Week 6: Skills That Transfer — Trades Capstone & Mid-Year Reflection

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

Lesson Objective

Students complete a problem-solving revisit using the H&L Powerskills "Work Ethic" module (Ch 8 STEM Program activity), build a Transferable Skills Matrix that maps soft skills across multiple careers, research professional associations through a Jigsaw, update their Career Plan with all 4SW data, and complete the mid-year growth reflection that closes the first half of the year.

Demonstration of Learning

"I can complete the H&L Work Ethic STEM Program activity, identify transferable skills that work across multiple careers, explain the value of joining a professional association, and write a mid-year growth reflection that shows how my career thinking has evolved since Week 0."

TEKS Alignment

d(4)(B): Identify skills that can be transferable among a variety of careers.
d(4)(F): Define and identify examples of work ethic, integrity, dedication, and perseverance in the workplace.
d(3)(H): Identify professional associations and the value of membership.
d(3)(F): Explain the importance of co-curricular and extracurricular activities to career exploration and development (TSA, SkillsUSA, HOSA, FBLA, and related CTSOs).
d(4)(E): Community service and volunteerism (Day 3 names at least one community-service program each researched CTSO runs and weighs service as one of five membership benefits in the exit ticket).

Materials Needed

Chromebooks with internet access (1 per student)
Hats & Ladders student accounts + Powerskills Workbook (Powerskills, pp. 12-15, "Work Ethic" module + STEM Program activity)
H&L Workbook (Ch 16, Career Plan finalization)
SkillsUSA: skillsusa.org
ASE: ase.com
FAA Careers: faa.gov/jobs
TSA (Technology Student Association): tsaweb.org
NSPE: nspe.org
CareerOneStop Compare Occupations: careeronestop.org/Toolkit/Careers/compare-occupations.aspx
My Career Journey reflection sheet (returned from Week 0 + Week 1 mid-year update)
Printed Transferable Skills Matrix (1 per student)
Printed STEM Program planning chart (from H&L Powerskills Ch 8)
Printed Mid-Year Reflection template

Career Connection

Over 18 weeks students have explored 8 career clusters, designed safety plans and apps and surveys and robots, and built a written Career Plan. This week shifts the focus from "what career do I want?" to "what skills do I bring to ANY career?" The transferable skills students have practiced (communication, problem solving, teamwork, attention to detail, work ethic) connect to every pathway. Professional associations (SkillsUSA, ASE, FAA, TSA, NSPE, HOSA, FBLA) provide networking, competitions, scholarships, and credentialing.

What is Happening at Irving ISD? This week connects to all pathways. Professional associations referenced: SkillsUSA (trades), ASE (automotive), FAA (aviation), TSA (technology, students are already members), NSPE (engineering).

Vocabulary

Transferable Skills: Skills that work across multiple careers, problem solving, communication, teamwork, time management, critical thinking, work ethic.
Professional Association: An organization for people working in a specific field that provides networking, training, certification, and advocacy. Often hosts student chapters and competitions.
SkillsUSA: A national CTSO for trade, technical, and skilled service career students. Hosts SkillsUSA Championships across hundreds of competitions.
TSA (Technology Student Association): The CTSO for technology and engineering students. Many IISD VILS students compete in TSA Drone Challenge.
Work Ethic: The set of values centered on doing work well, showing up on time, doing your best, being responsible, persevering through challenges. The H&L Powerskills module that anchors this week.

Bridge to Theory (Hats & Ladders)

H&L Powerskills "Work Ethic" module (Powerskills workbook, pp. 12-15) is the centerpiece of this week. The module frames work ethic as showing up on time, doing your best, being responsible, and not giving up, even when things get tough. The module's named activity is the STEM Program design activity (cross-referenced in H&L Ch 8 Engineering, p. 124-125): students imagine they are volunteering to create a community STEM program and design the program from scratch. The activity is structured around 3 steps:

Choose a Topic (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math)
Plan Your Program (5-question chart: Name, Audience, Activities, Location, Community Impact)
Design a Flyer (with sign-up information)

The class discussion at the end ties back to work ethic explicitly: "How did you show (or how would you show) a strong work ethic while creating your STEM program?"

IISD Instructional Strategies

Think-Pair-Share: Day 1 STEM program debrief on how students applied work ethic.
Jigsaw: Day 3 professional association research, each team becomes the expert on one association and teaches the rest.
Sentence Stems: Mid-year reflection, "At the beginning of the year I thought _. Now I know . The biggest growth I see in myself is __."
Active Monitoring: Day 2 Transferable Skills Matrix, verify every student finds at least 8 skills that apply to ALL 6 careers in the matrix.

Week at a Glance

Day	Focus	Key Activities	Deliverable
1	Powerskills Work Ethic + STEM Program	H&L Powerskills "Work Ethic" + STEM Program planning chart + flyer	Completed STEM Program plan and flyer
2	Transferable Skills Matrix	Build a 6-career × 8-skill matrix	Completed Transferable Skills Matrix
3	Professional Associations Jigsaw	Research SkillsUSA / ASE / FAA / TSA / NSPE in teams; share-out	Jigsaw research notes per association
4	Work Ethic Discussion + Career Plan Update	Workplace integrity examples + H&L Career Plan accumulation	Updated H&L Career Plan + work ethic example notes
5	Mid-Year Growth Reflection + Sharing Circle	Final reflection + class share + 5SW preview	Submitted Mid-Year Reflection (4SW summative artifact)

Formative Assessment

STEM Program plan completeness (Day 1): d(4)(F)
Transferable Skills Matrix coverage (Day 2): d(4)(B)
Jigsaw research notes per team (Day 3): d(3)(F), d(3)(H), d(4)(E)
H&L Career Plan accumulation check (Day 4): d(4)(F)

Summative Assessment

Mid-Year Growth Reflection (Day 5): Students submit their comprehensive My Career Journey reflection showing growth from Week 0 through the mid-year point. The reflection must address: (1) how career interests evolved since Week 0, (2) the most surprising thing learned this semester, (3) current top pathway with rationale, (4) at least 5 transferable skills the student has demonstrated this year with specific class examples, (5) one professional association the student plans to join, (6) goals for the second half of the year. Scored on transferable skill identification (d(4)(B)), work ethic and integrity understanding (d(4)(F)), and professional association knowledge (d(3)(H)).

Differentiation

Scaffolded Learning

Simplified Transferable Skills Matrix with some cells pre-filled as examples
Sentence starters for the Mid-Year Reflection
Allow students to complete the reflection in bullet-point or graphic organizer format
Pre-built STEM Program plan options for students who freeze on the open-ended prompt

Extensions

Build a visual "Skills Resume" showing every transferable skill the student demonstrated this year with evidence from class activities
Research a SkillsUSA or TSA competition that connects to the student's pathway and find the registration date
Write a letter to the future 9th-grade self with career planning advice based on this semester's learning

ELL Language Support

Pre-teach: Transferable = Transferible, Work Ethic = Ética de trabajo, Professional Association = Asociación profesional, Reflection = Reflexión, Growth = Crecimiento
Bilingual Transferable Skills Matrix and Mid-Year Reflection template with Spanish sentence stems
The H&L Powerskills module uses visual scenarios accessible across language levels
Pair ESL students with bilingual peers during the Jigsaw and Sharing Circle activities