Lesson 15: Is Rafa’s unpaid internship really a job? Printable pages
Print the student pages or the educator pages for this case. Start with your grade band. The educator pages show every student page with sample answers and notes beside it.
Grades 6–8
Task: Sort the internship’s daily tasks into “learning” and “working,” then tell a partner whether it looks more like school or a job.
Students make: Sorted chart plus 3–4 sentences.
One class period: 45 minutes. Full chapter: 87 minutes.
Educator pages
Open on screen Print this case Download PDF, 488 KBStudent pages
Open on screen Print this case Download fillable PDF, 435 KBGrades 9–10
Task: Turn the seven DOL factors into an internship questions sheet and fill it in with the studio’s answers.
Students make: Questions sheet plus 150-word summary.
One class period: 50 minutes. Full chapter: 103 minutes.
Educator pages
Open on screen Print this case Download PDF, 531 KBStudent pages
Open on screen Print this case Download fillable PDF, 413 KBGrades 11–12
Task: Write Rafa a decision memo weighing the offer’s benefits, costs and legal questions.
Students make: Memo, 400–500 words.
One class period: 60 minutes. Full chapter: 102 minutes.
Educator pages
Open on screen Print this case Download PDF, 456 KBStudent pages
Open on screen Print this case Download fillable PDF, 471 KBCollege and community
Task: Write a memo to the campus career center about unpaid internship listings on its job board, using the studio’s listing as the example. Add a one-page checklist students can use before they accept an unpaid offer.
Students make: Memo, 300–400 words, plus a one-page checklist.
One class period: 75 minutes. Full chapter: 110 minutes.
Educator pages
Open on screen Print this case Download PDF, 605 KBStudent pages
Open on screen Print this case Download fillable PDF, 471 KBCourse editions
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Family page
One page to send home: a short summary of the case and three questions to talk about. Nobody needs to share personal stories to use it.
Family page Lesson 15: Is Rafa’s unpaid internship really a job?
In this case, a college student is offered an unpaid summer internship, and the studio says college credit makes that legal. Your student compared the offer with a federal test and wrote questions to ask before saying yes.
Questions to talk about
- What questions would you ask before accepting an unpaid internship?
- How can someone tell whether a role is mostly learning or mostly work?
- Who can help a student check a job or internship offer?
Read the case together: noperowhy.pages.dev/cases/intern-or-employee