Basics
- Project TitleFuture Quest Island - "Do Now" Activities - For College and Career Cove - Storywriting: Everything I Needed to Know...
- ThemeCareer Awareness Activities - Building awareness of career skills
- Submitted ByFuture Quest Island / Institute for Community Inclusion
- OrganizationFuture Quest Island / Institute for Community Inclusion
- Brief DescriptionThis writing activity is based on the online Future Quest Island program. In the Future Quest Island program, students sail to and visit Future Quest Islands, visiting places called College and Career Cove, Social Sanctuary, and About Me Mountain. In this activity, students write about career skills that are developed through everyday activities.
- Materials / ResourcesBased on the Future Quest Island program. (Note: Writing prompts could be adapted for other projects.)
-
Web Link: Future Quest Island
Key Questions
- Key QuestionsWhat are some of the career skills that are developed in day-to-day life?
Units / Activities
- Writing Prompts (students select one // compare stories)1.) Introduction
2.) Everyday Skills: Math Problems
3.) Inventing Simple Machines
4.) Research and Information
5.) Fighting off Pirates
6.) Creativity and Design
7.) Thinking Like a Scientist
See Attached Worksheet or Activity Sheets -
View/Download File: Storywriting Prompts (Everything I Need to Know...) [Word] [Word]
- Follow-up DiscussionMake the point that the everyday skills you develop while you are young, through school, community activities and work, will be valuable when you are building your career. Many adults with interesting careers say that the skills they learned when they were young are still valuable. They learned more in high school, college and on-the-job, but many of the basic skills came from early in their life. Practical lesson = as much as you can, use your skills in your everyday life. Just like in the writing prompts, be open to opportunities to use math in daily life, make simple inventions, do research about something interesting, be creative, think like a scientist, etc.
Activity Sheets
- Everything I Needed to Know I Learned on Future Quest Island
WRITE A MINI-SHORT STORY OR CARTOON about everyday skills that sailors learn. When successful professionals and business owners are interviewed about their careers they often say that they learned everything they needed to know for their career early in their life, when they were working on a farm, or working in an ice cream shop, or working in their family's restaurant, or from learning to sail a sailboat.
In this activity, you'll write a series of mini-short stories or cartoons about "Everything I Needed to Know I Learned on Future Quest Island." Here's an opening paragraph. Use this as a writing prompt to write the first page of what will become a series about what you can learn from being a sailor at sea......
"Hello! I'm ______________. You asked me how I became so successful in my career. Well, everything I needed to know to get started in this career, I learned in my youth, in my days as a sailor from Future Quest Island. I learned how to work with other people. How to work with numbers to solve problems. How to use tools and machinery on-board the ship. How to gather information that I need. How to fight off pirates. Let me tell you some stories."
- Everyday Skills: Math Problems
WRITE A MINI-SHORT STORY OR CARTOON about sailors from Future Quest Island working on a math problem. Here's an idea to get you started:
"Get me a pencil and some paper!" said the captain. "We can figure this out." A group of sailors were sitting on board the ship trying to solve an interesting math problem. When they were sailing they had discovered a small island they had never seen before. They were curious to figure out the area of the island....
- Everyday Skills: Inventing Simple Machines
WRITE A MINI-SHORT STORY OR CARTOON about a sailor from Future Quest Island inventing a simple machine. Sailors often invent simple machines to solve problems on-board the boat. They might invent a device to measure wind speed or to figure out the depth of the water. They might invent something with a rope and pulleys to lift boxes from the lower decks to the upper decks. They might invent something for cooking food using the heat of the sun. They might invent a clothes washer-dryer that uses sea water and sunlight to wash and dry clothes. Here's an idea for starting your story.
"Hi ____."
"Hi ____, I haven't seen you since our days on Future Quest Island!"
"Good to see you!"
"I heard that you have been really successful since you invented ________. How did you get the idea to invent that?"
"Oh! I first thought of it when we were on Future Quest Island. Let me tell you the story...." - Everyday Skills: Research and Information
WRITE A MINI-SHORT STORY OR CARTOON about sailors on Future Quest Island gathering information to learn about a nearby island they have discovered. Imagine that you and some of the other sailors were sailing one day and found an island that you had never seen before. You land on the island and you see plants, birds and animals that you have never seen before. You want to learn more so you will need to do some research. Here is a writing prompt you could use if you want.
"I've never seen anything like this before!"
"I wish my Aunt ___ could be here. She knows the names of all kinds of birds and plants."
"Hmmm.... these aren't like anything we have back home. What are they?" - Everyday Skills: Fighting Off Pirates
WRITE A MINI-SHORT STORY or CARTOON about what you learn from fighting off pirates. Being a sailor teaches you lots of useful skills that you can use in other careers back on the mainland. How to talk to people you meet as you travel around the world. How to fight off pirates. Here are a few lines you can use for a story starter if you want.
"Hello, my name is _____________. I own a small company today, with many people working for me. I need to be a good judge of character to decide who to hire and who to trust. I need to work closely with other people to solve problems. I need to be good at understanding people. In my youth, I was a sailor on Future Quest Island. I learned a lot from fighting off pirates....."
- Everyday Skills: Creativity and Design
WRITE A MINI-SHORT STORY or CARTOON about sailors on Future Quest Island using creativity to design their huts on the island. Here are a few lines you can use for a story starter if you want..
"Hi ______. This hut is amazing! You have so many great things in your hut that I've never seen in stores back on the mainland. Tell me how you did all this."
- Everyday Skills: Thinking Like a Scientist
WRITE A MINI-SHORT STORY or CARTOON about learning how to observe and understand weather patterns. Here are a few lines you can use for a story starter if you want.
"Hi, my name is ______ and I work as a scientist. As a scientist, I need to be good at paying attention to nature and noticing patterns. I first learned to think like a scientist back in my youth, when I was a sailor on Future Quest Island. As a sailor, you need to learn to watch the weather, look for clues and notice patterns. Let me tell you a story about that...."
.png)