Week 2: Mapping My Future - High School Course Planning

4th Six Weeks | Cross-Cluster Planning | 5 class periods (50 min each)

Lesson Objective

Students use current Texas and Irving ISD planning sources to build a counseling-ready four-year course-plan draft, compare AP and dual-credit options, investigate multiple preparation routes after high school, set one SMART experience goal, and write an individual high school and career plan that can be revised as requirements change.

Learning Target: I can connect my career direction to high school courses, preparation after high school, and actions I can start now.

Success Criteria: I will know I am successful when my plan uses current sources, shows a four-year course sequence and one prerequisite chain, keeps three possible preparation routes open, compares an advanced or college-credit option, includes a backup, and names actions I can take before and during Grade 9.

Demonstration of Learning

"I can explain how my current course and experience choices support a career direction, identify what still needs counselor verification, and revise my plan when better evidence appears."

TEKS Alignment

• d(8)(B): Document high school courses and postsecondary education and training requirements for a chosen pathway.
• d(8)(C): Write an individual plan for beginning a career.
• d(3)(A): Describe academic requirements for transitions from middle school to high school and from high school to postsecondary education.
• d(3)(B): Identify current college-credit opportunities such as Advanced Placement and dual credit.
• d(3)(D): Discuss how effective planning affects career and educational goals.
• d(3)(E): Analyze how assessments can affect graduation, placement, admission, scholarships, career exploration, or military options.
• d(3)(F): Explain the importance of co-curricular and extracurricular participation.

Materials Needed

• Chromebooks with internet access
• Find Your Future workbook, FYF pp. 292-293, "Rung 6: Goal Setting," and FYF pp. 294-296, "Rung 7: High School Plan"
• TEA Chapter 74, Subchapter B: Graduation Requirements, August 2026
• Irving ISD 2026-2027 Middle and High School Course Descriptions
• TEA Advanced Placement
• TEA Dual Credit
• BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
• Apprenticeship.gov Career Seekers
• USAGov Military Requirements
• High School Transition and Assessment Decisions packet
• Counseling-Ready Four-Year Course Plan Draft as a Canvas annotation, with a three-page paper or enlarged route
• two-page Postsecondary Route Trail and College Credit Check
• FYF Rung 6 SMART goal plus one-page Experience Access and Backup Check
• Individual High School and Career Plan
• Individual High School and Career Plan Rubric

Career Connection

Course planning is a sequence problem. A student connects a current interest to a high school program, checks the prerequisite order, identifies preparation after high school, and keeps a backup that protects the same goal. A counselor confirms the operational details before the student submits requests.

The workbook provides a planning frame, not a current district course catalog. Rung 7 asks students to connect classes, activities, CTSOs, and special programs to their goals (FYF pp. 294-296: "Rung 7: High School Plan"). The current Irving ISD coursebook supplies course descriptions, grade levels, and prerequisites. When the two sources differ, the current district source and counselor guidance win.

Vocabulary

• Foundation High School Program: The Texas graduation framework. The 2025 TEA toolkit lists 22 foundation credits.
• Endorsement: An added area of study. Current §74.13 requires at least 26 credits for an endorsement.
• Prerequisite: A course or requirement that must be completed before another course.
• Postsecondary: Education or training after high school, including college, technical training, apprenticeships, military training, and industry credentials.
• Preparation route: One possible way to build the education, training, experience, or credential a career requires. A route is investigated and revised, not treated as a permanent Grade 7 choice.
• AP: A high school course and exam that may earn college credit or placement under the receiving college's policy.
• Dual credit: A college course taken by an eligible high school student that earns both high school and college credit.
• Course request: A student's official request for next year's courses. A request is not the same as a guaranteed schedule.
• SMART goal: A goal that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
• Revision rule: The evidence or change that would cause a student to update a plan.

Bridge to Theory (Hats & Ladders)

Rung 6 asks students to write short-, medium-, and long-term SMART goals and identify the resources and support each goal needs (FYF pp. 292-293: "Rung 6: Goal Setting"). This week uses that structure for one experience goal students can begin now.

