Lesson Plan Template

School Counselor: Amy Franklin Date: April 2018

Activity: Level 1 High School Awareness
Grade(s): 7th Grade

ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors (Domain/Standard):

Mindsets (5)
Learning Strategies (7)
Self-Management Skills (1)
Social Skills (8)

Learning Objective(s):
1. SWBAT create long and short term goals for graduating from 8th grade.
2. SWBAT become familiar with different vocabularies that link to planning and
applying to attend a level 1 high school.
3. SWBAT participate in a goal-setting environment by the “I HAVE A PLAN!”
sheet and learn about a level 1 high school in more detail.

Materials: Writing utensils, access to computer, Internet connection, overhead

projector

Pre-Delivery:
Before classroom lesson, allow students to take a pre-test to assess how familiar
students are with level 1 high schools.
Pre-test Questions
1. List 3 level 1 high schools that you have heard of or you know that they exist
in the Chicago area.
2. List 3 strengths to qualify for a level 1 high school.
3. What is the first word that comes to your mind when thinking about attending
a level 1 high school?
4. What do you think is the difference between a level 1 high school and a
regular high school?
5. What extra programs are you looking to have when attending a level 1 high
school?

Procedure:
Discussion (20 Min)
Start by asking several open-ended questions such as:
- Who has ever been visited a level 1 high school?
- Can everyone attend level 1 high school? (Most likely they would say “NO”)
then follow up with
- What are some reasons you think people don’t go to high school? Most likely
they will come up with responses like:
- People can’t afford it
- Maybe they aren’t smart enough
- They have disabilities
- They don’t want to
Then the classroom teacher would continue the conversation that 83% of the
eighth grade graduating class admitted to a Level 1 High school. Also there
exists different resources that each level 1 high school can offer for them to go to
level 1 high school or special programs for students with disabilities to where
going to level 1 high school is just needs planning and it’s not a dream. Using
this topic, the teacher would discuss different vocabularies that students should
have familiarities with before attending high school. Then, I will ask each student
to pair up with a neighbor student to use the internet to name at least three level
1 high schools, different programs that each school offers, and reason why they
would want to attend that school.
 .

High School BINGO (20 Min)

From the guided conversations, together we would pull out and highlight the
important words that students should have familiarities with before attending
high school to fill out the BINGO card. Then, we would play High School
BINGO.
Reasons why you want the above words to be chosen for the BINGO card:
Resume – In order to build a strong resume during 4 years of high school, eighth
graders should be thinking of a portfolio to take to schools that they select in
order to identify their strength and weaknesses for building resume.
SAT/ACT – Students should be aware of the following tests: PARCC, MAP, SAT and
ACT. They might want to select a level 1 high school that offers both of these
tests to have more options when selecting colleges/universities or want to pick a
high school that only offers one or other.
GoCPS – It is a website that informs individuals about all the available level 1
high schools in Chicago and students can use this website to apply for some of
them.
Important Dates/Deadlines – Students should understand how important
enrollment and application dates and deadlines are so they can plan accordingly.
AP Courses – For the advanced students, it might be necessary to guide them to
level 1 high schools that offer AP courses to get college credits when attending
college.
Scholarship – For ones who have disabilities or financial needs, it would be
helpful to explain the definition of scholarship and the sources that they may be
eligible for in order to attend level 1 high school.
Application fees – For many schools there exists an application fee to process
their applications. Thus, it is helpful to inform students about it when looking
into schools to plan accordingly.
Community Services – It is important students be aware that some high
schools may require community service hours in order to graduate.
Academic/personal goals/Action plans – In order to pursue their dreams,
each student should have academic and personal goals. Students should be
aware that an action plan will be helpful in order to achieve their goals.
GPA – Students should be knowledgeable about how a GPA is earned and the
importance it has during and after high school.
Personalized Learning – Many schools are implementing different personalized
learning programs so that students can learn at their own learning pace using
different tools. It would be important that they would be aware of the list of level
1 high schools that integrate personalized learning into school curriculum.
STEAM – It is an enrichment program that includes hands on activities using
science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

Goals (5 min)
The classroom teacher would ask them to fill out the I Have A Plan worksheet
as homework to turn in to my mailbox by end of the week. To model, I would
have an example of this worksheet filled out and hanged in the hallway by my
office.
Exit Slip (5min)
Just before it was time to leave, I will have students to take a post-test to
examine level of their mastery about level 1 high school.
Post-test Questions:
1. List 3 level 1 high schools that you have heard of or you know that they exist
in the Chicago area.
2. List 3 strengths to qualify for a level 1 high school.
3. What is the first word that comes to your mind when thinking about attending
a level 1 high school?
4. What do you think is the difference between a level 1 high school and a
regular high school?
5. What extra programs are you looking to have when attending a level 1 high
school?
6. What did you learn from today’s lesson that it was useful or new to you?
7. Is there anything else that you wanted to know more about a level 1 high
school that wasn’t covered during today’s lesson?
8. How did you enjoy today’s lesson? Did you find it useful?

As a follow up to the post-test, on a post-it-note, the teacher will ask them to

write one thing that they learned with the teacher during the lesson. The teacher
would ask students to post it on an easel located by the classroom door.
Plan for Evaluation: Just before students leave, I will be collecting the post-test
sheet by the door as they exit the class. Perception data will be collected using
the discussion time, BINGO, goal setting, and also the post-it-notes on the wall.

Process Data: At least 80% of 8th grade students will complete “I HAVE A PLAN”
sheet.

Perception Data: At least 90% of students will be able to name three strengths
to qualify for a level 1 high school.

Outcome Data: Graduating students accepted to a Level 1 High school will

increase by 2%.

Follow Up: The following academic year, the counselor will meet individually
with each student to talk about both their goals from the “I HAVE A PLAN” sheet
and names of selected high schools to discuss for an easier transition to high
school.