Activity 1: Relating My Values to School and Leisure

Foundational Objectives:

Awareness of and knowledge and skills in setting goals and making appropriate decisions.
Awareness of change and knowledge and skills to cope with life transitions.
Awareness of self and knowledge of the value of a positive self-concept.

Learning Objectives:

The student will:

• examine values when making decisions.
• demonstrate a positive attitude about self.
• examine how values change throughout life.

C.E.L.s: COM, CCT, PSVS, NUM

Materials:

• student journals
• handout No. 1 "What Is Important?"
• pen or pencil

Time: One class period.

Activity:

1. Have students discuss what is important to them (e.g., friends, school, pets, parents). Talk with students about how knowing what is important helps us decide what we want.

2. Have students fill out "What Is Important?" activity sheets. Have students rank their responses.

3. Have students form small groups and discuss their answers and how responses can influence their decisions.

4. Have students discuss how values can change.

5. Activity sheet should be placed in the student's notebook and reviewed at a later date.

6. Have students write and illustrate a story, poem, cartoon, or song about their values, and how their values have changed.

Additional Activities:

Students can individually create an "I Am" poster and collectively design a bulletin board.

Evaluation:

For printing and copying this template Requires Acrobat Reader (click on the table title)

Adapted from Developmental guidance classroom activities, Vocational Studies Centre, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1991. Reprinted with permission.

Grade 6 Goal: Life Career Management Skills
Handout No. 1 "What Is Important"

Activity 2: Changes

Foundational Objectives:

Awareness of change and knowledge and skills to cope with life transitions.
Awareness of and knowledge and skills needed in setting goals and making appropriate decisions.

Learning Objectives:

The student will:

• identify how individuals change during their life times.
• identify how personal beliefs and attitudes affect decision making
• identify and assess problems that interfere with attaining goals.

C.E.L.s: COM, CCT, IL, PSVS, NUM

Materials:

• large sheets of paper
• pencils
• pins
• magazines
• crayons

Time: Two - three class periods.

Activity:

Session 1 -

1. Discuss developing a time line of a person's life. The time line describes the person's past and the future as the individual thinks or hopes it will unfold. Such a portrayal should be based upon significant events.

2. Discuss significant events that are important in all students' lives (e.g., learning to walk, talk, read, etc.).

3. Have students discuss how these events have changed their lives.

4. Have students discuss future events that they are planning and how these will change their lives (e.g., high school and post high school plans).

5. Make a sample time line using events from different students' lives.

6. Have students construct their own time lines emphasizing events up to this point in their lives and briefly extending to post high school. Alternatively, a large time line could be built with the entire class or in small groups rather than an individual time line.

Session 2 -

1. Using the time lines developed in Session One, have students develop more detailed time lines of their future lives.

2. Discuss the process of setting goals and how this helps in completing future time lines.

3. Have students use goals set previously and/or new goals to extend their time line with a path to reach their goals.

4. Ask students to identify those things they have done in the past that will help them set and/or plan to reach current goals.

5. Have students add these to the time line.

6. Discuss with class how past, present, and future all relate to reaching goals.

7. Have students identify and assess problems that may interfere with attaining goals.

Additional Activities:

Clothes Pin Activity - After creating a brainstormed list of changes, students pin clothespins onto themselves to indicate how many changes they have experienced or are currently experiencing. One pin is used for each change. Follow-up with a discussion.

Case study of a successful/unsuccessful person from literature (novel or short story), newspaper, etc. What changes did the individual have to make? How did he/she respond? How did he/she cope? What determines success? How is success measured?

Evaluation:

Resources:

Adapted from Developmental guidance classroom activities, Vocational Studies Centre, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1991.

Activity 3: Predicting the Future

Foundational Objectives:

Awareness of change and knowledge and skills to cope with life transitions.
Awareness of one's skills in setting goals and making appropriate decisions.

Learning Objectives:

The student will:

• describe the effects that societal, economic and technological change have on occupations.
• identify environmental influences in attitudes, behaviours, and aptitudes.

C.E.L.s: COM, CCT, IL, PSVS, TL

Materials:

• assortment of bolts, nuts, and screws
• handout No. 2 "Can You Predict the Future?"
• old toys
• recent popular magazines and newspapers
• bulletin board
• student journals

Time: Two class periods.

Background Information:

Technology has changed society directly and indirectly. It has changed and replaced old jobs and created new ones. As the automobile and telephone have shown, technology has caused many changes in the job market. For example, companies started to make automatic washing machines instead of wringer washers and scrubbing boards; micro-wave ovens instead of conventional stoves, and personal computers and word processors instead of typewriters. In turn, all the jobs in these areas are changed in some way.

Activity:

Session 1 -

1. Let students handle an assortment of nuts, bolts, and screws. Explain that these are used to build machines. Long ago things were built using hand-carved wood.

2. Have students examine and play with old toys. Discuss how toys have changed over the years. Do they think they would have more or less fun using toys from long ago?

3. Have students identify some inventions that have taken place recently (personal computers, microwaves, fax machines, etc.).

4. Have students discuss how inventions have changed our lives.

5. Ask students to predict the future, using the "Can You Predict the Future?" activity sheet.

6. Have students discuss what they believe may be different in the future and indicate what evidence leads them to believe this.

Session 2 -

1. Review previous session.

2. Have students define the term "fad".

3. Ask the class to choose a fad of which they are aware (e.g., clothing fads are very obvious and easy to trace).

4. Have students present their ideas of how a fad begins in terms of exposure, modelling, and positive associations.

5. After students have developed an understanding of a fad, ask them to discuss whether certain careers, at times, could be considered fads.

6. Discuss what the occupational fads might be in the future.

7. As a wind up activity ask students to write in their journals who or what might have an impact on their futures and why? (example: technological advancements)

Additional Activities:

Distribute magazines from the 60s, discuss how lifestyles have changed.

In a small group setting, have the students brainstorm a list of possible future careers.

In a small group setting, have the students discuss and draw a picture of how the classroom of the future might look (e.g., chairs, desks, teachers).

Have students write a journal entry about the meaning of the following quote: "Destiny is not a matter of chance. It's a matter of choice."

Evaluation:

Resources:

For printing and copying this template Requires Acrobat Reader (click on the table title)

Source:  Developmental guidance classroom activities, Vocational Studies Centre, University of Wisconsin- Madison, 1991. Reprinted with permission.

Grade 6 Goal: Life Career Management Skills
Handout No. 2 "Can You Predict the Future?"