Name of Lesson ___Career Exploration___________ i

Counselor ____Julia N., Amy S., Emily T., and Rachel Z.__________
UNIT/TOPIC:
(If unit, note how
many lessons in unit):

Career Exploration

DOMAIN:
(academic, career,
personal/social)

Career

GRADE LEVEL(S):

9-10

GUIDANCE
STANDARD(S):
ASCA Standards
Addressed:

INDIANA
STANDARDS
ADDRESSED:
*If this lesson is
crosswalked with other
academic areas, please
list here.

A:A3.2 Demonstrate the ability to work independently, as well as the ability to work
cooperatively with other students
A:B2.7 Identify post-secondary options consistent with interests, achievement, aptitude,
and abilities
C:A1.2 Learn about the variety of traditional and nontraditional occupations
C:B1.6 Learn to use the Internet to access career-planning information
C:C1.3 Identify personal preferences and interests influencing career choice and
success
9-12.1.7 Develop a post-secondary transition plan
9-12.2.1 Reexamine their career interests based on their experiences and/or updated
career interest inventory
9-12.2.5 Make annual revisions as appropriate to their flexible career plans

DIFFERENTIATED
INSTRUCTION
STRATEGIES: This
section only needs
completed if you have
taken ED 671
DEVELOPMENTAL
ASSET(S)
ADDRESSED: This
section only needs
completed if you have
taken ED 671
SCHOOL
IMPROVEMENT
GOAL(S): This section
only needs completed if
you have taken ED 671
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES

1.
2.
3.

Students will identify post-secondary options

Students will identify possible careers
Students will learn about shadowing and internship opportunities

TIME REQUIRED

1 hour and 30 minutes

MATERIALS NEEDED

Icebreaker materials, materials for quiz and career assessment

ACTIVITY SUMMARY
Opening to group, ground rules, icebreaker, paths after high school, quiz, small group
discussion, career assessment, hot jobs in Indiana, shadowing/internships; Closing

PROCEDURE

1. Introduction of counselors and topic (~2 minutes)

a. Counselors will introduce themselves to the group
b. Counselor will introduce the topic of the day to the group
2. Reminder of group rules (~5 minutes)
a. Counselors will go over the ground rules that were previously created
by the group
3. Icebreaker- TP Surprise (10-15 minutes)
a. Counselor will go around the room and ask group members to tear off
any number of sheets from a toilet paper roll
b. Counselor will instruct group members to write an interesting fact or
characteristic about themselves on each separate sheet they selected
c. Group members will be asked to share their name and toilet paper
sheets with the rest of the group
i. Counselors will share first to model for the group
4. Topic Pre-Test (~2 minutes)
a. Counselor will introduce pre-test for the topic
b. Student will be asked to complete and turn in the pre-test
i. Students will be assessing 5 questions over the group topic
5. Topic Discussion: Post-Secondary Paths (10-20 minutes)
a. Counselor will discussion possible options after high school
i. Ex. College, Military, Career
b. Students will divide into four groups and brainstorm a list of pros and
cons of each option
c. The group will come back together and make a whole group list of pros
and cons
6. KnowWhere2Go Quiz (10-15 minutes)
a. Counselor will introduce the KnowWhere2Go quiz
i. Shows possible types of education best suited for the students
needs, even if they are thinking of paths other than college
1. Small vs. large
2. Close to home vs. far away
3. Associates degree
4. Vocational schools
b. Students will complete the KnowWhere2Go quiz
c. Group will discuss results and brainstorm schools that fir their personal
profile
d. Students will be asked to remember which post-secondary option they
got from the quiz for the next activity
7. Mini Career Assessment (10-15 minutes)
a. Counselor will invite the group to get back together
b. Counselor will pass out the Youre Invited to a Career Party
assessment and introduce it.
c. Students will take Youre invited to a Career Party assessment
d. Upon completion of the assessment the counselor will explain a little
about each letter in the RIASEC.
i. The group will discuss the results and whether or not students
think the description of the letters and potential careers are
accurate for them
8. Hot Jobs in Indiana Discussion (10-15 minutes)
a. If time permits- group members will take the Career Clusters Interest
Survey
i. If time does not permit- the survey will be passed out and the
group members will be asked to complete on their own time
b. Counselor will discuss the Hoosier Hot 50 Jobs with group members
i. Counselor will ask group members to identify jobs that require

on-the-job/vocational training, an Associates degree,

Bachelors degree, or further education (Masters, Doctorates,
etc.)
ii. Counselor will ask group to identify which career clusters
some of the hot jobs belong to.
iii. Counselor will ask group members to identify careers from the
list that interest them
c. Counselor will discuss salaries associated with popular jobs
i. Counselor will ask students to identify the jobs with the highest
salaries and determine how much education is required for
those jobs
9. Shadowing/Internship Opportunities Discussion (10-15 minutes)
a. Counselor will discuss shadowing and internship opportunities
10. Closing/Summary Activity (10-15 minutes)
a. Counselor will summarize main points from group meeting
b. Topic Post-Test
i. Counselor will introduce the topic post-test
ii. Students will complete and turn-in the topic post-test
1. The post-test will consist of the same 5 questions
given at the beginning of the group
c. Counselor will close group by giving homework
i. Ex. Homework: research more about potential post-secondary
paths and career paths based on results from assessments

EVALUATION:
What data will you
collect and How will
you collect data to
show:
1. impact on K12 students
2. feedback on
lesson

FOLLOW-UP PLAN:
CITATION(S)
References/Resources
Used:
Cite copyrighted materials,
but do not reproduce
copyrighted materials in your
lesson plan. Non-copyrighted
materials must be reproduced
and included in your lesson
plan.

1. The counselors will administer a pre- and post- test to determine if the students
were able to take away information from the group session.
2. The counselors will listen to the students responses during the discussion
piece to determine if the lesson were helpful to them.

Students will be challenged to look more into potential career and post-secondary
options based on their assessment results in the following week. Some of these issues
will be discussed and expanded on in the next group meeting.

Updated June 2012