Students will use information skills to research the career of their choice. They will gain a broad understanding of the information resources available for career planning both in print and electronic format. Students will use the information found to create a two-minute infomercial advertising their career to their peers. Students will receive positive feedback on their performance, and gain confidence in their research ability. This lesson plan was developed for junior level high school students to complete in five forty minute sessions, but can be adapted for younger age groups.

Instructional Goals:

Students will gain an understanding of the broad range of resources available for career planning.

Students will use technology to research their career.

Students will evaluate and explore internet resources.

Learning Objectives:

The junior level high school class will perform a successful search of the internet generating at least two scholarly publications about their career.

The junior level high school class will perform a successful search in the OPAC to generate and locate at least two print sources containing information about their career.

The junior level high school class will perform a two minute “infomercial” about their career containing pertinent information found during their research.

Motivational Goals:

To generate interest in the research process.

To establish the importance of information skills, and to provide relevance to their personal experience.

To motivate students to continue to use information skills after the lesson.

Computers, Power Point Software, Projector, Print and Electronic Media Related to Career Exploration.

DAY ONE

1) The LMS will present an infomercial on why it is great to be a librarian to their students modeling their upcoming assignment. Include relevant information such as job description, salary, benefits, type of schooling and job outlook. This presentation should include humor, props and visual aids in order to gain the student's attention and interest. The LMS should dispell any common misperceptions about the career as well. (Did you know not all librarians work in a library? Some even work for tv stations and newspapers!)

2) Facilitate class discussion asking the students if they could have any career what would it be? What makes this career appealing to them? Brainstorm as many careers as possible as a class.

3) Tell the students that his lesson will provide them with an opportunity to explore several careers, and present the career of their choice in a career infomercial. The object is to create an infomercial that informs and entices its audience about their career. Encourage the use of props, costumes and visual aids in their presentations. Now it's time to get creative!

4) Break students up into groups of three to four, and ask them to brainstorm possible resources for career planning. Ask for volunteers from each group to list their group's resources. Point out to the class all of the career resources they already know, and build confidence in their research ability. Students will need one person to record and report their group discussion. The instructor should write down all of the ideas presented.

5) Present other possible resources within the library for career planning. Review OPAC searching, and the criteria for choosing relevant and accurate websites. Provide the students with a job aid that helps them to locate reliable relevant websites for their career.

6) Stress the importance of content in the infomercial, and instruct the students to include job description, salary, benefits and job outlook in their presentation. Students will also need to turn in a typed list of resources used for their project. At least two resources shoulf be electronic media and at least two resources should be print media. Encourage students to select careers that they would seriously consider. The purpose of this session is to provide them with information that is relevant to their future goals!

DAYS TWO AND THREE

1) Divide the class in half and instruct half to start researching using print media and the other half to start researching using electronic media. On day three of the lesson the two groups will switch and continue their research . Allow the students two class periods to research their career and plan their infomercial. As they research their careers, walk around the room and talk to students about their career choices and the research process. Review researching skills and internet evaluation techniques individually with students or in small groups as they work on their individual projects. This will reduce anxiety in your students, and allow you to evaluate their progress.

DAY FOUR

1) Break the students into groups of three or four, and brainstorm classroom rules for the upcoming presentations. The goal of this exercise is to foster a safe learning environment where all students will feel comfortable sharing their presentations.

2) Allow the students to select a partner to evaluate their infomercial, and to share ideas with. The rest of the time should be spent practicing and revising their infomercial, and finishing up any last minute research.

DAY FIVE

1) Host a “Career Quest” television show, and have the students present their infomercials to the class. Remember you are the host of this show so make it fun! Recognize those students who have put extra effort into the assignment and/or those who use creative thinking skills. Have the students who are watching the evaluation pick out the strong points in each student's presentation. They should list at least three things that they liked about the presentation to share with the class.

2) Ask the students to evaluate the assignment, and facilitate their discussion. Did they find this exercise relevant to their career goals? Was this assignment enjoyable? Why or why not? Ask the students if there is anything else they would like to learn about their careers and brainstorm possible resources for further research. This will foster interest in continuing their research outside of the classroom.

Students will be evaluated on the presentation of their career infomercial, and their ability to generate appropriate print and electronic media for their research.

Brett Heinzman, Kirksville High School http://atozteacherstuff.com/lessons/careers-careerproject.shtml