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Workplace Essential Skills Training Module

Sample Workplace Essential Skills Lesson Plan #1

Maggie Dunsmuir
Brooklyn Public Library
Brooklyn, NY

Short Lesson

Title

Understanding Charts

Level / Group

Pre-GED class that meets twice a week. Most students have jobs, and just began a unit on visual literacy (charts, forms, tables, and graphs).

The class has about 15 students that come regularly.

Subjects

• job readiness
• reading and writing skills
• organizational skills

Duration

1 hour

Materials

• video #14: "Supplying Information: Directions, Forms, and Charts"
• workbook for program #14 (pp.124-27)
• flipchart

Goals

Learners will:

• learn how to read and understand information on charts (reading),
• think critically about the purpose of organizing information in such a way, and
• learn how to apply the information to create their own chart from information given (writing).

Procedure

1. Pre-viewing activity - Talk about ways people organize information in daily life or on the job, and the purposes these methods of organization serve. Record responses on flipchart.
2. Briefly discuss, as an intro to the video, where they see charts and graphs every day (calendars, food labels, doctors' offices, in the learning center, on TV and newspapers). Intro the video ~ importance of charts in the workplace.
3. While they view the video, ask students to think about how charts are used in this workplace and why they are important.
4. Watch short video clip on using charts in a health clinic.
5. Discuss video clip - how do the charts shown in the video help employees organize information about the patients? How did this improve the functioning of the workplace?
6. Hand out worksheet on charts - look at an example of a time sheet and answer questions about it (find info, find purpose, what information was needed to create it). Then look at a list, and apply info from list into a chart. Discuss why the chart is a better way to organize the information.
   (Alternative or additional materials - bring in a doctor's office chart, or the sign-in sheet for the learning center and use that instead.)
7. Review what they've learned about charts and their usefulness.

Products and Assessment

A follow-up activity might be to have the students create a chart showing how much time they will spend on each GED subject area each day, over the next week.

No formal assessment, except following up on different kinds of charts, and asking about use of charts in their job and if the process became easier for them.

Possible Roadblocks/Solutions

Charts can be difficult, especially for students who have never used them. They may be confused by the way the information is presented, navigating the columns and rows, and applying information from one place to the other. Students might also feel that this is not relevant to their particular job or way of organizing information.

Short Lesson Pilot - Report

Overall, the lesson went well, though I was surprised that only two students out of twelve currently have jobs. Of the others, only a few had ever had a job, though maybe some were uncomfortable sharing that experience for whatever reason.

What aspects of the activity "worked"?

Once everyday use of charts was brought up, people seemed to feel more comfortable sharing their use of them (calendars, sign-in sheets, although very few use calendars!) They seemed more comfortable sharing experience from the non-job realm.

What didn't work?

The video clip I showed was of a health clinic and how they use patients' charts. I might have explained the distinction between the term, "chart," as used in the clinic or doctor's office context, which connotes the entire package of info about the patient, as distinct from an actual chart with columns and rows. Just a terminology issue, but it might have helped to clarify. Also, the clip I showed did not show an actual chart, but showed people talking about how they use them. I chose it because I thought everyone could relate on the level of being a patient somewhere, and the familiarity would add to the experience of hearing true job stories.

Next time, I may try a clip that shows an employee showing the physical chart, with columns and rows to make the connection more explicit or perhaps a minute of each clip.

What parts did you adapt (on the spot) to accommodate learners' needs?

emphasis on daily life skills as opposed to job experience, since only two were employed

How did learners respond to the activity?

They responded well. They seemed very engaged. The only different medium they use in their class typically is the Internet, and that is only for certain students who sign up (due to the setup of our center and the enrollment procedures). I think they were interested that video was introduced into the class context.

Did the activity address your research question(s)?

My questions were largely about application of skills - we know they can read a basic chart, but can they apply it elsewhere, or create their own chart from scratch? Also, how can they apply it in their lives? I gave an example of using the chart for the purposes of GED studies, which seemed to bring it home.

