During elementary school, children develop an awareness of the world around
them and who they are in relation to others. We can capitalize on their
burgeoning self-awareness by promoting their curiosity about careers and
exposing them to the world of work.
More and more states are adopting K-12
career readiness standards to ensure students can confidently identify, and
develop, meaningful life goals so they can become productive citizens, leaders,
scholars, and innovators. Why have career readiness and 21st century skills become
such a focus for educators, parents, employers, and policymakers?
The world has changed and schools are making changes
to adapt to the demands of a competitive,
knowledge-based, technology-driven society.
Schools like yours recognize that it's essential to set the stage now to ensure
young learners gain the self-awareness, skills, and knowledge needed to succeed
in life, whether that means attending college or starting a job.
Launch your young learners into a universe of possibilities with Kuder Galaxy,
the career awareness system for pre-k through grade five students.
Rooted in the Holland Theory of Vocational Choice and grade-specific career readiness themes,
the system lets students in each of these grades step foot on six planets,
each representing a different work environment. Galaxy also introduces
students to 120 careers that help
students think beyond their neighborhood.
Galaxy helps broaden young learners' job vocabulary as it expands
their view of their future. Galaxy enables young learners to uncover their
individual interests, develop a sense of self, and use relevant information to
explore different careers. It also helps them learn how what they're doing in
school connects to what they could do later in life. Galaxy leverages the power
of play through an interactive space-themed platform that allows students to
learn through videos, games, and activities. Characters like astronauts,
aliens, and space creatures promote equity by avoiding common assumptions
about gender roles prestige — and occupational stereotypes.
Not only that, multiple languages, audio narration, plus a desktop and tablet-
friendly design, make exploration easy.
Here are the themes for each grade and
the related learning targets. Pre-k students learn what work is and how it
differs from leisure.
Kindergarten students learn what people do at work,
and the great diversity of work tasks.
First graders learn why people work,
why societies need workers, and how work can be satisfying.
Second graders learn about the tools and skills
that people use at work.
Third graders learn where and how people work,
how individuals have unique interests,
and the types of skills that are essential for various types of work.
Fourth graders learn how to prepare for work, as well as the types of education
and training that occupations might require.
Fifth graders learn about occupations of interest
within the Holland work environments.
Let's take a look at what a kindergarten student sees
when they log into Galaxy. The theme for
this grade level is "What do people do at work?"
Kindergarteners are greeted by
Gazer the Star, commander of the Gazer Basecamp.
Gazer helps students discover
the great diversity of work tasks that exist, such as communicating, interacting,
and administering. Gathering and evaluating information, data processing,
physical activities, and more.
Let's look at what a third-grade student sees when
they log into Galaxy.
Here, third graders are greeted by Voyager, commander of the
Voyager Basecamp.
The theme for third grade is "Where and how do people work?"
This theme's learning target is for students to recognize that individuals
have unique interests, and to be able to explain the importance of essential
workplace skills.
An astronaut invites students to begin each of their six
missions in a sequence based on the Holland work environments which are
known as "Realistic," "Investigative," "Artistic," "Social," "Enterprising," and
"Conventional," or R-I-A-S-E and -C work environments, which form what's known as
the Holland Hexagon. Students work through the mission by watching a video,
playing a game, and completing an activity.
After students complete each
mission, they earn a badge like this to reward their work,
creating positive associations about the world of work and the motivation to keep
learning. They can also view their "I" Statement which affirms that they have
reached a specific learning target for this mission.
Now let's look at what a
fifth grade student sees when they log into Galaxy.
Here, fifth graders are
greeted by Communicator, commander of the Communicator Basecamp.
The theme for the fifth grade is how to learn about occupations.
This theme's learning target is for students
to focus on how to learn more about occupations of interest,
and to continue to develop knowledge and familiarity
with the six Holland work environments.
Parents and guardians can easily access Galaxy's parent resources
by going to the Galaxy homepage and
clicking "For Parents" below the login area.
The Galaxy Parent Guide offers grade-specific
career awareness goals, student learning objectives,
descriptions about the system's activities,
and tips on how to engage their children in varying
topics of discussion.
The Galaxy Parent Guide also offers parents suggestions
for offline activities and ways to increase career awareness.
Galaxy's administrative interface allows for tier administrative access,
including state, district, and school levels.
State level admins can manage their own accounts,
establish and manage frameworks and standards, and align standards to a
framework, activities, games, and "I" statements.
They can also access and manage a list of districts
and use the "View" button to emulate accounts at the
district, school, and classroom levels.
This is where a school-level administrator
can create a list of classrooms.
Let's look at a few of the Galaxy admin features.
"I" Statements in Galaxy are student-centered activities,
competencies, or objectives that address standards such as college
and career readiness requirements.
Galaxy offers flexible tools to map content to state
or local standards, customize "I" Statements to keep students on track,
and more. For example, these may include social-emotional learning (SEL),
"The Leader In Me," and state or local counseling standards.
Align your state or district's "I" Statements and standards to existing
games and activities to track the learning targets identified by your
school or district.
The Galaxy admin menu item called "Academics" offers the
ability for admins to map local frameworks and standards to games,
activities, and "I" Statements.
Let's look at how admins can manage student accounts.
The process begins with the "Get Mass Student Upload Template" button.
Admins can populate the template using the column headings. Then, click on the
"Mass Student Upload" button and attach a saved template file to complete the process.
Next, the admin provides each student
with the usernames and passwords created in the template.
Students can then sign in by clicking on
the appropriate link on a custom landing page
or at galaxy.kuder.com.
A student status report can be downloaded for each student using the
menu buttons in the student list.
Galaxy is easy to implement. Galaxy can be
blended across a student's learning experiences by using classroom hours and
media lab time. In 40 minutes or less, students can complete a planet which
includes watching a video, playing a game, doing an activity, and earning a badge.
Galaxy's flexible, segmented content makes it easy to implement,
build an entire class session or unit,
focus on segments in a classroom station or center,
or complete a planet each month.
So many possibilities to support the needs of any school, class, or teacher!
The Kuder client engagement team is ready to
help you with any of your support needs.
Plus, we offer flexible training packages
to meet your needs and set you up for success.
Helping students shoot for the stars has never
been easier — or more affordable —
than with Kuder Galaxy.
Make Kuder Galaxy your early career awareness solution.
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