Spotlight: Architecture and Construction

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Course Title: Orientation to Career Clusters

  Course Number: 8000400 Career Cluster:

  Identify and explore careers in the Architecture & Construction

  CIP Number: 1498999907

  Course Type: Orientation/Exploratory

  Standard(s) or benchmarks

  Focus:

  • 04: List the skills, abilities, and talents needed for careers in the Architecture & Construction career cluster.
  • 05: Identify the level of training and education required for careers in the Architecture & Construction career cluster.

  Supporting:

  • 02: Describe the types of places that employ individuals who have careers in the Architecture & Construction career cluster.
  • 03: Describe the variety of tasks performed by individuals who have careers in the Architecture & Construction career cluster.

• Unit Outline

  
  

  In lesson one, students will brainstorm and research the types of places that employ individuals who have careers in the architecture and construction career cluster. They will write draft invitations to individuals that hold careers in architecture and construction asking them to participate in a showcase to share an overview of their skills, abilities, and talents, types of places they have worked, variety of tasks they perform, and the level of training and education they have received. In lesson two, students will write final draft invitations to individuals that hold careers in architecture and construction asking them to participate in a showcase to share an overview of their skills, abilities, and talents, types of places they have worked, variety of tasks they perform, and the level of training and education they have received. In lesson three, using a KWHL chart, students create specific questions and a plan to ask the individuals about their career in architecture and construction. Additionally, using a timeline template, students will create supplementary questions about when the individual progressed through different stages of their career. In lesson four, students write/take notes using the KWHL chart while the careers are showcased. Students will contribute to the discussion by asking questions when necessary and use the timeline template to take notes about the amount of time it took to progress through the career. In lesson five, students will design and create a timeline using the timeline template to represent the education, training, and job experiences that occurred as one of the individuals from the showcase progressed through different stages of their career. In lesson six, students will write an expository text to explain and analyze information gathered during the career showcase. Students can also use information obtained during the initial brainstorm and research conducted in lesson one when becoming oriented with careers in architecture and construction.

• Career Connection

  
  

  Students will be listening to and interviewing individuals who work in the industry, specifically identifying important skills, abilities, and talents necessary for obtaining a career within the architecture and construction cluster. Additionally, students will need to learn about necessary training and education requirements for a variety of careers in the architecture and construction career cluster.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Analyze architecture and construction careers.
  • Create specific questions to ask one individual to specify and demonstrate skills, abilities, and talents needed for their career in architecture and construction.
  • Create specific questions to ask one individual to describe the variety of tasks they perform in their career.
  • Create specific questions to ask one individual to identify the required level of training and education needed for their career.
  • Use a timeline template to formulate time related questions regarding the progression of their career.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with:

  • the terms architecture and construction
  • the term careers
  • the differences between skills, abilities, and talents
  • using a KWHL
  • creating and using timelines
  • the format and components of expository writing

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • What questions do we need to ask in order to find out about specific skills, abilities, and talents necessary for working in an architecture or construction career?
  • What resources could we use to find out more information about a career in architecture or construction?
  • What are some major activities or events a person might participate in or complete during their career development?
  • How much time could it take for a person to progress through these activities or events during career development?

• Procedure

  
  

  1. To introduce the lesson, engage students in a brief discussion about what they already know about the architecture and construction career cluster, such as the places that employ individuals identified in lesson 1. Reference the Career Showcase list of individuals who replied they could attend as well as their job titles and places they work. Consider creating a KWHL using chart paper or the whiteboard and discuss and write general knowledge that students already know about the architecture and construction career cluster.

  • Provide students with their own KWHL chart. (See pacing ideas for suggestions on how to facilitate this part of the lesson). Offer students time to complete the K part of their chart explaining what they already know about the chosen architecture or construction career in which they plan to focus on for the KWHL and later the expository writing.

  2. Examine and discuss the information students will need to gather from the individuals when they share their career experience. What do I want/need to find out about this career? Support students as they work towards identifying keywords or questions similar to the following regarding necessary skills, abilities, talents, tasks, training, and education. These questions will be used to guide their career analysis during the Career Showcase. (KWHL 2 attachment will have keywords supplied to provide students with additional support). Consider writing the keywords on the board.

  • • specific skills, abilities, and talents
    • variety of tasks
    • level of training and education
  • Provide students time to write questions to ask individuals about their career under the W column. If necessary, remind students to consider the 5 w’s and 1 h when creating questions. Students will be using the information gathered on their KWHL to write an expository text to explain and analyze the chosen career. Enough information needs to be collected in order to provide relevant supporting details and elaboration in their writing.

  3. Discuss with students the H in the KWHL chart. How will we learn about the architecture and construction career cluster? What resources can we use to learn about one specific career? The teacher can add the Career Showcase as one-way students will learn about these careers. Elicit additional responses such as websites, books, and additional resources. These can be added to the H column in the KWHL chart.

  • Provide students with time to write how they will learn about the career under the H column.

  4. Explore the Timeline Template. Elicit student discussion by asking what kind of information is usually found on a timeline (dates, time, events). Support students as they connect time to career development. What kinds of activities/events could take time when it comes to career development? Clarify any misconceptions and ensure students know they are to link career development events and the amount of time spent on those events on the timeline.

  • Provide students time to use the timeline template to create questions for an individual related to the amount of time spent in education, training, and job experiences. These questions could include when did you start/end training, education, etc. or how long did were in college, etc.

  5. To bring the lesson to a close, partner students to share their KWHL and Timeline Templates. Consider telling students they will be using their notes to write an expository text about the career.

  • Partners will each share what they know about the career.
  • Partners will then each share what questions they plan to ask. Students could add extra questions to their chart if their partner had some they liked.
  • Partners will each share how they plan to answer their questions and learn about the career. Again, students can add to this column based on new ideas learned from their partner.
  • Partners will share their Timeline Templates and write additional notes as needed based on feedback/ideas from their partner.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Pacing Ideas:
    • Based on students’ familiarity with KWHL’s, the teacher could engage students in a discussion about the entire KWHL chart, then pass out the chart to students and give them time to complete the chart all at once. Additionally, students might need varied explanation for each section of the KWHL.
    • Students could pair up after a brief explanation of the KWHL and work together the majority of the time to complete the chart.
  • Example careers for students to consider include carpenter, roofer, electrician, HVAC Mechanic, interior/exterior painter, plumber, project manager, architect, drafter, landscape architect, surveyor, tile and marble setter, superintendent, and demolition engineer.
  • ELA BEST Alignment Note: Students are not writing the expository text at this time, but they are gathering the information for their writing through the KWHL and timeline.

• Optional

  
  

  Accommodation Suggestions:

  • Consider audio recording the presenters so students can have access to the audio for reviewing the answers to questions, if needed.
  • Two version of the KWHL Chart will be available. KWHL Chart 2 provides students with more support as they formulate questions to ask individuals during the career showcase. KWHL Chart 1 does not include the added keywords and support.

  Extension Ideas:

  • Students can make a copy of their KWHL (with questions under W) and Timeline Template (with questions about important career related activities) and use them to interview a family member or neighbor about their career. Then the student could compare their career to a career in architecture and construction.