IN SEARCH OF
SOMEONE SPECIAL
Michelle Roethler
Professional
School Counselor
Morristown
Elementary
Morristown, MN
55052
Career
Discovery in the third grade
In search of
Someone Special is a series of 5 classroom guidance lessons developed at the
Waterville-Elysian-Morristown school district by Karen Krause to increase the
students career awareness. Karen developed this curriculum in 1998. Some
adaptations have been this year to incorporate graduation standards. Each
lesson is designed to be delivered in a 30-45 minute time period.
A typical lesson
is as follows:
The counselor
would arrange a forty-five minute time slot with the teacher. The counselor
would have already made the copies of the career packets. (The packet has the
main lessons of the curriculum). The packet consists of seven pages. All of
these pages will not be able to be completed in one session. The first
question that is asked to open the topic is "What are some jobs that you
think you might want to learn more about?" This question opens up many
areas for discussion. From that discussion, the counselor would lead to how
each job is special and how each of the workers is special. The first
worksheet has five boxes where the students can put their fingerprints down.
Then they would compare their prints with their neighbor and see how each one
of them is special. On the bottom of the page is a word find that has words
that make them one of a kind. A few examples are sports, talent, friends,
pets...
After the
introduction, we discuss how people get jobs. The interview is the main area
to focus on. After defining what an interview is, the teacher and counselor
would role-play an interview. The students would them brainstorm questions
that could be asked if they were interviewing a farmer. The counselor records
them on an overhead/chalkboard. The counselor then explains that they will
have the chance to interview a farmer in class. (Our school has a farmer who
has gives the students a tour of his farm and then comes to the classroom to
talk about being a farmer. The career could be what you choose.) The counselor
then has the students take notes and record the list of questions that can be
asked. On the day of the classroom visit the children will record the answers
to their questions! The next sessions focus on writing a report about being a
farmer and completing the last few pages of the packet.
Connections to
Related Standards, Competencies, and Domains
In Search of
Someone Special is directly related to Minnesota Graduation Standard
501.0461(Prepetory Content Standard in Learning area two: Write and Speak).
This specific lesson addresses writing a report to describe and give
information about a person, and object , or situation.
All of the
lessons for In Search of Someone Special are reflective of the Educational
Model of developmental guidance and Counseling. The lessons connect themselves
to the Personal/Social Development domain via asking questions of the
presenter and learning social skills in the interviewing process. In the
Educational Development Domain the students would relate their schooling to
its effect on a job via the presenter. They would also learn to take notes and
begin to organize their thoughts. In the Career Development Domain, the
students would become more aware of their understanding of the work world and
begin a foundation in interviewing skills.
Additionally, all
of these lessons directly relate into the National Occupational Information
Coordination Committee Standards for elementary schools in the Self-Knowledge
competency via learning skills to interact with others and the importance of
self-concept. It relates to the Educational and Occupational exploration
Competency via the presenter explaining the relationship between work and
learning and skills to understand and the use of career information. Finally
it relates to the Careers Planning Competency through the awareness of the
career planning process.
For Further
Information
Michelle Roethler
Professional
School Counselor
Morristown
Elementary
Morristown, MN
55052
phone:
507-685-4222
E-mail: mroethler@morristown.k12.mn.us