Description
In this lesson, students develop an “entrepreneurship report card” that could be used to determine the strength of a staff’s entrepreneurial activities. They will build on previous knowledge about entrepreneurship in journalism to develop their report card. Then, they will use their report card to evaluate the strength of their own program or hypothetical scenarios.
Objectives
- Students will develop a framework for determining the strength of their entrepreneurial activities.
- Students will evaluate the entrepreneurial activities of others and/or themselves.
- Students will work in teams to create an evaluative tool.
Common Core State Standards
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.1 | Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.4 | Present information, findings and supporting evidence clearly, concisely and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance and style are appropriate to purpose, audience and task. |
| CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1 | Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. |
Length
One 70-minute class period
Resources
Handout: Entrepreneurship entrance ticket
Answer key: Entrepreneurship entrance ticket
Handout: Entrepreneurship report card
Rubric: Entrepreneurship report card
Lesson step-by-step
1. Warm-up — 5-10 minutes
Distribute the entrance ticket and give students time to complete it. This assignment aligns with the Defining entrepreneurship in journalism, Contrasting entrepreneurship and reporting and Entrepreneurship in scholastic journalism lessons and may be adapted to align with other lessons about entrepreneurship you have used in your classroom.
2. Review background knowledge — 5 minutes
Go over the answers to the entrance ticket and clarify any misconceptions students might have about entrepreneurial activities in journalism. If students need a refresher, you might consider using this slideshow presentation from the Contrasting entrepreneurship and reporting lesson.
3. Task review — 5 minutes
Distribute the report card activity instructions and discuss them with students. Make sure they understand the directions for how to develop an evaluative tool (in this case, a report card) and how they are supposed to apply their knowledge once they have completed their framework.
4. Work time — 30 minutes
Give students time to create their report cards in groups and use them to evaluate the strength of their own program or the hypothetical program described.
5. Discussion — 20 minutes
Ask each group to share their report card categories and the grades they gave to the hypothetical or actual program for each, and why. Look for common trends and discuss them as a class. Consider using the lesson Crafting an entrepreneurial vision as an extension activity.
Differentiation
This lesson includes a hypothetical scenario that can be used with less-ready students who may not have enough context to evaluate the strength of their own program.