Prioritizing Academic and Career Planning on a Shoestring Budget

Outline

0:00 – 5:00 | Welcome & Introduction
Facilitator Action:
-Greet participants, introduce the session purpose (modeling how to teach employability skills to upper elementary students).
-Share a quick personal story: a funny or surprising skill a student once said was “needed for a job.”
Audience Participation:
-Quick pair-share: “What’s one skill you wish someone had taught you in 4th or 5th grade?”

5:00 – 15:00 | Setting the Stage: What Are Employability Skills?
Facilitator Action:
-Present a simple framework of core skills (e.g., teamwork, communication, problem-solving, responsibility, adaptability).
-Connect to real classroom examples.
Audience Participation:
-Use think-pair-share or a digital poll: “Which skill do you think students struggle with most at this age?”
-Capture answers digitally to build a group reference.

15:00 – 20:00 | Framing the Mock Lesson for Students
Facilitator Action:
-Explain how this activity could be introduced to 4th–6th graders. Normally, this lesson spans over at least one to two days discussing and brainstorming employability skills using the term “non-negotiable” skills.
-The presenter has used celebrities, athletes and people during this lesson to allow students to brainstorm skills while connecting them with logical and familiar examples.
-Goal: Students will create a pretend business and identify what skills are needed to make it run. This allows students to understand the skills they find as a priority should be used consistently in everyday.

20:00 – 35:00 | Hands-On Activity: Pretend Business Challenge
Facilitator Action:
-Break participants into groups of 3-5 people.
-Give prompt: “You are starting a pretend business: food stand at the fair or a food truck. Decide what your business is and identify at least 5 employability skills your team would need to make it successful.”
-Provide a template of the graphic organizer students in ACP use annually during this activity.
Audience Participation:
-Groups brainstorm, design, and record their business idea and skills.
-Optional: groups create a business name or logo to make it fun and kid-friendly.

35:00 – 45:00 | Group Sharing & Reflection
Facilitator Action:
-Invite each group to briefly present their business and key skills.
-As groups share, highlight common themes (e.g., every business needs teamwork) and unique skills (e.g., creativity for marketing). Have highlighters on hand to have them keep a record of commonalities.
-Remind participants it is a great thing they have commonalities because they believe these are universally important. Also tie back to tangible skills taught in classrooms such as basic math and technology skills.
-Share a few final prompting questions normally shared during the lesson:
*How do we use these skills at school?
*Do your other teachers use these skills outside of ACP?
-Final activity reminder: Skills identified should be used daily because if groups believe they are important but are not using them positively, how could we hold others accountable in our pretend business?
Audience Participation:
-Active listening and brief Q&A after each share.
-Teachers add sticky notes or digital comments about additional skills they noticed.

45:00 – 50:00 | Debrief: From Mock Lesson to Classroom Practice
Facilitator Action:
-Lead reflection: “How could you adapt this lesson for your own students?”
-Offer tips for scaffolding by grade level (simplify for 4th, add complexity for 6th).
Audience Participation:
-Quick write or small-group discussion: “What’s one way I can integrate employability skills into my lessons this semester?”

50:00 – 60:00 | Closing & Takeaways
Facilitator Action:
-Summarize: employability skills matter, kids love pretend business activities, and this approach sparks engagement + readiness.
-Use a digital option (Mentimeter/Slido) to share one new strategy or tool they will try in their classroom or school.
-Provide a QR code to a curated list of low-cost resources, templates, and data collection tools
-Highlight ways to track student engagement and satisfaction to demonstrate program impact.
Audience Participation:
-Exit ticket: share one skill they commit to highlighting in their classroom.
-Final Questions for Presenter

Outcomes

1. Understand and apply employability skills:
-Attendees will gain a clear framework of core employability skills for elementary and middle school students and learn how to connect them to age-appropriate classroom activities.

2. Experience a hands-on teaching model:
-Attendees will practice the same strategies they can use with their students to teach teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and adaptability.

3. Create a ready-to-use classroom activity:
-Participants will walk away with a mock lesson plan and activity template that can be easily adapted for their own students and contexts.

4. Strengthen facilitation techniques:
-Teachers will practice engagement strategies (group brainstorming, quick shares, reflection prompts) which assist in building student agency and spark curiosity.

5. Leave with actionable resources:
-Each attendee will leave with a folder of applicable career readiness resources and practical ways to integrate them into everyday instruction.

Supporting research

1. Pathways to School Readiness: Executive Functioning Predicts Academic and Social-Emotional Aspects of School Readiness (Mann, Hund, etc.)
2. Identifies “cool” and “hot” EF components (working memory, inhibitory control, delay of gratification) that predict both academic readiness and social-emotional readiness.
3. Career Development and Systems Theory: Connecting Theory and Practice by Wendy Patton & Mary McMahon (4th ed., 2021)
4. Career Exploration and Development in Childhood: Perspectives from Theory, Practice and Research (eds. Mark Watson & Mary McMahon, 2017)
5. College and Career Readiness: A Guide for School Counselors K-12 by Cheryl Moore-Thomas
6. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction-Academic and Career Planning Educator Tools
7. Advanced CTE Resources
8. Lynn Meltzer, PhD — Major researcher/practitioner on executive functioning in education; author of Executive Function in Education and Promoting Executive Function in the Classroom. Her work gives both theory and very practical strategies.
9. Cheryl Moore-Thomas — Her guide for school counselors is particularly strong for thinking about developmentally appropriate, equity-minded career readiness across K-12.