It is amazing how narrow our view of careers was when we were in high school. Think back to what you wanted to be before you graduated. You likely could have split your graduating class into groups of maybe five to ten careers. But as we ventured out in life, our eyes were opened to the diverse array of career opportunities available. So how do we open our students’ eyes earlier? How do we give them the lens to look through, which just might bring into focus a career in which they could excel?
The answer is clear: we must expose our students to as many careers as possible while they are in our class. Not only that, we must connect our curriculum to career opportunities. Here is one way to try this!
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Give each student a section of the local newspaper and a highlighter.
- Challenge each student to scan through their section of the newspaper, and highlight any career, title, or job mentioned. This could be found in a feature article, a title of an individual writing in the opinion column, or even in the sports section! This becomes a hunt-and-search activity, as students try to find as many careers mentioned as possible.
- Have students select one story to read, and pull out additional careers mentioned that they may have overlooked. This provides a great connection to English Language Arts standards as well.
- Have students work in groups, or as a class, to group jobs into categories. List all jobs found under the categories the students selected.
- You can take this a step further, by having students circle, star, or highlight in a different color, jobs related to the course content you teach.
- Offer an enrichment opportunity for students to select one career listed, and conduct further research on that career. Using a local newspaper might even provide students the opportunity to connect with individuals in the area who are employed in a variety of fields.
Start collecting newspapers today, and you will be prepared for a fun activity that brings relevance to learning!