3rd Six Weeks | Business, Marketing, and Finance | 5 class periods (50 minutes each)
What students do
Students use the Find Your Future “Million Dollar Idea” process to find a problem, generate possible businesses, test two ideas, and make an evidence-based decision. They turn one idea into a short venture brief, pitch it, and explain how preparation, integrity, dedication, or perseverance showed up in their work. The week ends with a personal budget built from one current Dallas County scenario and the required Grade 8 Xello Scholarship profile task.
Learning target: I can identify a business opportunity, test whether an idea is worth pursuing, explain my decision, and build a personal budget that does not spend more than the available income.
Students are successful when they can:
- define entrepreneurship in their own words;
- identify an opportunity in a field they care about;
- generate at least 10 possible ideas without judging them too early;
- compare two ideas using problem fit, customer choice, and build challenge;
- make a supported Move Forward, Needs Work, or Abandon It decision;
- contribute individual evidence to a venture brief and pitch; and
- revise a monthly budget using the correct source labels.
Standards
- d(3)(I): Define entrepreneurship and identify entrepreneurial opportunities in a field of personal interest. Days 1-5.
- d(4)(F): Identify and apply professional characteristics such as work ethic, integrity, dedication, and perseverance. Day 4.
- d(5)(D): Prepare a personal budget that reflects a desired lifestyle. Day 5.
Source package
- Find Your Future p. 221, Business, Marketing, and Finance opener
- Find Your Future pp. 234-237, “Million Dollar Idea”
- Find Your Future pp. 252-253, workbook district context
- Find Your Future p. 254, optional H&L App Exploration
- CCE Entrepreneurship Opportunity Guide
- CCE Million Dollar Idea support and catch-up packet
- CCE Venture Brief and Individual Pitch Record
- CCE Dallas County Living-Cost Planning Guide
- CCE Personal Budget and Xello Scholarship Plan
- CCE Entrepreneurship Portfolio rubric
- Xello Scholarships Guide and official 2:02 student video
Licensed workbook and Xello materials stay in the locked Canvas course. H&L remains an optional cluster-exploration route; no student needs H&L salary data to complete the week.
Important source notes
The workbook jumps from Step 5 to Step 7 on p. 237. Nothing is missing.
FYF remains the student-facing district curriculum. The current Irving ISD High School CTE page is a dated teacher cross-check, not a replacement student answer key. As of August 10, 2026, it lists Business Management at Cardwell, Business Management and Marketing at Irving and Nimitz, and Business, Retail Management and Entrepreneurship plus Real Estate at MacArthur. If a public-page label differs from FYF or H&L, name the difference for the teacher and verify it locally; do not make students reconcile competing sources. Do not promise a certification, placement, or course sequence from either source alone.
The Dallas County guide uses the MIT Living Wage Calculator’s one-adult/no-children scenario, updated February 15, 2026. It is a living-cost estimate, not a starting salary, guaranteed pay, or tax calculation. Students use the fixed scenario so the lesson measures budgeting rather than web-search speed.
Week at a glance
| Day | Focus | Student evidence | Time-protected interaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | What counts as an opportunity? | Four cross-field opportunities, personal definition, one question to verify | Workbook opener; H&L optional |
| 2 | Problem and idea sprint | Problem statement, 10-12 ideas, top two with reasons | Licensed workbook pages and support packet |
| 3 | Stress-test and decide | Two-idea comparison and supported call | Workbook stress test; short Canvas practice check |
| 4 | Venture brief and pitch | Group brief, individual speaking record, one evidence-based peer note, work-ethic response | Live, recorded, or written pitch route |
| 5 | Budget and Scholarship profile | Balanced revised budget, revenue distinction, Xello completion report | Required Xello Scholarship profile, 20 minutes |
Assessment plan
Daily exit checks are formative. Do not create five separate grades.
Formative/recovery portfolio: the 16-point Entrepreneurship Portfolio combines each student’s opportunity definition, idea test and decision, individual venture/pitch evidence, and personal budget reasoning. The group’s idea and attendance do not determine the individual score. “Abandon It” earns full credit when the evidence supports the decision.
The 3SW assessment map already places three minors and two majors. Keep this Assignment ungraded unless a teacher intentionally uses it as a major reassessment/replacement. Scholarship profile completion is checked through Xello and is not scored for the student’s personal answers.
Teacher setup
- Put the paired Teacher and Student pages in one chronological Canvas module.
- Post the six CCE PDFs. FYF is the default on Days 2-3. Print the four-page support packet only as the no-workbook or enlarged-scaffold route, never in addition to the workbook.
- Open the licensed FYF pages and Xello Scholarship guide before class. Day 1 uses FYF p. 221 and the embedded pp. 252-253 district context; p. 254 is the optional H&L extension.
- Test the official Xello video on the student network; the embedded guide is the equal text route.
- Prepare a visible five-minute timer for the idea sprint and a 90-second timer for pitches.
- For Day 4, print Venture Brief pp. 1-2 once per team and pp. 3-4 once per student. Use the written or recorded route when the number of groups cannot fit, or for absence, anxiety, speech-language support, or scheduling problems.
- For Day 5, print Budget Plan pp. 1-2. Print p. 3 only for the no-device Xello directions or catch-up check.
Accessibility and language support
- Required directions stay visible on the Student page; disclosures contain only optional help.
- Students may type, handwrite, dictate, or use an approved audio response when the same evidence is present.
- Idea generation may use English, Spanish, or both. Final scoring focuses on the idea and reasoning, not English mechanics unless meaning is unclear.
- Tables use row and column headings and do not rely on color.
- Every long response has full-width writing space sized to the sentence demand.
- No student posts a business idea, budget, or scholarship-profile answer publicly.