Low-Level Employment Readiness Curriculum

This curriculum was developed for a low-level Employment Readiness class which focused on retail and general job skills. The students in the class had CASAS scores that ranged from 153 to about 195, but the majority of the students were on the low end of that spectrum. If your class is higher, some of the material can be adapted to be more difficult. Many of the hands-on materials used for this class came from the Hubbs Center Bridge Curriculum. A variety of books were also used during this class and are listed within the curriculum grids for each unit.  In addition, the students used computers one time a week.

Students also spent one day a week volunteering at The Alley Shoppe, a free clothing store that is housed in the Arlington Hills Lutheran Church. Activities in class were often aimed at preparing students to be able to conduct hands-on activities and practice during this volunteer time.

Common activities that we repeated in most modules included using pictures to add to our Retail Vocabulary dictionaries; practicing vocabulary and comprehension skills with basic retail picture and word stories; developing language skills with class mingles, dialogues, and songs; practicing vocabulary and appropriate questions/answers through games such as fly swatter and concentration; hands-on activities using classroom and Alley Shoppe materials; and field trips.