What did you learn/observe?

I observed that some students did have trouble inserting information from a list context to a chart context (only a couple though) and that many students are not immediately looking for a job. So, the life skills application was very important. I also observed that many people did not have set methods of organization in their everyday lives. This is an educational level (pre-GED) that requires more advanced organizational skills, and as their teacher has stressed to me, many do not have methods for this in place.

What would you change or add in future iterations?

I would add more real-life examples, and I would have students create their own chart during the lesson rather than fill in worksheets. I would also show a clip in which a chart was explicitly shown.

Expanded Unit

What goal, theme or topic (explicitly stated or implied in your short lesson) could you use as a foundation for a larger unit?

Methods of Organization - I had wanted to do something focusing on a writing skill, since our program strongly emphasizes the writing process. This would, of course, be integrated with corresponding reading skills. After consulting with the regular teacher of the pre-GED class, I found that her particular group of students has a strong need to work on organizational skills, particularly visual organization. So, I chose the "charts" portion of the Communication and Writing section. Organizational skills are so important as they carry over to students' organization of their studies, and their daily life as well. This unit could focus on ways of organizing to communicate, both in writing (writing with a purpose) and reading (reading for meaning) - charts, forms, lists, memos, and letters. Also, resumes and applications for the earlier stages of the process.

Extension Activity 1

Title - Reading for a Purpose (Video 16)

Purpose - how reading strategies differ for different types of reading

Pre-viewing - how to understand something you don't understand (vocab in context); questions you ask yourself before you read something, during and after that help comprehension

Video - Watch example of working through reading strategy.

Discussion - what worked, what didn't

Activity - Read a letter, memo, and discuss meaning. Write thoughts. Pair up, respond, offer suggestions.

Extension Activity 2

Title - A Process for Writing (Video 13)

Purpose - strategies for tailoring writing for different purposes

Pre-viewing - ways of communicating in writing, examples, strategies, situations where students have had to document events in writing

Viewing - Watch video of situation where employee had to write a letter to concerned customer.

Discussion - How did he decide what to include in the letter? (Talk about purpose, audience, etc.). What was important?

Activity - Give scenarios and have students write about audience and purpose for each or just one scenario.

Extension Activity 3

Title - Writing Memos and Letters (Video 15)

Purpose - to outline in detail the way writing process is used in memo and letter formats

Pre-viewing - writing process used currently by students - what is their order of steps? Discuss purpose, audience.

Viewing - Watch example of employee(s) working through the writing process.

Discussion - What process did they use? What elements did they consider? How do elements change what to include in writing? (This part may be a follow-up, extension activity.)

Activity - Have students draft a letter or memo, using outline of writing process. Pair up?

Extension Activity 4

Title - Finding What You Need: Forms and Charts (Video 17)

Purpose - how to access information in forms and charts

Pre-viewing - Discuss previous experience with forms and charts/strategies for finding information.

Viewing - Watch example of accessing information on chart.

Discussion - How did they find what they needed? What were some physical aspects you noticed about charts/forms?

Activity - Look at examples of charts and forms. (Use real-life materials as well as workbook for this - students may bring in their own.)

Extension Activity 5

Title - Following Directions (Video 18)

Purpose - strategies for following directions in all contexts

Pre-Viewing Activity - How well do you follow directions? What do you need to be able to follow directions successfully? How do you follow directions about something if you have no prior knowledge of it?

Viewing - Watch employees attempting to follow directions on a site plan or diagram.

Discussion - What strategies were used to follow directions? What are the repercussions of not following directions correctly? Also, discuss physical aspects of diagrams/plans.

Activity - Use example of directions (medicine dosage and manuals for constructing something). Students may bring in their own.

Pair students up. One gives directions, the other follows, and vice versa. Writing activity - write out instructions to someone else or write about importance of following directions.