1. 1. Question & Research Task
Planning My Future: Choosing a Career Path
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1. Question & Research Task
“Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
-- Confucious, ancient Chinese philosopher
Has your idea of what you want to be when you grow up changed over time? Why?
Take this career interest inventory to see how your current skills and interests apply to related occupations called career clusters.
Use this glossary to help you understand the meaning of any unfamiliar words.
Using links to the top three career clusters suggested for you at the end, identify three specific careers that seem interesting to you.
In this Slam Dunk, you will use resources to respond to the essential question:
How can conducting research help me choose a career path?

2. 2. Information Sources
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You will use the information sources linked here to complete the Student Activity on Slide 3.
Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Career Exploration
Career One Stop:
Career Videos by Career Cluster
Occupation Profile search
Compare Occupations
Your librarian or teacher may recommend additional information sources.

3. 3. Student Activity
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Use the information sources on Slide 2 to create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting three different occupations.
Use a paper copy or an interactive online diagram.
Think about these focus questions as you read, view and listen to take notes:
What type of education or training is needed?
What is the average salary?
What kinds of duties and responsibilities are involved?
What skills are required?
What would working conditions be like? (work environment, hours)
Before you begin using the resources, identify keywords in the questions above. Use these keywords (or keyword synonyms) to help you find the information you need as you read, view and listen.

4. 4. Assessment Activity Next 1 2 3 4 5 6
Based on your comparison of three careers, identify the one that appeals to you most. Use details from your notes to create a product explaining what you learned about this career and why it appeals to you.
Multimedia poster
PowerPoint (with recorded or live narration)
Windows MovieMaker
Include:
Education or training needed
Average salary
Duties and responsibilities
Skills required
Working conditions
How this career relates to your own skills and interests
How doing research helped you choose a career that appeals to you
Check your work against the success criteria on this rubric.
Share what you learned with classmates as directed by your teacher.
To create a multimedia poster, select Discovery Education from the Digital Content tile in BCPSOne. Then, pull down the Builder Tools menu to Board Builder.

5. 5. Enrichment Activities
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Sample Career Plan: Physical Therapist
EXTRACURRICULAR AND VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES
WORK EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
During middle school
Participate in activities promoting health and fitness.
Help take care of a child with physical disabilities.
During high school
Assist the school athletic trainer.
Work part time at a nursing/rehabilitation facility, or home with people with physical disabilities.
Take college prep classes emphasizing biology, chemistry, physics, paramedical biology, anatomy
Now that you’ve thought about career you’d like to pursue, create a career plan for middle and high school experiences that would help you prepare for the career.
The example on the left will help you to think about what you need to do over the next few years to prepare yourself for the career you chose.

6. 6. Teacher Support Materials1 2 3 4 5 6
Learning Standards Alignment
Content Objective: Students will be able to analyze career professions and utilize research skills in order to develop and present a multi-media presentation.
Common Core State Standards
Reading: 1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
Writing: 7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-W2:W2.a – Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; including formatting, graphics, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
CCSS.ELA-RI2 – Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; providing a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g. textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning Use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular areas, real-world situations, and further investigations.
P21 Framework: 21st Century Student Outcomes
3. Information, Media & Technology Skills: Information Literacy: Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources); Use information accurately and creatively for the issue or problem at hand. ICT Literacy: Use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information.
Grade: 6
Content Area: Effective Learning Habits for College & Career Readiness
Unit: Career Exploration
Objective: Students will conduct brief, focused research about a chosen career in order to begin planning for future career choices.
Time Frame: 2-3 class periods
Learner-centered strategies for this lesson:
Students have choice of using a paper or interactive Venn diagram to gather notes.
Career videos are closed-captioned.
Students have choice of product to demonstrate their learning.
Notes to the teacher:
Collaborate with your school library media specialist to plan and implement this lesson.
If students create Discovery Ed boards: See instructions for Sharing & Assigning Boards (#10-11) about students sharing their completed Boards with the teacher, and for approving students’ Boards for sharing with a wider audience.
See also these support pages on the BCPS Innovative Learning wiki: Board Builder, MovieMaker, PowerPoint
Last updated: July 2016/this customized revision October Created by: Jamie Higgins Shaull, Library Media Cohort XII Report broken links or issues to: Library Media Prorams BCPS Slam Dunk Research Model, Copyright 2016, Baltimore County Public Schools, MD, all rights reserved. This lesson may be used for educational, non-profit school use only. All other uses, transmissions, and duplications are prohibited unless permission is granted expressly. This lesson is based on Dr. Jamie McKenzie’s Slam Dunk Digital Lesson model.