This past month, our Kindergarteners focused on what they want to be when they grow up. We learned about the word "job" and read When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic. Although this book can be quite silly, some of these odd jobs (like pickle inspector) can really exist! The "Alphabet Occupations" song was sung to help students explore different careers. Students then ended our class by writing what they want to be when they grow up and drawing a beautiful picture of their future occupations. Feel free to hear the "Alphabet Occupation" song here.

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First grade discussed the importance of working together in November. Teamwork allows students to build leadership skills and communicate effectively with others. Students read Teamwork Isn't My Thing, and I Don't Like to Share by Julia Cook that was then followed by a teamwork activity. Each student was given a sticker that they could not look at. Students were tasked to find everyone in the classroom with the same color sticker as them...the only challenge is they couldn't talk! Students used items around the classroom to communicate with each other and find their team. Ask your student how they feel when working with others and why they think teamwork is fun.

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Students in second grade were introduced to career clusters this previous month. First, students listened to the book Whose Hands Are these? by Miranda Paul while trying to guess the different jobs described in the book. Next, students discussed the jobs in the book and how the things those people like to do (or are interested in) were also the things they did in their careers. Students learned about the six top career clusters. Careers are in clusters because some jobs have similar interests. Students then completed a six question career cluster survey that offered a cluster that best fit the current interest of the student. The six clusters are: Human Services, Agricultural Sciences, Communication Arts, Health Sciences, Business Services, and Technical Sciences. Lastly, students viewed jobs in their identified career cluster and choose a few to write down on the sheet seen above. The read aloud for our book can be found here if you would like to read it again with your student.

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In November, our third graders talked about career clusters. Students discussed that careers are in clusters because some jobs have similar interests or do similar things. Then, students completed a ten question career cluster survey that offered a cluster that best fit the current interest of the student. This was done by coloring in 10 spots on a cut out tie. The color the student used depended on the answer to what of 6 things the student liked best. After students found the color they used the most in their tie, they explored the corresponding career cluster. The six clusters are: Human Services, Agricultural Sciences, Communication Arts, Health Sciences, Business Services, and Technical Sciences. To end the lesson, students found one job that interested them in their career cluster to draw on a portrait outline. Feel free to explore this kid friendly job search engine to continue this topic with your student found here. Students can even search for careers based on their favorite subjects or interests!

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Fourth grade focused on what things need to be known before deciding on a future career. These items include their interests (what they like), skills (what they are good at), values (what they hold special), and job duties. Students completed a thirty question career interest quiz that helped them discover their current career cluster. Students discussed that careers are in clusters because some jobs have similar interests or do similar things.The six clusters are: Human Services, Agricultural Sciences, Communication Arts, Health Sciences, Business Services, and Technical Sciences. After finding their career cluster, students explored potential careers in their cluster. Each student discovered one career that interested them the most and completed further research on the job. Students had a "job wanted" worksheet that guided them to identify job duties, skills, values, and work place for their interested career. Feel free to explore this kid friendly job search engine to continue this topic with your student found here. Also, ask your student what careers interest them and encourage them to explore the "why" on their job interests!

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November's counseling lesson for our fifth graders focused on social media safety. Students were given the following tasks to stay safe online: obtain your grown-up's permission, set accounts to private and keep passwords confidential, do not share your location and full name, don't meet up with people you don't know, and only accept follow requests and messages from those you know. We discussed that you never know who can be an imposter online and who may have bad intentions. Students ended the lesson by playing a group game where one student in the group was randomly assigned to be an imposter. The imposter had to try to sabotage their teams answer on if a media post was safe or unsafe. The rest of the students had to try to find the right answer along with figuring out who the imposter was in the group. After the game, students were reminded that it was quite easy to find the imposter in their group but when people have genuine bad intentions online that finding the imposter is a lot harder. For more parent resources on media usage for your student, please visit the Common Sense Media website found here.