School Activity
From the week ending December 12, 1997

Learning about Careers

There are many types of career choices available today in the world of work. Helping children to learn about various careers can be fun and challenging. Below are a few ideas to use with your class to help them learn about the abundance of careers that will be available to them when they are older.

A. Gather up several weeks worth of newspapers, local or national, and have students search through the want ads to find out about the jobs that are available. Encourage students to look for jobs that might interest them. Discuss the jobs they found and how you found your teaching job or other jobs you may have worked in.

B. Using a newspaper, have students look through the want ads and select a specific industry, such as the computer industry, and locate job listings with jobs or roles related to that industry. Discuss how majors in college can often lead to a variety of jobs or only one specific job.

C. Individually or in groups have students select a specific trade. After selecting a trade students will work to set up a display of tools related to their job. Students might use actual tools, pictures or drawings of tools to explain their type of trade. Encyclopedias, magazines or the Internet can be used if research is necessary.

D. Last names originally came from the type of work a person performed. For example the name tailor probably comes from the work of the tailor or person who made clothing. Split students into groups and have them think about names that might have come from someone's profession. (i.e. painter, smith, etc.) Using the telephone book have students select names they think might have originated from a career choice. Make a chart of the career names found. As an extension have students research the origin of their last name through interviews of parents, grandparents or other relatives.