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Week 6: Be Your Own Boss — Entrepreneurship

3rd Six Weeks | Business, Marketing & Finance Cluster | 5 class periods (50 min each)

Lesson Objective

Students explore the Business, Marketing & Finance cluster through Hats & Ladders, define entrepreneurship using the H&L "Think Inside the Box" subscription box MVP design (Ch 5, pp. 76-78), pitch an investor-ready business idea using H&L "Pitching Investors" (Ch 5, pp. 80-83), build a personal budget tied to a future career using H&L "Lifestyle Snapshot" (Ch 16, p. 269), and complete the Xello Save Careers task. This is the strongest d(3)(I) week of the entire year.

Demonstration of Learning

"I can define entrepreneurship in my own words, design a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for a subscription box business, deliver an investor-ready business pitch as part of a team, build a personal budget that reflects a future career salary, and identify entrepreneurial opportunities across at least 3 career clusters."

TEKS Alignment

  • d(3)(I): Define entrepreneurship and identify entrepreneurial opportunities within a field of personal interest. (PRIMARY, strongest d(3)(I) week of the year)
  • d(5)(D): Prepare a personal budget reflecting the student's desired lifestyle.
  • d(4)(F): Define and identify examples of work ethic, integrity, dedication, and perseverance.

Materials Needed

  • Chromebooks with internet access (1 per student)
  • Hats & Ladders student accounts + H&L Workbook (Ch 5: Business, Marketing, and Finance, pp. 76-83 + Ch 16: My Next Steps, p. 269)
  • BizKids: bizkids.com
  • JA (Junior Achievement): jausa.ja.org
  • Xello student accounts (Save Careers task)
  • Printed MVP Design template (Think Inside the Box)
  • Printed Investor Profile cards (Super Sports Ventures, Eden Culinary Group, Pawsitive Growth Capital)
  • Printed Personal Budget worksheet with DFW cost-of-living data
  • Slide deck or chart paper for the investor pitch

Career Connection

Entrepreneurship is a mindset that exists in EVERY cluster, not just its own career field. Tech startups (IT), food trucks (Hospitality), solo law practices (Law), salon ownership (Human Services), urban farms (Ag), freelance graphic design (Arts): all entrepreneurial. This week ties together entrepreneurship threads from throughout the semester: legal entrepreneurship from 2SW, salon ownership from this six weeks, restaurant ownership from Wk4, sustainable engineering from Wk3, and now business creation as its own discipline.

What is Happening at Irving ISD? Business, Retail Management and Entrepreneurship at MacArthur High School is the primary home for entrepreneurship coursework in Irving ISD. Cardwell Career Preparatory Center also offers a Business Management pathway. Business Management and Marketing is additionally offered at Irving High School and Nimitz High School.

Vocabulary

  • Entrepreneur: A person who creates, organizes, and manages a business, taking on financial risk in hopes of making a profit.
  • MVP (Minimum Viable Product): The simplest version of a product that allows you to test an idea and get customer feedback before investing in a full launch.
  • Investor: A person or company that puts money into a business with the hope of earning more money in return.
  • Pitch: A short, persuasive presentation that an entrepreneur gives to investors to convince them to fund the business.
  • Revenue: The total money a business earns from selling goods or services before expenses.
  • Profit: Revenue minus expenses. The money a business owner keeps after paying all costs.
  • Personal Budget: A plan for managing income and expenses over a specific time period (usually monthly).
  • Work Ethic: A set of values centered on the importance of hard work, reliability, and dedication.

Bridge to Theory (Hats & Ladders)

The H&L workbook (Ch 5) anchors this week with two flagship entrepreneurship activities:

  • Think Inside the Box (Ch 5, pp. 76-78): students design a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for a subscription box business and gather feedback before launch
  • Pitching Investors (Ch 5, pp. 80-83): Career Lab where teams choose a business opportunity (sports app, food business, or pet business), develop a business plan, and pitch to investor profiles

The week also pulls from Lifestyle Snapshot (Ch 16, p. 269) for the personal budget activity, where students connect their future career income to their future lifestyle.

