The Occumational Outlook Handbook is created and maintained by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It includes an up-to-date description of occupations, job summaries, entry-level education, median pay, and projected job growth
For this project, using the OOH, students will investigate three jobs of their choice and engage in project based learning activities to delve into various careers and discuss future trends.
Preparation
Check the website to ensure it is not blocked at your site.
Under Classroom>Student's Desk> Economics Made Easy, Career Resource Guide, Periodic Table of STEM Occupations, Career Exploration, Economy at a Glance and Maps displaying data on monthly and annual employment across the United States.
if you are teaching graphs, this is an excellent source of relevant material
Program Areas
ABE: Adult Basic Education
ESL: English as a Second Language
ASE: High School Equivalency Preparation
ASE: High School Diploma
CTE: Career Technical Education
AwD: Adults with Disabilities
Levels
Intermediate
High
Beginning High
Intermediate Low
Intermediate High
Advanced
View Lesson Plan
Warm-up
Engagement Enhancement
Ask the question: what influences your choice in picking a career? Students turn to each other to discuss then gather as a whole group. Write ideas on the board.
Introduction
Engagement Enhancement
Ask, what are your career goals? What questions do you have as you search for information about different careers: How do you find answers to those questions? Students turn to each other, two pair groups joining together. Then share ideas with the whole group. Write questions on the board, add student answers.
[go to the tool and demonstrate how to navigate around the website] Ask for a job a student is interested in learning about. Use the job to look up and find current information on median pay, entry-level education, work experience, on the job training, number of jobs, job outlook and employment change.
Have pairs of students work together to explore the website. Search by occupation, by industry, notice job outlook. Students come away from this search with three jobs they are interested to investigate.
Presentation
Engagement
Ask what are ways we can communicate the information we learn? If we wanted to share what we are learning about different jobs, how could we share it? Which ones are the students familiar with? Have students pair up to answer and then have them discuss favorites and why. Gather as a class and share ideas.
oral reports
Google slide presentation (individual create 5 slides)
Class slide presentation each student with one slide to present
create an infographic
create a poster
career pathway maps
If the class has not used some of these presentation methods, choose ones you would like to show and or demonstrate.
Practice
Engagement Enhancement
Students group according to the career field they are interested in.
As a group, decide on group roles: (leader, recorder, researcher, time-keeper-choose the ones that will work best for your group) one person will need to email/share with the teacher group timeline and updates
As a group decide on how you will share your information
Within the career field, select three entry level jobs to highlight in your presentation Ie: medical field: 1) phlebotomist, pharmacy clerk, EMT
Determine how long groups have to research and prepare their presentations.
Evaluation
Engagement Enhancement
Use the document Rubric to Use for Peer Reivew of Slide Presentations.
The class gathers to share the presentations from each of the groups. Students take notes on two things:
what students did well and what they can do to improve their future presentations
After all the groups have presented, students write a paragraph summary of what they learned about the job market in the United States. In a second paragraph, write how you will use this information in your own job search.
Application
Engagement Enhancement Extension
Gather in pairs to discuss conclusions from using the OOH to explore careers. How will you use this resource?
As a class share the conclusions. Why is it important to have current information? Were there any surprises as you investigated? What are next steps?
Understand wages, benefits, employee rights,
and concepts of employee organizations
Language Arts - Reading
Comprehension
Language Arts - Writing
Language Facility
Organization of Ideas
Writing Conventions
Learning and Thinking Skills
Demonstrate ability to use critical thinking
skills
Demonstrate ability to use problem-solving
skills
Demonstrate the ability to use information and
communication technology
Demonstrate the ability to view the media
critically
Reading
Critical Thinking/Decision Making
Employability
Writing
Basic Sentences
Paragraph Skills
View CTE Sectors
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Arts, Media, and Entertainment
Building and Construction Trades
Business and Finance
Education, Child Development, and Family Services
Energy, Environment, and Utilities
Engineering and Architecture
Fashion and Interior Design
Health Science and Medical Technology
Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation
Information and Communication Technologies
Manufacturing and Product Development
Marketing Sales and Service
Public Services
Transportation
View CTE Anchor Standards
Anchor Standard 3: Career Planning and Management - Speaking and Listening Standard: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats
and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems,
evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
Anchor Standard 4: Technology - Writing Standard: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or
shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments and information.
View Tags
career, career investigation, future jobs, Occupational Outlook Handbook, OOH, peer review, project based learning, Rubric for Peer Review of Presentation
View Creative Commons License
CC BY: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as
attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
View Conditions
Copyright
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a Federal government agency and everything that we publish, both in hard copy and electronically, is in the public domain, except for previously copyrighted photographs and illustrations. You are free to use our public domain material without specific permission, although we do ask that you cite the Bureau of Labor Statistics as the source.
Links to BLS.gov
The public domain use of our materials includes linking to our website. You do not need to obtain special permission from the BLS to link to our site.
