Why work hard in school?

This lesson plan for seventh- and eighth-grade students teaches the importance of working hard and earning good grades. Activities differ for each grade level. They provide a great way to focus students at the start of the school year.

A lesson plan for grades 7–9 Guidance

Provided by College Foundation of North Carolina

Helpful hint

This lesson works particularly well in September as a kick-off to the school year.

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Related topics

• Learn more about career planning, college preparation, and guidance.

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Learning outcomes

• Seventh-grade students will recognize the value of completing schoolwork and earning good grades, understand the purpose of taking classes in different subjects, and learn to calculate GPA.
• Eighth-grade students will learn to recognize the value of challenging themselves and doing their best. They will also understand that dreams for the future can motivate current performance in school.

Teacher planning

Materials/resources

• Handout for seventh-grade: “Why Work Hard in School?”
• Handout for eighth-grade: “Excelling”

Technology resources

• Eighth-grade students will need to create a login on the CFNC website in order to complete all activities.

Activities

Activity for seventh-grade

1. Hand out the “Why Work Hard in School?” activity sheet.
2. Ask students to break up into groups of three or four. Have them make a list of their top five reasons to work hard in school. Ask one volunteer from each group to share the team’s list with the class. Make linking statements about the similarities of different teams’ responses.
3. Before students have calculated the total scores for James and Katie’s grades, invite them to raise their hands to vote for which student’s overall grade is higher. “Everyone who thinks James has a higher overall average, raise your hand.” “Ok, now everyone who thinks Katie’s average is higher, raise your hands.” Once they have raised their hands, have each student calculate the totals independently at their desks. Remind them that to find the average score, they will need to add all the scores together and divide by 10.
4. Ask a volunteer to share James’ total average (68). Call on another student to share Katie’s average (86).
5. Read the statement from the activity about a score of “0” causing low grades.
6. Introduce the next section by saying, “Now let’s talk about the importance of taking classes in a variety of subjects to be well prepared for different careers.”
7. Ask students to write down the subject they would pick if they could take all of their classes in that one area. Have each student turn to a classmate sitting to her left and report what that subject is.
8. Working in pairs, direct the students to circle any subjects they see listed three times in the table of high school classes that were beneficial.
9. Have your students read the instructions for the final activity of listing subjects under the categories and complete the activity.
10. Share with students that many colleges require students to complete certain courses in order to be accepted to college. Remind students that the choices they make every day are becoming part of their road map to college or their future job opportunities; therefore, working hard now is important and worthwhile!

Activity for eighth-grade

1. Hand out the “Excelling” activity sheet.
2. Ask students, “How prepared do you want to be for college and the future?” Tell them that this will depend, in large part, on how motivated they are in seeking out information, developmental opportunities, and extracurricular activities. So how can someone get motivated?
3. Have a volunteer(s) read the scenario of Rob and Chelsea.
4. Ask students to work in small groups to answer the three questions in their activity. Have them designate a leader in each small group who will report their answers back to the class.
5. Have students rate themselves on excelling using the survey in their activity. Ask volunteers to share their results and areas of improvement.
6. Have students think about their dreams for the future and answer the following two questions:
   1. If you could have your choice of any job, which one would you pick?
   2. What would you enjoy about this job?
7. Question students if they know what classes they should take in high school and in college to prepare for their “dream job.”
8. Let students know that the table in their activity lists high school classes that are useful for people entering several different careers. Have them circle any subject that they see three or more times.
9. Ask students if they made many circles. Point out that even though these jobs are very different, people take many of the same classes to prepare for them. Most of these classes are considered “advanced” because you will need teacher recommendations to take them.
10. Have students go to the Learn about Yourself page under the “Plan for a Career Tab” and ask students to explore how who they are matches with careers using the career assessments on the page. Talk with students about challenging themselves (when appropriate) with advanced math classes like Calculus. Review with students the chart on the unemployment rate and weekly earnings on the “Dreams for the Future” part of the “Excelling” handout. Note that the higher the degree a person attains, the less likely he or she is to be unemployed, and the more likely he or she is to earn a higher wage.