly off their

poster.
Student reads off their poster, and
mentions a few other details
Student does not ask for any

questions
Student does not ask for

questions and does not answer
any questions




Unit Plan Narrative

This unit is intended for students in a special education classroom. The focus is on 21st century skills based on the
standards from the Iowa Core. I chose to focus on these 21st century skills because they are basic skills that all students should
learn. They are life skills. This unit is intended for students in 11th grade and the purpose it to get them to start thinking about
their options after high school based on their interests and individual talents. I titled the unit Career Planning because there
are three topics of career planning I want my students to become familiar with: employment, post-secondary education and
vocational schools. I chose to cover these three topics because they are likely paths that my students will take after they
graduate high school and I want them to become knowledgeable on these topics so they can begin to think about which one
suits them personally. In this unit students will learn that each path comes with certain steps that must be taken and that
getting a job, and getting into college or vocational school is a process. Overall, I want students to know what steps they would
need to take personally as a part of their future.
Through out the unit I want students to: Demonstrate initiative and self-direction through high achievement and
lifelong learning while exploring the ways individual talents and skills can be used for productive outcomes in personal and
professional life (Iowa Core). Students will do this by exploring the different options available to them after high school by
using their preferences and individual talents. They will select a career path they intend to take and learn about the
professional steps they must take along the way. The skills they will learn in this unit are lifelong skills that they can take with

them into any career or educational pursuit. The specific learning objectives I have for this unit include requiring students to
create a resume, conduct a mock interview, and be able to fill out basic job and school (college or vocational) applications. By
requiring students to complete these, students will learn some of the basic steps they must take for their future.
This unit includes a variety of instructional strategies. I chose to use discussions, think-pair-shares, exit slips, KWL
charts, concept maps, compare and contrast maps and cloze reading exercises to actively instruct and guide my students
learning. All of these instructional techniques are in addition to short daily presentations coming from me, the teacher. Most
days of the unit will start off with a short presentation, no more than 20 minutes. These will give introductions to the topic of
that day. During this time I will also be able to give explicit vocabulary instruction related to the topic of the day. These
presentations will be followed by the class activities, some of which are used as formative assessments.
There are several assessments that I use in this unit. The students will complete an informal, pre-assessment. The pre-
assessment will consist of three concept maps on the unit topics: employment, post-secondary education, and vocational
training. The students will be asked to complete the concept map with things they already know and they will be expected to
come back to the concept maps and add things they learn through out the unit. The formative assessments I use in this lesson
are exit slips, mock-interviews, think-pair shares, compare and contrast maps, class discussions and any other activities
completed in class. They are informal and are used to guide my instruction. Based off of students achievement and
understanding represented in these formative assessments, I will be able to alter my lesson plans and figure out where I need
to begin class the following day. If students are struggling to understand certain concepts/topics I will allow for flexibility in

my schedule and take the time to make sure students fully understand before we move on to a new topic. I expect that there
will be certain challenges while teaching this unit and I will adjust as needed. For the summative assessment, students will be
expected to turn in their resume as well as one worksheet completed in class. Lastly, students will create a poster based on
their future plans. I want the students to incorporate their own answers to the essential questions based on the path they are
choosing to take for this final project. They will present their plan to the class and answer any questions I might have as well as
any questions their fellow students have.
During the course of this unit, I expect that there will be several challenges that my students and I face. I will be
prepared to take more time for certain topics if students are struggling. My unit can be extended a few days to allow for
students to get a better understanding if needed. I also expect that students might need brain breaks. Each day after my mini
lesson/presentation at the beginning of the class, I will allow students a few minutes to take a break and gear up to start any
class activities or assignments. My goal is to have all students actively engaged and taking breaks is a necessary step to get
them to be engaged. Lastly, I expect that some students may need extended time or help for certain assignments. I will make
myself available for students to come in for help if they need it. I will also provide students with extra time for assignments,
after discussion with me and a new determined due date.
I will provide various opportunities for differentiation. Students will have the opportunity to select their own topic for
their final poster based on their own interests. I also will differentiate groups or pairs during discussion based on similar
career interests and similar preferences. The lesson is intended for special education students and can be modified for any

gifted or ELL students. If there are ELL students, I will help them by reading the assignments to them as well as offering them
more time and helping to explain their final project to the class. Gifted students will be able to discuss various final project
presentation mediums that incorporate technology and allow them to go beyond the expected assignments. Scaffolding will be
addressed through my use of modeling. Anytime students are expected to search the Internet for jobs or vocational schools, I
will model how to do it before hand. I will also model how to create a resume. Students will receive examples of resumes, job
applications, and scholarship applications, and they will watch a video on interview etiquette before they are expected to do it
themselves. All of the daily lessons follow the gradual release model, incorporating scaffolding and modeling on a daily basis.