Day 1: What Counts as an Entrepreneurship Opportunity?

Daily Learning Contract

• Topic: Business Opportunities
• Objective: Students will define entrepreneurship and identify opportunities in several fields, including one field of personal interest.
• TEKS: d(3)(I)
• Demonstration of Learning: Completed Entrepreneurship Opportunity Guide.

Before class

• Print one two-page Entrepreneurship Opportunity Guide per student and collect it at the end of class. If the teacher already has a working private digital annotation-and-collection route, post the same file as an equal option; do not build a new destination for this lesson. Also post licensed FYF p. 221 and pp. 252-253.
• Open the current Irving ISD High School CTE page.
• If using optional FYF p. 254/H&L App Exploration, test the Business cluster launch. The fixed guide remains the complete no-login route.

50-minute flow

1. Start with a decision — 5 minutes

Ask: “A local business can afford one move: advertise, hire, or buy equipment. Which move would you make, and what fact would you need first?”

Students think silently, then each partner gets 30 seconds. Listen for students who separate a preference from evidence.

2. Read the cluster opener — 10 minutes

Use FYF p. 221 to name the work of business analysts, financial examiners, e-commerce specialists, marketers, and entrepreneurs. Scan FYF pp. 252-253 for the workbook's Irving program examples; label them curriculum context, not a promise of current placement or certification. Define entrepreneurship plainly: an owner finds a problem or unmet need, organizes a response, and takes responsibility for the result.

Do not present every self-employed person as successful or every idea as an opportunity. Customer need, cost, competition, rules, and delivery still matter.

3. Read the opportunity examples — 12 minutes

Students read the five fixed examples in the Opportunity Guide. For each, identify:

1. the problem or need;
2. the product or service; and
3. one owner responsibility.

Optional H&L route: students browse the Business cluster for one unfamiliar career. Students do not need exact Hat titles or platform access to complete the lesson.

4. Build the cross-field list — 18 minutes

Students describe four opportunities in different fields, then select one field of personal interest. They write one fact they know and one question they must answer before spending money.

At minute 10, check for four copies of the same business. Prompt with: “What changes when the customer, rules, or work setting changes?”

5. Close — 5 minutes

Prompt: “Your cousin has $3,000 and wants to start a business. Name one field, one problem worth investigating, and the first question your cousin should answer.”

Monitoring and key

Full evidence includes a problem or need, an offer, and an owner responsibility. “Restaurant,” “YouTube,” or “make money” alone is not an opportunity description.

Accept a wide range of fields. Do not score whether the teacher personally likes the business. Score the connection between problem, customer, offer, and responsibility.

Use two laps. At minute 6 of the cross-field list, check that each row names a need and offer. At minute 12, check for four different fields and one owner responsibility per row. If a quarter of the class has four versions of the same business, pause for one contrasting field example, then restart the list. Trim the optional whole-group share before trimming the completed guide or close.

Support and absence route

Use the fixed examples, not memory from prior weeks. Students may complete the entire guide independently from Canvas. H&L is optional; no screenshot or favorite count is required.