[powellstarkey]

I teach 8th grade reading and language arts. I want to have my students really take a look at the various careers that are out there for them to choose from. Many of my students simply want to be professional athletes and there is nothing wrong with that, but I want them to think about what other things that they can be successful. Does anyone have any ideas of what I can include or do with a unit on careers?

Thanks in advance for your help witht his situation.

[3ateach]

I only teach 3rd grade, but maybe you could adapt to something more to suit you. As part of a Flat stanley unit, we sent Stanley's home with a friend or a family member to learn about their occupation/community helper. They were sent with a survery that the person who recieved it had to fill out which asked about the type of education/training they needed, job responsibilities, typical day's schedule, etc. Then the kids shared them. We got a plethora of different responses and pictures/artifacts from each occupation. To close out the unit, each child had to pick what profession interested them the most and write why.

[StephR]

This site has a lot of different information about careers that the students can research.
http://www.kids.gov/6_8/6_8_careers.shtml

I used it with my 4th graders and had them create a "career quilt" where they each researched on career, created a quilt square of information about it, presented it, then put it together in one large "quilt".

[powellstarkey]

for your ideas, it is greatly appreciated.