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Day 5: Health Science Mid-Point + Recommendation

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Finalize Wk 3-4 H&L favorites; reflect on the mid-point of the Health Science cluster; write a recommendation paragraph using education and salary data
TEKS d(2)(A), d(5)(B)
Deliverable Updated Climber Profile + recommendation paragraph (4 sentences) connecting one health career to a friend's situation
Materials Chromebooks, H&L accounts, completed Career Comparison worksheet from Day 2, projector

Warm-Up (5 min)

WARM-UP: We are halfway through Health Science. Which health career has surprised you the most so far?

Take 4-5 responses. Bridge: surprise is a sign that career exploration is working. Students who arrived thinking "all healthcare = nurses" should now see the variety.

Activity 1: H&L Favorites Update (10 min)

Students return to the H&L app and add Wk 3-4 health science favorites to their Climber Profile. Today's focus: dental and medical billing favorites.

[H&L PLATFORM] In the H&L app, navigate to "Hat Finder," filter by "Health Science" cluster. Click the heart icon on 1-2 dental careers and 1-2 health informatics careers. Then click "Climber Profile" to verify the new favorites appear. Students should now have 4-5 Health Science favorites total (mix of nursing, dental, medical billing).

The teacher circulates during the 10 min and talks to 10–12 students (not all 24, that math doesn't work in 10 min). Prioritize students who added a different pathway mix than their peers, or students who look stuck on the H&L favorites step.

Activity 2: Career Cluster Reflection (15 min)

Project the reflection prompts on the board. Students write 3-4 sentences in their notebook:

  1. "Which Health Science pathway fits me best after these 2 weeks?"
  2. "Which one was I most WRONG about before I explored it?"
  3. "How does my RIASEC type (from Wk 0) connect to healthcare?"
  4. "What do I want to know about Wk 5 Powerskills and Wk 6 Biomedical?"

These reflections feed into the d(8)(B) career-plan documentation that students will revisit at the end of the semester.

Activity 3: Recommendation Paragraph (15 min)

This is the summative assessment for Week 4. Students write a 4-sentence recommendation paragraph for a hypothetical friend.

Before students start writing, give them 2 min to pull out their Day 2 Career Comparison worksheet and re-read the 3 rows. The 4-sentence paragraph asks students to pull education time, DFW salary, and an Irving ISD pathway connection, trying to recall those from memory under time pressure usually fails. The pair-read + highlight step at the end is optional: if students need the full 15 min to write, skip the pair-read and have them submit the paragraph directly to the exit-ticket pile.

Scenario (project on the board): "Your friend wants to work in healthcare but does not want to go to college for 8 years. They have good grades and want to start working as soon as possible after high school. Recommend ONE Health Science career to them."

The paragraph must include:

  1. The career name (e.g., "I recommend Dental Hygienist")
  2. Education time (e.g., "It only takes 2 years at a community college")
  3. DFW salary (e.g., "Starting salary is around $80K in DFW")
  4. Irving ISD pathway connection (e.g., "The Singley Academy Dental pathway gives you a head start on dental assistant certification while still in high school")

Project a sentence stem for students who need scaffolding:

"I recommend [career] because it takes [time] of education, pays around [salary] in DFW, and the Irving ISD [pathway name] at [school] gives you a head start by [credential]."

Students write the paragraph, then pair up and read each other's paragraphs. Each partner highlights ONE specific data point that made the recommendation strong.

DOK 4: If you were advising a friend who wants to work in healthcare but doesn't want to go to college for 8 years, what pathway would you recommend? Use specific education and salary data from this week and last week to support your advice.

Exit Ticket (5 min)

EXIT TICKET (3-2-1 Reflective) · Printable PDF:

After 2 weeks in Health Science (nursing, dental, medical billing), write:

3 things I understand about Health Science careers NOW that I did not understand at the start of Wk 3:

2 questions I STILL have about Health Science careers:

1 connection between Health Science and another cluster I explored earlier this year (Manufacturing or IT):

(d(2)(A), d(5)(B))

Submit the full 4-sentence recommendation paragraph as the summative deliverable, separate from this ticket.

Differentiation

  • Support: Provide a fill-in-the-blank recommendation paragraph template. Highlight where on the worksheet students can find the data they need.
  • Extension: Write recommendations for THREE different friends with different priorities (one wants money, one wants short school, one wants high status). How does the recommendation change?
  • ELL: Bilingual recommendation paragraph template. Pre-teach: Recommend = Recomendar, Salary = Salario, Pathway = Camino, Certification = Certificación.