Rung 7 asks students to consider core classes, electives, CTE courses, clubs, CTSOs, internships, certifications, dual enrollment, and other programs, then name what they can do during Grades 9-12 (FYF pp. 294-296: "Rung 7: High School Plan"). The CCE planning packets add source labels, prerequisite checks, counselor questions, and a backup so students do not mistake an early draft for a guaranteed schedule.

Xello Counseling-Window Boundary

The authenticated Grade 8 Completion Standards include four planning tasks that belong in the district counseling window:

• 4-year course plan: 30 minutes
• Make plans: 30 minutes and add at least one plan
• Submit course requests: 20 minutes, Grade 8 only
• Parent 4-year course plan approval: 15 minutes, with a district due date of May 1, 2027 in the current configuration

These tasks are not replaced by the CCE packet. The packet prepares students to complete them with fewer errors. Teachers should open the Canvas counseling-window checkpoint only when counselors confirm the local schedule, course-request process, and family-approval procedure.

IISD Instructional Strategies

• Think-Pair-Share: Day 3, students compare AP and dual credit after reading the two source cards. Hold a 30-second silent think, then Partner A and Partner B each use one evidence stem. Listen for students who confuse taking an AP course with automatically earning college credit. If that misconception is common, return to the receiving-college policy row before students research an option.
• Stop and Jot: Day 1, students write one high school question and one transition concern. Read for scheduling, belonging, and assessment concerns. Use the dominant concern to choose the first example in the graduation and assessment walkthrough.
• Active Monitoring: Day 2, use three laps through the course-plan draft. Check current course names first, prerequisite logic second, and verification labels and backups third. If students are inventing courses to fill blank years, stop and model how to leave a labeled question instead.
• Chunking: Day 5, release the individual plan in three chunks: direction and self-evidence, course and preparation evidence, then action and revision. Check one model section between chunks. If students copy a pathway claim without a source, reteach the source/date field before the final chunk.
• Time, Voice, Body (TVB): Day 5, keep source packets on the left side of the desk and the final plan on the right. Use Voice 0 during writing and Voice 1 during the optional evidence check. A visible timer protects the rubric review and private submission before class ends.

Week at a Glance

Formative Assessment

• Day 1 assessment-scenario decisions show whether students understand how different assessments affect different options.
• Day 2 plan audit shows whether students can document a four-year sequence without turning unverified details into facts.
• Day 3 route trail shows whether students distinguish AP exam policy from dual-credit course completion, compare three preparation routes, and keep conditions attached to each claim.
• Day 4 SMART check shows whether an experience goal has a measure, time boundary, support, obstacle, and backup.

Summative Assessment

MAJOR 2: Individual High School and Career Plan, 100 gradebook points with a 16-point advisory profile. The student-visible rubric scores four criteria: self-evidence and direction, course and pathway planning, postsecondary and college-credit evidence, and action, support, and revision. The Assignment is already mapped to Major Assessments (60%) and remains unpublished so each teacher can review and publish it after cloning.

Differentiation

Scaffolded Learning

• Provide the same source cards used in the lesson so no grade depends on open web-search speed.
• Allow typed, handwritten, or brief audio evidence where the learning target is reasoning rather than handwriting.
• Use partially completed models with fictional courses and careers so students can see the structure without copying an answer.
• Let students mark an uncertain item for counselor verification instead of forcing a guess.

Extensions

• Compare two possible four-year plans that protect the same career goal.
• Investigate how one prerequisite, application, transportation need, or capacity limit changes the plan.
• Add a fourth preparation route or one current advanced academic or technical opportunity after verifying the requirement and source date.

Language and Access Support

• Use labeled examples, icons, a short glossary, and sentence frames rather than a full automatic translation.
• Read source cards aloud or provide text-to-speech while keeping the same evidence requirement.
• Keep family discussion optional. A trusted adult, counselor, teacher, or private written reflection is an equal route.
• Do not collect private Xello screenshots, family signatures, transportation details, immigration information, or other sensitive family data as graded evidence.