Careers & Success

Interdisciplinary Unit Summative

English II and College & Career Readiness

Habits and Traits for a Successful Career

Summary

Students will develop their position on what traits and habits it takes to be successful after synthesizing various sources. Students will write a feature article for a popular consumer magazine. Students' summative will be assessed in both College Readiness and English II and on the interdisciplinary unit objectives.

The Task

Imagine yourself 10 years from now happily in a career of your choice. Time Magazine is doing a feature article on Americans’ views of success and how that led to a specific successful career. They have chosen you to be on the cover and to tell your story.

They have given you a word limit: 600-900 words and would like you to discuss a variety of topics:
- DEFINITION: What is your definition of success? What does success mean to you?
- HABITS/TRAITS: Three habits and three traits that led to your success. They want to know what influenced you (HINT: reference specific texts in class that support your views and understanding--need to cite 3-5 sources).
- STEPS: They also want to know what steps you took to lead you to your successful career today. Use the research about your careers to help you write your feature article.
- DAILY LIFE: They also asked that you tell what your job is like and what you do on a daily basis--what you enjoy and what is challenging. Make inferences based on your research.
- ADVICE: To end, they want you to tell your audience any advice for people who may be interested in your career path. What will you tell them?

Purpose of Integration

Students will be able to bring together concepts about success from two disciplines: College and Career Readiness and English II. Students will read and interpret texts and media about the concept of success. In English II, students will read selections from Malcom Gladwell's Outliers as well as smaller texts, Ted Talks, or articles. In College Readiness, students will explore the idea of success in terms of choosing a career and reflecting on how personality influences career choice and perspectives of success. Students will reflect on their own personality traits that could lead to a successful career.

KEY CONCEPT

Perspective is the position from which we observe situations, objects, facts, ideas and opinions. Perspective may be associated with individuals, groups, cultures or disciplines. Different perspectives often lead to multiple representations and interpretations.

GLOBAL CONTEXT

Identity and Relationships

Lifestyle choices, Attitudes

RELATED CONCEPTS

College Readiness: Evaluation

English II: Theme, Purpose

STATEMENT OF INQUIRY

An informed perspective can inspire us to evaluate our attitudes and lifestyle choices.

INQUIRY QUESTIONS

Factual:What is success?

Conceptual: What habits and traits can help me be successful in a future career?

Debatable: To what extent do our attitudes about success influence our actions?

ATL SKILLS
Thinking: Students will consider ideas from multiple perspectives to draw reasonable conclusions and will evaluate and analyze ideas.

Communication: Students will read critically for comprehension from a variety of sources, making inferences and drawing conclusions about concepts related to success.

Outline

Introduction
1. HOOK: Start with a question, a narrative, a description to pull your writer in
2. DEFINITION: What is your definition of success? What does success mean to you?
3. THESIS: Lead into a statement that includes the habits and traits you will discuss and how they led to your career
Body Paragraphs
1. TRAITS: Three Traits that led to your success
  1. Incorporate personal example (real or made up)
  2. Incorporate research
2. HABITS: Three Habits that led to your success
  1. Incorporate personal example (real or made up)
  2. Incorporate research
3. STEPS: Steps to your career: Incorporate research
  1. Education
  2. Majors
  3. Internships (read this article to learn why internships are important)
4. DAILY LIFE: Provide a daily perspective of your job (incorporate what you have learned)
  1. What you enjoy
  2. What is challenging
Conclusion
1. Advice to young readers looking to go into your career