LESSON THREE: The Résumé

 

LESSON DESCRIPTION

In this lesson, students complete a personal résumé.

 

GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS ADDRESSED

R3C      Use details from the text(s) to:  analyze and evaluate the author's use of information and logic to express his or her ideas through word choice

W3E     Compose texts for various audiences and purposes, selecting and applying appropriate format, style, tone and point of view

 

LESSON MATERIALS

§         Materials

o        Various sample résumés (http://www.jobs-matrix.com),

o        Computer software résumé wizard or similar program.  If this is not available, the teacher may create a template for this project.  A computer lab is useful for this assignment.

§         Handouts provided

o        Résumé Instruction and Scoring Guide

o        Three sample résumés  One    Two    Three

 

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

 

1.        Pose the following question and discuss with students:  “If you were going to give someone a single sheet of paper with information on it that would get you hired for a job, what information would you want to include?  What information do you think the employer would want?”  Brainstorm possible sections to be included in a résumé.  Generate a list that includes even inaccurate or vague suggestions during the brainstorm session.

 

2.        Using the Sample Résumés handout  One  Two   Three, ask students to reduce the list generated from the brainstorm session to 10 items.  Discuss  why inaccurate or vague suggested items should not be included in a résumé, and then rank order these items.

 

3.        Emphasize to students the following items need to be included on a résumé:  name, address, phone numbers, e-mail address, education (elementary, middle, and high schools), previous employment (including business address and phone number), awards received, hobbies, extracurricular activities (name and number of years), community activities (name and number of years), references (name, position, phone number—with permission).

 

4.        Discuss the visual presentation of a résumé (e.g., font type, spacing, etc).  Based on the samples, introduce various types of résumés discussing various features of each type.   Remind students that items included on a résumé may depend on the type of job, job location, or various job skills required.  Use sample résumés to illustrate differences in appearance and their appropriateness for various job types.  

 

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

 

Using the Job Search Comparison, Nonfiction Text Analysis graphic organizer from Lesson One, students select a résumé format appropriate to the job.  This template may be chosen from a word processing program.  Students create an appropriate résumé for themselves based on the information from Lesson One.  Students save this artifact in their student job portfolio for summative assessment.  Scoring guide provided.