Submitted by Kimberly Kroll

Objectives:

Content:
Students will: -investigate the process of the job search. -identify and prioritize the most important steps in finding a job. -learn about suggestions and strategies to finding a job.

Cultural:

Language: Content Obligatory
Students will: -use the following terms (and others as needed): Vocab ID #V5A superarse matricularse graduarse sacar un título enterarse la beca el sueldo el puesto las oportunidades los avisos la solicitud la cita escoger un trabajo pedir la solicitud llenar la solicitud firmar la solicitud pedir cartas de recomendación pedir una entrevista hacer una cita escribir una carta de solicitud escribir el currículo Vocab ID #V5B el tiempo completo el tiempo parcial el medio tiempo los anuncios clasificados el sueldo el puesto el horario las horas de trabajar los beneficios -use the present tense, reflexive verbs and previously learned language (Vocabulary #V1A, V1B) to talk about characteristics of various jobs (see Lesson 2, #3 (Group task 1)).

Language: Content Compatible
Students will: -use knowledge of cultural norms to write a letter of recommendation for a job candidate in the target language.

Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will: -use brainstorming techniques and previous knowledge/experience to investigate the process of finding a job. -use reading strategies such as prior knowledge of job search/previous experience, cognates and reading for specific information to get information in the target language. -business letter writing skills

Time Frame:

3 50-minute class periods

Materials Needed:

Journal Handout: "Los pasos al puesto perfecto." Handout: "Sugerencias para conseguir un trabajo"

Description of Assessment (Performance Project):

1. Journal writing. As part of my Spanish 3 curriculum, students keep an in-class journal. 2-3 times a week students have 10-15 minutes of in-class journal writing. Students are either given a specific topic on which to write, usually pertaining to a grammatical concept or vocabulary on which we are working in class. I usually start the class with the journal writing, posting the topic on the board. The topic for this lesson could be: Describe your ideal job. Where do you work? What's your schedule? What kinds of activities do you do? What kind of salary do you make? The journal would relate more to job characteristics than to a particular job but students can take the entry where they want. This would be a great self-review of the material from the previous lesson. 2. Divide students into groups of 3 and direct them to choose a recorder, facilitator and a reporter. Provide each student with the handout ìLos pasos al puesto perfecto.î Ask the groups to brainstorm and answer the questions. They should make an attempt to answer the questions in the target language (describe a term if they don't know the specific target language term) but inform them that it's ok to use English as a last resort for terms not yet known. After providing 10-15 minutes, ask the reporters to share their answers with the class and begin the ìdiscussion phaseî. Write all answers provided from the groups on the board or overhead in a list format and introduce the vocabulary for ìthe job searchî (Vocab #V5A & #V5B) as the groups bring them up. After the groups are finished sharing, add any of the vocabulary that wasn't mentioned. Be sure to have the students also take down the information as it is presented on the handout or in their vocabulary notebooks. 3. Give each group a list of activities (in the target language) one may or may not do to be hired for a job. Ask them to rank them in order of importance on a separate sheet of paper. This is a great discussion starter &endash; it's harder than you might think! Here are some ideas: Dar cartas de recommendación Llenar una solicitud Conocer al dueño de la compañía Tener cinco años de experiencia Saber algo del puesto Ser cortés y servicial Conseguir una entrevista Explicar tus cualidades personales Ser inmaduro(a) y desorganizado(a) Querer superarse After allowing 10-15 minutes for students to work, discuss the activity as a large group to see what they ranked as the most important steps to getting a job and why. There isn't necessarily a right answer. 4. Individually, ask students to read ìSugerencias para coseguir un trabajo.î The teacher can give students a set of questions (developed by the teacher to correspond with the reading) to help guide their reading and assess their comprehension. Students may complete this activity as homework if necessary. Following the individual reading activity, involve the students in a discussion of the reading to again check their comprehension and to provide them with an opportunity to use the vocabulary orally. 5. As a class, look at the letter of recommendation. This will be a particularly useful and important discussion for those students who might be in the process of applying for college scholarships. Obtain some samples from the school guidance office and try to find some samples in the target language if possible. The teacher may need to ìcreateî a few letters in the target language to be used as examples. Discuss what information an employer needs from the letter, letter writing techniques and how they may differ from country to country based on cultural norms. Then, as a written assignment, students are to write a letter of recommendation for a fellow student, using the techniques discussed above.

Assessment:

Informal assessment is included throughout &endash; Are the students able to use the new vocabulary related to jobs and job characteristics accurately to write a journal entry? Are they working together and being helpful and respectful of one another? Are students able to accurately answer the questions related to ìSurgerencias para conseguir un trabajo. Formal assessment occurs in the Letter of Recommendation writing assignment. At this point, the teacher may want to do a more formal assessment of students' knowledge of the job related vocabulary in a traditional quiz format.

References and Resources:

Cere, Ronald C., Ph.D. (2000). AATSP Career Education Service; 1998-99 Career Handbook, p8. The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. Activity 3 from lesson is from: Galloway, V., Joba, D & Labarca, A. (1992). ¡Acción! CA: Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. Chapter 3, pp.190.

Attachments:

NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)

Handout: ìLos pasos al puesto perfecto.î Handout: ìSugerencias para conseguir un trabajo.î

A Lesson from the CoBaLTT Project
/cobaltt
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
University of Minnesota