
- Week 1 - The Job Fair
- Week 2 - Building a Resume
- Week 3 - English on Tour
- Week 4 - Best Job in the World
In this week’s Teacher’s Corner, students will explore the world of employment by taking part in a job fair. Job fairs provide employers the opportunity to teach people about the work they do. In a job fair, these employers, or companies, create a poster presentation that provides details about the work that either they or their company does. These job fairs are often held at secondary schools or universities so that students can learn about the many career opportunities waiting for them after graduation.
LEVEL
Intermediate to Advanced
LANGUAGE FOCUS
Reading, speaking (primary focus); writing (secondary focus)
GOALS
During this activity students will:
- research job opportunities
- practice note-taking skills
- practice presenting and asking questions about career opportunities
MATERIALS
- Teacher: whiteboard/chalkboard, markers or chalk, a timing device, large sheets of paper (optional)
o Note: If possible, provide students with poster paper (63.5x76.2 cm) for their presentations.
- Students: pencils or pens, notebooks or writing paper, computer with Internet access
o Note: Internet access is not needed in class, but for students to conduct research as homework
PREPARATION
- Read through all the materials carefully.
- Create a list of possible career opportunities. If students have trouble brainstorming careers, the list can be used to assist them.
- This activity occurs across several days and includes three parts: Pre-homework brainstorming, research homework, and the job fair. For more advanced classes, or if your classroom has computers with Internet, this activity could be completed during a single class period. Choose the approach that works best for your teaching and learning context.
ACTIVITY PART ONE: PRE-HOMEWORK BRAINSTORMING
In this part of the activity, students will work in teams to create a list of jobs or careers. Once the teams have created their lists, a member of the team will come to the board and write their team’s list on the board. Each unique job or career the teams list will be worth one point. The team with the most points at the end wins!
1. Begin the activity by dividing the class into two teams. Instruct the students that each team will need one sheet of paper and a pen or pencil.
2. Next, tell the teams that they will have three minutes to write down as many jobs/careers as possible.
3. Say “Go” and have the teams work for three minutes, brainstorming as many jobs/careers they can and adding them to their sheet of paper.
4. When the three minutes are over, say “Stop”.
5. Have one member of each team come to the chalkboard and write down the jobs/careers their team brainstormed.
6. After the jobs/careers have been listed on the board, drawn a line through any job or career that both teams have on their list. For example:
Team A | Team B |
Pilot |
|
| Football Player |
Engineer |
|
| Tour Guide |
Astronaut |
|
7. Any job listed by both teams is not counted. After these jobs have been crossed out, give each team one point for any job the opposite team did not list. In the example above, Team A earned 3 points and Team B earned 2 points, so Team A wins!
8. Next, have the students look at all of the jobs on the board (including the crossed out ones) and do a think-pair-share:
a. Think: Have each student decide which job listed on the board is the most interesting to him or her (1 min).
b. Pair: Have the students form pairs. Each student should share with their partner the job they find the most interesting and explain why (3 mins)
c. Share: Have the students share the job they like best with the class. Encourage them to explain why.
9. Finally, have the students choose a job they would like to have in the future. This can be the job they picked in the think-pair-share, or a student can select a new job if the one they liked best was not listed on the board.
10. Inform the students that for homework they will research the job they selected.
ACTIVITY PART TWO: RESEARCH HOMEWORK
1. As a homework assignment, the students should research five basic questions about the job and, if possible, find one picture of someone working at that job or career. For homework, have the students find the answers to the following five questions:
a. What does a person with this job or career do every day?
b. How does a person get this job? What do they need to study before getting this job?
c. Where do people with this job work?
d. Why is this job interesting to you?
e. What is something new that you learned while researching this job?
2. Have the students complete their research as homework. Depending on the level of students and schedule of classes, this homework could be assigned overnight, or students could be given several days to complete the research.
3. Once students have gathered their research, have them bring their information to class.
4. Provide each student a sheet of poster paper.
a. If poster paper is not available, students can tape together 4 sheets of paper to make a poster.
5. On the sheet of paper, have the students create a poster about their selected job or career. Encourage students to make the poster visually interesting as well as informative!
a. Note: Depending on class time and schedule, the poster making can also be completed as a homework assignment.
ACTIVITY PART THREE: THE JOB FAIR
1. Have the students bring their posters to class.
2. Split the class into two groups: Group A and Group B.
3. For the first round, Group A will present their posters and Group B will attend the job fair.
a. Have the students in Group A find a spot in the classroom to set up their poster.
i. If possible, have the students stand along the walls and hang their posters there.
b. The students in Group B should walk around the room and visit the posters of the students in Group A. The student presenting the poster should talk about what they learned about this job or career and why they find it interesting. Group B students listening to the presentation should ask questions about the job.
c. Depending on time, this activity can be done for 20 minutes or can last until each student in Group B has visited at least five job posters. Time this activity as best fits your teaching and learning context.
4. Have the groups switch roles. This time, students in Group B present their posters and students in Group A walk around the room and learn about careers.