Lesson Plan
Future You: Map Your Skills
Students will identify their personal interests and skills and connect them to potential career clusters, understanding the value of vocational pathways.
Understanding personal interests and skills early on can help students make informed decisions about their academic and career paths, fostering motivation and a sense of purpose.
Audience
8th Grade Students
Time
30 minutes
Approach
Interactive discussion, self-reflection, and a practical activity to connect skills to careers.
Materials
Whiteboard or Projector, Slide Deck: Future You, Activity: Skill-to-Career Match, Worksheet: My Future Path, and Pens/Pencils
Prep
Prepare Materials
10 minutes
Review the Slide Deck: Future You content. Print enough copies of the Worksheet: My Future Path for all students. Ensure whiteboard or projector is ready for display.
Step 2
Explore Interests & Skills
10 minutes
Lead a brief discussion on what 'interests' and 'skills' mean. Provide examples. Distribute the Worksheet: My Future Path and guide students through the 'My Interests' and 'My Skills' sections.
Step 3
Activity: Skill-to-Career Match
10 minutes
Introduce the Activity: Skill-to-Career Match. Explain how to use their identified interests and skills to explore different career clusters. Guide them through the 'Connecting to Careers' section of their Worksheet: My Future Path.
Present Slide 5.
Step 4
Wrap-up & Reflection
5 minutes
Have students share one interesting career they discovered or one skill they realized was important. Emphasize that it's okay not to know their exact path yet, but self-reflection is a powerful tool. Collect worksheets.
Present Slide 6.
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Slide Deck
Future You: Map Your Skills!
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Let's find out how your unique strengths can help guide your path!
Welcome students and introduce the exciting topic. Start with the hook question to get them thinking about their future. Emphasize that it's a journey of discovery.
Interests vs. Skills
Interests: Things you like to do, topics you enjoy learning about, activities that make you happy.
Skills: Things you are good at, abilities you've developed, tasks you can perform well.
Explain the difference between interests (what you love) and skills (what you're good at). Give a couple of simple examples to clarify.
Discover Your Interests
What are you passionate about?
What do you love to learn or do?
What activities make time fly?
Prompt students to start reflecting on their interests. Encourage them to think broadly – hobbies, subjects, activities with friends/family.
Uncover Your Skills
What are you good at?
What comes easily to you?
What have you learned to do well, inside or outside of school?
Now shift to skills. Ask them to consider both academic and practical skills. Reassure them that all skills are valuable.
Connect Your Skills to Careers
How do your interests and skills fit into the big world of jobs?
Let's explore how different career paths use different skills and passions!
Introduce the idea of connecting their self-discovery to the world of work. Explain that the activity will help them see how their unique profile fits into different career areas.
Your Future Starts Now!
You have unique talents and passions.
Keep exploring how they can lead you to an amazing future!
Conclude the lesson by reinforcing the main idea. Encourage students to keep thinking about their strengths and how they can apply them. Collect any completed worksheets.
Activity
Activity: Skill-to-Career Match
Objective: To help you connect your personal interests and skills to real-world career clusters.
Instructions:
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Review Your Worksheet: Look at the interests and skills you listed on your Worksheet: My Future Path.
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Explore Career Clusters: Below are some broad career clusters. As you read through them, think about which ones might use the interests and skills you identified.
- Arts & Communication: Writing, performing, designing, media, marketing.
- Business & Finance: Managing, accounting, sales, entrepreneurship.
- Health Science: Caring for others, medical research, therapy, fitness.
- Information Technology: Coding, cybersecurity, network administration, software development.
- Manufacturing & Engineering: Building, designing products, operating machinery, problem-solving with technology.
- Agriculture & Natural Resources: Working with plants, animals, conservation, environmental science.
- Human Services: Teaching, counseling, social work, law enforcement, community support.
- Skilled Trades: Carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, automotive repair, culinary arts.
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Make Connections: For each interest or skill you wrote down, try to connect it to one or more career clusters. Ask yourself:
- "Which career clusters would use this skill?"
- "In which career clusters could I pursue this interest?"
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Record on Your Worksheet: On your Worksheet: My Future Path, in the "Connecting to Careers" section, write down at least three career clusters or specific jobs that align with your interests and skills. Explain why you think they connect.
Example:
- Interest: Playing video games
- Skill: Problem-solving
- Possible Career Clusters: Information Technology (game development), Arts & Communication (game design), Business & Finance (e-sports management).
Worksheet
Worksheet: My Future Path
Name: _________________________
Date: _________________________
Part 1: My Interests
Think about what you love to do, what makes you curious, and what you enjoy learning about. List at least 5 of your interests.
- ______________________________________________________
- ______________________________________________________
- ______________________________________________________
- ______________________________________________________
- ______________________________________________________
Part 2: My Skills
What are you good at? What abilities do you have, both inside and outside of school? List at least 5 of your skills.
- ______________________________________________________
- ______________________________________________________
- ______________________________________________________
- ______________________________________________________
- ______________________________________________________
Part 3: Connecting to Careers
Now, let's connect your interests and skills to possible career paths! Using your lists above and the Activity: Skill-to-Career Match, identify at least 3 career clusters or specific jobs that align with you. Explain why you think they connect.
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Career Cluster/Job: ______________________________________________________
Why it connects: -
Career Cluster/Job: ______________________________________________________
Why it connects: -
Career Cluster/Job: ______________________________________________________
Why it connects: