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Day 3: Family Engagement — Sharing the Plan

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Download or print the H&L Career Plan; personalize the bilingual Family Career Plan Letter; identify one college-credit opportunity (AP or dual credit) within the chosen pathway
TEKS d(3)(D), d(3)(B)
Deliverable Personalized bilingual Family Career Plan Letter with student signature, ready to take home for family review
Materials Chromebooks, H&L accounts, printed bilingual Family Career Plan Letter (1 per student), College For All Texans access, projector

Warm-Up (5 min)

WARM-UP: Have you talked to anyone in your family about what career you are interested in? What did they say, and if you have not talked to anyone yet, why not?

Take 3-4 student responses honestly. Some students will say their families do not understand or do not have time. Validate this, and reframe today as their chance to start the conversation by bringing home something concrete.

Activity 1: Download the H&L Career Plan (12 min)

Source: H&L App. Career Plan export feature

[H&L PLATFORM] Direct students to navigate to their H&L Career Plan and use the download/export feature to save their plan as a PDF or printout. Confirm with your H&L district admin which export option is enabled, most district setups support a PDF download from the Career Plan dashboard. If the app does not support direct export, students take screenshots of their Course Planner from Day 2, their Climber Profile (RIASEC + favorites), and their pathway recommendations, then combine them into one document.

Students complete one of three options based on what their account supports: 1. PDF download: save to drive, then print or share with family 2. Screenshot bundle: capture 3-4 key H&L pages and combine 3. Workbook backup: use the H&L workbook Ch 16 "My Career and Course Plan" template (p. 268) filled in by hand

The point is that something physical or digital exists to take home tonight.

Facilitation Tip

Some students will not have a working printer at home. Print the PDF version in class today so it physically goes home in their backpack. Do not assume they will print it themselves.

Activity 2: Personalize the Family Career Plan Letter (20 min)

Source: Bilingual Family Career Plan Letter (provided by teacher)

Distribute the printed bilingual Family Career Plan Letter. The letter has two columns. English on the left, Spanish on the right, and includes blanks for the student to personalize. The structure:

  • Greeting: "Dear family of _____,"
  • Course context: A 2-3 sentence description of what the CCE class has been doing this year
  • Student personalization section: Student writes
    • Their RIASEC type
    • Their top 3 favorited careers
    • Their chosen pathway and the Irving ISD high school that offers it
    • One thing they learned about themselves this year
    • One question they want their family to help them think about
  • Family invitation: A request for the family to discuss the plan, sign the bottom of the letter, and (optionally) share their own reflection on the student's chosen direction
  • Signature line for student and family member
  • Teacher contact info for family questions

Students fill in the personalization section in pen. The whole letter goes home with them. The expectation is that families return the signed bottom portion within one week, extra credit if returned by Friday.

[VERIFY] Confirm that the bilingual Family Career Plan Letter exists in your CCE materials folder. If not, the Texas Education Agency provides a sample family engagement letter on the Texas OnCourse parent resources page.

Activity 3: College For All Texans + Dual Credit (10 min)

Source: collegeforalltexans.com: Texas higher education resource hub

Direct students to College For All Texans. Students search for their pathway and identify whether any AP or dual-credit course exists for it. The site lists: - Texas colleges and their programs - Dual credit partnerships with Texas school districts - Financial aid information - AP course offerings

Each student writes on the back of their Family Letter: - One AP course that connects to my pathway (e.g., AP Computer Science Principles for IT, AP Biology for Health Science) - One dual-credit possibility at my Irving ISD high school (verify with counselor) - The estimated college tuition savings if I earn college credit in HS (rough estimate: $300-800 per AP course passed)

This is the d(3)(B) coverage for the week. Students who finish early can browse College For All Texans for financial aid options.

DOK 2: How would you compare AP courses and dual credit courses? What are the advantages of each?

Exit Ticket (3 min)

EXIT TICKET (Decision Tree / Branching Prompt) · Printable PDF:

Tonight I bring home my Family Career Plan Letter. My family member asks: "How will this pathway lead to a real job?"

Step 1: What is the FIRST thing I say to answer the question? (One sentence.)

Step 2: Branch on their response —

IF my family member is SUPPORTIVE and excited, what do I ask them for next? _____________

IF my family member is UNSURE or says "that's not a real career," what ONE piece of evidence do I use to explain why it IS a real career? _____________

Step 3: ONE AP or dual-credit course available in my pathway (from today's College For All Texans research):

(d(3)(B), d(3)(D))

Differentiation

  • Support: Pre-filled Family Letter with the student's RIASEC type and top pathway already filled in by the teacher (using Day 1-2 data). Student only personalizes the open-response section.
  • Extension: Write a second letter to a counselor or advisor at the high school the student plans to attend. Ask one specific question about the pathway (course availability, application process, etc.).
  • ELL: The bilingual letter format itself supports families whose primary language is Spanish. For students from other language backgrounds, work with the district translation office for additional language versions. Pre-teach: Family = Familia, Plan = Plan, Pathway = Trayectoria, Counselor = Consejero.