IISD Instructional Strategies

  • Modeling: Teacher pitches an example MVP and business plan on Day 2 before students try.
  • Chunking: Days 1-2 = MVP design, Days 3-4 = investor pitch, Day 5 = personal budget + reflection.
  • Active Monitoring: During the investor pitch prep, ensure each team member has a speaking role.
  • Sentence Stems: "An entrepreneurial opportunity in [cluster] is _, and it requires work ethic because __."

Week at a Glance

Day Focus Key Activities Deliverable
1 Business Cluster + Defining Entrepreneurship H&L Business cluster tour + entrepreneurship discussion across all clusters Cross-cluster entrepreneurship list (5 examples)
2 Think Inside the Box. MVP Design H&L "Think Inside the Box" (Ch 5, pp. 76-78): design MVP and feedback questions Completed MVP design template
3 Pitching Investors. Business Plan H&L "Pitching Investors" (Ch 5, pp. 80-82): choose business, build plan Business plan outline + pitch slide draft
4 Pitching Investors. Pitch Day Team pitches to investor profiles + peer feedback Final 2-minute pitch delivered to class
5 Lifestyle Snapshot Personal Budget + Xello Save Careers H&L "Lifestyle Snapshot" (Ch 16, p. 269) personal budget + Xello Save Careers + 3SW reflection Completed personal budget + saved careers in Xello

Formative Assessment

  • Cross-cluster entrepreneurship list + Mini-Case exit ticket (cousin with $3,000 picks a cluster + business + skill). Day 1, d(3)(I)
  • MVP design + SCR exit ticket (box name + customer + minimum version + feedback question + hardest part). Day 2, d(3)(I)
  • Business plan + pitch slides + Comparison Matrix exit ticket (our plan sections vs. investor wants). Day 3, d(3)(I)
  • Pitch delivery + peer feedback + Trade-off Dilemma exit ticket (polish-slides vs. practice-teammate; work-ethic quality pick). Day 4, d(3)(I), d(4)(F)
  • Lifestyle Snapshot budget + Xello Save + Concept Map exit ticket (career + biggest budget line item + entrepreneurial version + self-as-entrepreneur). Day 5, d(3)(I), d(5)(D)

Summative Assessment

Entrepreneurship Portfolio (3rd Six Weeks Capstone): Students submit (1) the MVP design from Day 2, (2) the business plan and investor pitch script from Days 3-4, (3) the completed personal budget from Day 5, and (4) a one-paragraph reflection answering: "Do I see myself as an entrepreneur? Why or why not?" Scored on entrepreneurship definition and application across clusters (d(3)(I)), budget accuracy (d(5)(D)), work ethic reflection (d(4)(F)), and personal career self-awareness.

Differentiation

Scaffolded Learning

  • Pre-printed MVP template with example product categories pre-filled
  • Investor pitch slide template with section headers ready to fill in
  • Personal budget worksheet with DFW cost-of-living data already entered
  • Sentence stems for the entrepreneurship reflection paragraph

Extensions

  • Build a full year-1 business plan including projected revenue, expenses, and break-even analysis
  • Research a real young entrepreneur (BizKids profile or local Irving small business owner) and present findings
  • Design a full brand identity for your MVP business: logo, color scheme, tagline, business card mockup

ELL Language Support

  • Pre-teach: Entrepreneur = Emprendedor/a, Business = Negocio, Investor = Inversor/a, Budget = Presupuesto, Profit = Ganancia, Pitch = Presentación
  • Bilingual MVP and budget templates with Spanish category labels
  • Investor pitch can be delivered in English, Spanish, or bilingual, many real Texas business pitches are bilingual
  • Pair with bilingual peers during pitch prep