Let’s Get Creative! Toolkit

About this Toolkit: The Let’s Get Creative! Toolkit is designed to be introduction to a few creative uses of VIEW resources. The activities in this toolkit are designed to promote student and parent awareness of careers, provide counselors and educators with ideas to use in grades K-8, and to allow for easier career-related lesson planning.

 

"Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know. Hence, to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted. ”
George Kneller

 

Creative Tip #1:  Creating Career Units
Approach career exploration by combining related occupations that span the 16 career clusters as opposed to exploring career clusters individually. This allows for depth as well as breadth in career exposure.

• Essentially a toolkit. Take a look at the other toolkits VIEW has for inspiration for creating your own. Use the Let’s Get Creative Unit Example K-5 and Let’s Get Creative Unit Example 6-8 for more specific resources that can be used.
• Use the VIEW Toolkit Template to create your own toolkits and help plan lessons.
• Example Unit:  “Outside Jobs” using the following VIEW resources:
  •  Architecture and Construction Career Cluster Wheel
  • Jobs in an Orchard Printable
  • Architecture and Construction Printable
  • Operation Excavation Career Town activity
• Other Unit ideas: “Jobs Helping People,” “Jobs with Travel,” “ Jobs Building Things,” “Jobs Working with Number, “ etc.

Creative Tip #2:  Using Career Clusters

• For Elementary, use the Exploring Career Clusters with Elementary Toolkit as a guide for lesson planning.
• Have Elementary students explore careers by career cluster using Kids Search and then complete the Kids Search Fun activity sheet. Use the Kids Search Unit guide for easy lesson planning,
• Middle School counselors may want to have students complete the “Who R You?” interest assessment and then visit the VIEW Career Cluster wheel for activities and information.
• Have Middle School students explore careers in Career Search by career cluster.

Creative Tip #3:  Using Educational Events
Tie what the kids are learning in the classroom with your career lessons.

• Check with the classroom teachers to see what they are planning for their bulletin boards each month, and explore related careers.
• Example:  March’s “National Nutrition Month” using the following VIEW resources:
  • Interactive
    • Nutrition Matters
    • Lemonade
  • Print
    • Health Careers
    • Science & Math Path
  • Explore
    • Kid’s Search “Food Scientist”
    • Career Search “Agriculture, Food, & Natural Resources”

Creative Tip #4:  Hands On
Primarily for elementary students. Try to include physical examples of tools or equipment people use in certain jobs to aid in student understanding and excitement.

• Gather hats that represent different careers, such as a fire helmet, police hat, construction hat, John Deere hat, etc. It’s recommended that children not wear the hats, but the counselor can. Discuss who wears this hat, what tools they use, what school subjects they studied, and who they work with.
• Purchase low-cost plastic tools representing various careers. Stimulate conversation with the questions listed above.
• Create “career stations” for the students to rotate through, providing hands-on activities for each career. Examples: microscope and slides for lab technician, doctor’s kit and stuffed animals for a veterinarian, a plant/dirt/pot for a gardener or farmer, a headset and play computer for air traffic controller.