For my rotation, I am only required to do two lessons for Agriculture, so that is all I will write about on this page. You are welcome to use these materials if you are also teaching these lessons. I also teach two lessons in Information Tech, but haven't included any plans for them because I follow them pretty exactly as given. They are REALLY good lesson plans, I think.
Agriculture
Charting Agricultural Careers
First of all, this lesson requires at least one copy of the newest copy of Food and Farm Facts magazine. I ordered a classroom set back in August, and FINALLY received them by mail about a month later. You can order them here. I found them to be worth buying for the class.
Today's Meet
I started off the class by having them login to "Today's Meet." It's a great little website that allows you to create a temporary chat room. The kids sign in with their actual names. I tell them that I will be printing a copy of the transcript, and anything inappropriate will be noted and I will subtract money from their bank account for every inappropriate comment. That shuts them up, and they do fine. Anyway, I gave each of them the Farm Facts booklet, and told them to look through it--not necessarily in order. Any time they ran across something they didn't know or was interesting to them, they were to type it in to the chat room. It was fun watching them discover new things about agriculture, and this way, they had a reason to find something worth reading because they wanted to share it.
Agriculture PowerPointUsing information gleaned from the lesson and the Farm Facts booklet, I created a PowerPoint about Agriculture as a preparation for the next part. It includes a fun clip from Over the Hedge about how humans "Live to eat" that went over very well! It also includes an explanation of different types of graphs.
This is as far as I got on Day 1. On Day 2 they will actually create graphs and charts.
Agriculture Graphing Assignment |
The directions in the assignment tell the students to just create a graphic, but 7th graders need a bit more direction than that! Although the assignment lists websites where they can make graphics online, I chose not to use them because 1) they all require a login and 2) this is a great opportunity to teach graphing in Excel!
I created an Excel starter sheet with data already ready to go. I used data from either the Farm Facts booklet or from the USDA website, so all of it is accurate and about agriculture. They make five different types of graphs. I have the full step by step instructions as well as the starter and key ready to download below. They also will be putting pictures into some of the graphs to make "pictographs" so everything needed for that is also included.
I added a video you can download that takes the student through the assignment step by step. Really great for kids who are absent. It's a silent video--just goes through the whole thing. It's about 6 minutes long.
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Find Your Future Career
This lesson had a lot of resources to draw from, but I had a hard time turning it into a cohesive lesson. There were a few things I left out--mainly the 7 bags full of stuff. Apparently you can order these bags from the Ag department, but I did not know this, and even if I had I don't think they are worth the expense for the small role they play in the lesson.After several quarters of teaching this, this is how I teach it now:
1. First, I have 50 numbered cards that I put out on the table when they first arrive. Kids come in and choose a number. Then I have kids choose a second number until the are all gone. You can get my number file here free if you want them.
2. Next, I hand out the career cards one at a time to their numbers. i want the kids to be familiar with all the job names. They come get their card and put the number back on the table. I remade the cards that came with the lesson--now they are smaller, updated, and include a salary. You can download them below. I printed them and laminated them and they work great.
3. Then, I read the story provided. It's in the document below. The kids have to catch on that it's their job. if they do--I pay them$300 in KASH.
4. In the document below this, there are also pages that list all of the OTHER careers that are no in the story. It has each career and a short description. i print those on cardstock and slice them up and keep them in an envelope. Then, i draw out 12 of them randomly and read off the definition. if kids catch on that it's their job, i pay them.
5. Next we play the Find Someone Who game. The worksheet is at the bottom. Pass it out to all the students. They go around and find someone for each description. They write the name of their JOB, not their name, and they cannot write the same job twice, though if they have two jobs they can write down each job on one paper. If they get it completely filled out I pay them $500.
This is a great lesson for a sub. I have given this to subs many times and it works out great.
1. First, I have 50 numbered cards that I put out on the table when they first arrive. Kids come in and choose a number. Then I have kids choose a second number until the are all gone. You can get my number file here free if you want them.
2. Next, I hand out the career cards one at a time to their numbers. i want the kids to be familiar with all the job names. They come get their card and put the number back on the table. I remade the cards that came with the lesson--now they are smaller, updated, and include a salary. You can download them below. I printed them and laminated them and they work great.
3. Then, I read the story provided. It's in the document below. The kids have to catch on that it's their job. if they do--I pay them$300 in KASH.
4. In the document below this, there are also pages that list all of the OTHER careers that are no in the story. It has each career and a short description. i print those on cardstock and slice them up and keep them in an envelope. Then, i draw out 12 of them randomly and read off the definition. if kids catch on that it's their job, i pay them.
5. Next we play the Find Someone Who game. The worksheet is at the bottom. Pass it out to all the students. They go around and find someone for each description. They write the name of their JOB, not their name, and they cannot write the same job twice, though if they have two jobs they can write down each job on one paper. If they get it completely filled out I pay them $500.
This is a great lesson for a sub. I have given this to subs many times and it works out great.
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