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Week 2: Mapping My Future — High School Course Planning

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

Lesson Objective

Students translate the pathway selection from Week 1 into a concrete 4-year high school course plan using the H&L District Course Planner, write a personal Career Plan that documents pathway choice + course sequence + postsecondary requirements, and download/print the plan to share with their family.

Buffer week: adapt freely for state testing season

The original scope-and-sequence intentionally left this week light (Xello completions + eDynamic supplements, no new cluster) because it lands during STAAR / state testing season. The curriculum writer placed the d(8)(C) Career Plan artifact here because Week 2 was the most complete available slot for the summative, but the Day 1-4 supporting activities (HS transition lecture, Family Letter, eDynamic 6.2) are all cut-or-condense candidates when testing eats periods. Load-bearing: Day 2 Course Planner + Day 5 Career Plan write-up (these together produce the d(8)(C) artifact). Flex: Day 1 endorsement lecture, Day 3 Family Letter (can be homework), Day 4 eDynamic (asynchronous).

Demonstration of Learning

"I can map my high school courses to a career pathway using the H&L District Course Planner, write a Career Plan that documents my pathway, course sequence, and postsecondary goals, and explain how planning impacts my future to a family member."

TEKS Alignment

  • d(8)(B): Document high school courses, postsecondary education, and training requirements for a chosen pathway.
  • d(8)(C): Write an individual plan to start a career.
  • d(3)(A): Describe academic requirements for transitioning from middle school to high school and from high school to postsecondary education.
  • d(3)(B): Identify college credit opportunities such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and dual credit.
  • d(3)(D): Discuss the impact of effective planning on career and educational goals.
  • d(3)(E): Analyze the impact of standardized assessments such as PSAT, SAT, ACT, ASVAB, and TSI on postsecondary opportunities.

Materials Needed

  • Chromebooks with internet access (1 per student)
  • Hats & Ladders student accounts + H&L Workbook (Ch 16, pp. 267-268, "My Career and Course Plan")
  • Texas OnCourse: texasoncourse.org
  • College For All Texans: collegeforalltexans.com
  • Irving ISD CTE Pathways poster
  • Printed Family Career Plan Letter (locally authored; bilingual English/Spanish)
  • Printed Career Plan Template (1 per student)
  • eDynamic Learning Unit 6.2: Gaining Experience
  • Printed 4-Year Course Map blank template (9th-12th grade)
  • Projector for teacher modeling

Career Connection

The H&L District Course Planner shows the actual courses available at each Irving ISD high school (not generic Texas courses). By Friday, every student leaves with a written plan mapping from 8th grade through high school graduation toward their chosen pathway, and a printed letter ready to share with family.

Irving ISD Pathways: Students complete course mapping for their selected pathway. Common 7th-grade choices include: Computer Science (Irving High, MacArthur, Nimitz), Robotic Manufacturing (Singley), Nursing Science (Singley), Architecture (MacArthur), Aviation Maintenance and Drone Engineering (Irving High), Automotive (Ratteree), and Veterinary Science (Nimitz).

Vocabulary

  • District Course Planner: In H&L, the tool that shows specific courses available in a student's school district, mapped to career pathways.
  • Foundation High School Program: Texas's required graduation framework, 22 credits across English, math, science, social studies, languages, PE, fine arts, and electives.
  • Endorsement: A specialization track on top of the Foundation HS Program. Texas offers five: STEM, Business & Industry, Arts & Humanities, Public Services, Multidisciplinary.
  • Postsecondary: Anything after high school, 4-year college, community college, trade school, military, certification programs, apprenticeships.
  • Dual Credit: A course that earns both high school credit and college credit at the same time, often saving thousands in tuition.
  • AP (Advanced Placement): A college-level course taken in high school. Passing the end-of-course exam can earn college credit.
  • Career Plan: A written document outlining a student's career goal, the pathway, the courses, the postsecondary training, and the action steps.

Bridge to Theory (Hats & Ladders)

H&L Chapter 16 (pp. 267-268) provides the "My Career and Course Plan" activity, which directly maps to the H&L app's District Course Planner tool. The workbook frames a career plan as a roadmap with both short-term goals (current courses, near-future skills) and long-term goals (HS course sequence, postsecondary path, career destination). The H&L app's District Course Planner is loaded with district-specific course catalogs, students select their high school, choose their pathway, and the tool generates a 4-year course sequence. The workbook activity (Step 2, p. 268) explicitly directs students to "go to the Hats & Ladders app and begin your Career and Course Plan."

IISD Instructional Strategies

  • Modeling: Day 2 begins with the teacher walking through the entire H&L District Course Planner on the projector for one complete pathway before students touch their own Chromebooks.
  • Chunking: The week breaks course planning into 5 manageable steps (transition → course planner → family letter → experience building → final plan write-up) so students do not feel overwhelmed by the complexity of HS planning.
  • Sentence Stems: Career Plan writing, "My career goal is _. To prepare, I will take in high school and __ after high school. My first action step is _____."
  • Active Monitoring: Day 2 checkpoint verifies every student selected the right Irving ISD high school in the Course Planner before they begin mapping courses.

Week at a Glance

Day Focus Key Activities Deliverable
1 MS-to-HS Transition Foundation HS Program + Endorsements + standardized testing overview Texas HS endorsement matched to chosen pathway
2 H&L District Course Planner Teacher modeling + student 4-year course mapping Completed 4-year course map screenshot
3 Family Engagement Download Career Plan + personalize bilingual Family Letter Printed Family Career Plan Letter ready to take home
4 eDynamic 6.2: Gaining Experience Unit 6.2 + experience-building action plan eDynamic completion + 3 experience action items
5 Career Plan Write-Up Final Career Plan template + H&L finalization Submitted Career Plan (the d(8)(C) summative artifact)

Formative Assessment

  • Endorsement-to-pathway match (Day 1): d(3)(A)
  • Course Planner completion screenshot (Day 2): d(8)(B)
  • Family Letter personalization quality (Day 3): d(3)(D)
  • eDynamic 6.2 progress + experience identification (Day 4): d(3)(A)

Summative Assessment

Individual Career Plan (Day 5): the d(8)(C) artifact for the year. Students submit a written Career Plan including: career goal, RIASEC alignment, pathway selection, 4-year HS course map, postsecondary requirements (degree/certification/apprenticeship), three action steps the student can start this year, and one professional organization to join. Scored on completeness (d(8)(B)), quality of reasoning (d(8)(C)), MS-to-HS transition understanding (d(3)(A)), evidence of effective planning (d(3)(D)), and college credit awareness (d(3)(B)).

Differentiation

Scaffolded Learning

  • Pre-printed Career Plan template with fill-in-the-blank sections and sentence stems
  • Pre-printed list of Irving ISD CTE pathway course sequences for students who struggle with the digital Course Planner
  • Allow Career Plan submission in bullet-point format rather than full paragraphs
  • Pair students for the Course Planner, one navigates, the other reads aloud and records

Extensions

  • Research dual-credit and articulated college credit opportunities for the chosen pathway
  • Build a visual career roadmap (poster or Canva) showing the path from 8th grade to age 30
  • Interview a family member about their own career path and compare it to the student plan

ELL Language Support

  • Bilingual Family Career Plan Letter provided in English and Spanish (this is critical for parent engagement)
  • Pre-teach: Graduation Plan = Plan de graduación, Postsecondary = Postsecundaria, Course Map = Mapa de cursos, Endorsement = Especialización, Dual Credit = Crédito dual
  • Bilingual Career Plan template with Spanish sentence stems
  • The H&L District Course Planner uses a visual layout that supports ESL navigation