9th Grade — Unit 4: Bringing It Together: Career Research + Analog Mood Board

🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep

Gather/set out: Computer/library access for research (one class period), Magazines, printed images, scrap paper for collage, Poster board or large paper, Scissors, glue sticks, markers.
If today includes physical/hands-on work: make sure the classroom cameras are charged, working, and have a cleared SD card ready for photo uploads.
Print today's student handouts (see 🖨️ Student Handouts below) in the language versions your class needs.
Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.

🖨️ Student Handouts (print, one per class day)

Word + picture + definition + a short writing task for that day's vocabulary, in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Simplified Chinese.

Day 1: EN · ES · FR · AR · ZH
Day 2: EN · ES · FR · AR · ZH
Day 3: EN · ES · FR · AR · ZH

🖥️ Slide Deck (project or share with students)

Short, on-the-board pacing slides for today's Do Now, agenda, vocabulary, and exit ticket -- the full detail lives in the handout above, not here.

🧑‍🏫 Substitute Teacher Guide

A scripted, step-by-step runsheet for today's class -- hand this to anyone covering the room who doesn't know the daily routine.

🎯 Essential Question

How can we visually represent a digital-design-related career using everything we've learned this semester?

📈 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson (3 Days), students will be able to:

Research one career connected to digital design (using the job-title list from Unit 0).
Identify that career's required skills, typical tools, and target audience it serves.
Design a paper mood board that visually represents that career using at least 3 elements/principles of design.

📐 Standards Alignment

CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)

CDOS 1 — Career Development -- students will be able to explain the range of career choices, and identify personal interests, skills, and aptitudes that relate to those choices.
CDOS 2 — Integrated Learning -- students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings.
CDOS 3a — Universal Foundation Skills -- basic literacy, communication, and problem-solving skills required for a career.
CDOS 3b — Career Majors -- knowledge and skills required for success within a specific career pathway (here, Digital Design).

ACP (Adobe Certified Professional) Photoshop Exam Objectives

ACP 1.1 — Identify the purpose, audience, and audience needs for preparing images.
ACP 1.5 — Demonstrate knowledge of basic design principles and best practices employed in the design industry.

🎓 Study this for the ACP exam: Domain 1: Working in the Design Industry

📚 Key Vocabulary

Mood Board: A collage of images, colors, and textures used to define the visual direction of a project or idea.
Career Research: Gathering real information about a job's duties, required skills, and typical day.
Visual Representation: Communicating an idea through images and design choices rather than only words.

🧰 Materials & Tools

Computer/library access for research (one class period)
Magazines, printed images, scrap paper for collage
Poster board or large paper
Scissors, glue sticks, markers

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

Which career from Unit 0's list are you most drawn to right now? Write it down and one reason why.

📤 How You Submit This — For Credit

Your physical projects don't stay in the classroom past the day you finish them -- you're responsible for your own completed work, the same way you'd be responsible for it in any job. The one exception is your class notebook: it has its own designated spot in the room (ask your teacher exactly where), and most students leave it there day to day -- but it's yours, so if you'd rather keep it with you or bring it home to study from, that's your call. Either way, always know where your own notebook actually is. Before a finished physical piece leaves your hands for good: ask your teacher for one of the classroom cameras, photograph your finished (or in-progress) work, then plug that camera's SD card into a classroom computer and upload the photo into your portfolio folder. That uploaded photo, with a short caption, IS your submission for credit -- the photo is what gets kept and graded, not the physical piece.

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week (e.g. every Friday, or your class's last meeting of the week), photograph or save your best finished or in-progress piece from that week into your portfolio folder (a physical folder for now, or a Google Drive folder once one is set up) with a 1-2 sentence caption: what it is, and one skill it shows. In Grade 10 this becomes your Google Sites portfolio -- keep adding to it weekly from here on so you're not trying to reconstruct a whole semester of work at the end.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “Career Research + Analog Mood Board.” This project asked: “How can we visually represent a digital-design-related career using everything we've learned this semester?” I used Mood Board by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence

This lesson spans 3 Days. Suggested pacing:

Day	Focus	Plan
Day 1	Research	Do Now (5 min): which career from Unit 0's list are you most drawn to right now? Mini-lesson (5 min): what to look for when researching a career (duties, skills, audience it serves). Independent research (30 min): research your chosen career and take notes on a graphic organizer. Share (5 min).
Day 2	Plan & Collect	Do Now (5 min): sketch a rough idea of your mood board layout. Mini-lesson (5 min): what makes a strong mood board (images, colors, and textures that work together). Independent work (30 min): sketch a mood board layout and gather/cut images, colors, and textures that represent the career. Check-in (5 min).
Day 3	Build & Present	Do Now (5 min): what's the strongest element/principle connection you're planning to use? Independent build (25 min): assemble your final mood board, deliberately applying at least 3 elements/principles from Unit 3. Prepare (5 min): jot 2-3 talking points. Present (10 min): a 30-second share to a small group.

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Mood board + short presentation scored with a rubric: research accuracy, at least 3 elements/principles applied, and craftsmanship.

Exit Ticket: Name the 3 elements/principles of design you used in your mood board and why you chose them.

📊 Pull up the anonymous Class Check-In for students to fill out before they go.

🧩 Differentiation & Accommodations

English Language Learners: provide translated or bilingual glossaries, visuals, and sentence frames; pair with a peer for meaningful participation. Students with IEPs: provide extended time, step-by-step checklists, and one-on-one or small-group support as specified in each student's plan. Attention-related needs: break the task into smaller steps, use visual timers, and minimize distractions. Students who finish early: extend the task by adding a second design variation, mentoring a classmate, or writing a short reflection connecting today's skill to a career pathway.

🔗 Resources & References

CareerOneStop -- Explore Careers