Mini Career Lesson

I love a challenge. When I have
a short time frame, I like getting creative and figuring out how to get the
most out of a lesson during a time crunch. With fifth grade, I had 25 minutes
to introduce them to careers. That is not a lot of time for a subject that has
endless possibilities and bountiful amounts of applicable information. I knew I
had to get their attention yet make it fun. So, I started by flashing dollar
signs in front of them.  

I showed them this poster…

Then we talked about how much school
is needed in order to get that amount of money in their back accounts.

I then had them talk as a table
and come up with three realistic jobs they each may want when they grow up. Each
table had a piece of paper and were asked to write all of the jobs down. 

After 5
minutes or so, each table shared their lists with the other groups.

After that, I challenged them
to a poster contest. I knew good and well they would not have enough time to
complete this activity in class, my goal in class was to get them thinking. My
hope for after class was to get some of them to research their interests more deeply
while at home.

I gave them each a big piece of
poster board sized paper and told them to create a picture/scene of what they
wanted to be when they grew up. 

If they wanted to enter the poster contest,
they were to take the poster home, finish decorating it and write one to three
paragraphs about the career they chose. They could research online, talk to
their parents or visit someone from that profession to gather their information.
They were to bring the poster back to me by the end of the week to enter the
contest.

I was surprised by how many of
them brought it back to me and took the contest seriously.

The funniest part is, not a
single one asked me about any type of prize.