Transcripts and academic planning

This lesson teaches students the importance of planning the courses they need to take for college admission, understanding high-school transcripts, and how to calculate a GPA.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Guidance

Provided by College Foundation of North Carolina

Helpful hint

This lesson works particularly well in February as students begin to plan for next year’s courses.

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Learning outcomes

• Students will understand what is printed on a high-school transcript, the importance of their transcripts, how to use CFNC’s four-year planner to keep track of courses, and how to calculate GPA.

Teacher planning

Materials/resources

• “Transcripts and Academic Planning” activity sheet

Activities

1. Hand out the “Transcripts and Academic Planning” activity sheet.
2. Invite volunteers to answer the question, “What is included on your high school transcript?” Most students will know that a transcript includes grades, so ask whether they know what type of grades (does it include interim reports? nine-week grades? semester grades? final grades?).
3. Invite students to refer to the “Transcripts and academic planning” handout, which shows a transcript of a fictional student named Gabrielle Godwin. Review each section of the sample transcript and ask students whether they are surprised by any of the information that is included there.
4. Explain that a grade point average (GPA) is an important part of a student’s transcript because it provides an indication of the student’s academic performance over their entire high school career. If students are unfamiliar with the term GPA, tell them that it is a number calculated by adding points for the final grades that they earn in every course. Ask a volunteer to explain how many points each letter grade is worth. (If your school offers extra GPA points for Honors and AP classes, ask another volunteer to identify how many extra points can be earned.)
5. Ask students to look at the second page and verify that the volunteers’ responses were accurate. Tell students to look at the “Calculate Your GPA” box and ask, “Why does Matt only have a GPA of 3.0 when he earned three As and one B?” (The answer is because he also got a D!) Tell students to re-calculate Matt’s GPA as if he had earned another B instead of a D. Ask a volunteer to share the new GPA and compare it. If you have more than 20 minutes for the lesson then present students with a second scenario, “What if Matt skipped P.E. frequently and got an F in that class? What would his GPA be now?”
6. Using the same “Calculate Your GPA” box, ask students to enter their predicted grades on the lines next to their subjects for the current semester. Next, instruct students to calculate their predicted GPA. Ask the students, “What could you do at this point in the year to get the highest grades possible and boost your GPA?” If you have more than 20 minutes for the lesson, ask students to experiment with how their GPA would be affected if they earn: 1) an extra C, 2) an extra F, or 3) an extra A.
7. Tell students that, although admissions requirements vary at colleges in North Carolina, many colleges do have required courses that they expect all students to take in high school. Inform students that they can make sure that they are on track by using CFNC’s Your Plan of Study. which is found under the “Plan for High School” tab. (Students will need to create a login to create a profile on the CFNC website.) The planner will automatically compare the courses each student has taken with the admission requirements of NC colleges.
8. Quiz students by asking: “What is included on your high school transcript?”