Grade 8: Entrepreneurship

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

explain the role of entrepreneurs in economies
describe entrepreneurial skills and attributes applicable to a variety of work environments
generate business ideas to meet identified needs or opportunities

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Entrepreneurship in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Students develop an awareness of how entrepreneurs contribute to society and the skills used in entrepreneurial activity. They examine community ventures and interview business owners or managers.

As a class, brainstorm types of community-service businesses in the local community. Then ask students to prepare a class display depicting the range of services provided and the number of employees and types of location involved (e.g., home-based, mobile unit, retail outlet).
Arrange a visit to a small business, or invite the owner or manager of one to speak to the class. Before the visit, have students prepare questions such as:
- What are your business-related skills?
- How do you make business decisions?
- How did you acquire your entrepreneurial skills?
- What other jobs have you had?
- What costs were associated with starting your business or entrepreneurial venture?
- What sources of funding were available to you?
After students have conducted the interview, ask them to compile profiles of the business-owner's entrepreneurial skills and characteristics.
Have students research entrepreneurial skills and characteristics. Suggest they construct and examine profiles of well-known entrepreneurs and compare these people's skills and characteristics with those identified by their research. Ask students to prepare lists of their own skills and characteristics and identify skills they may need to develop (e.g., leadership, risk management, time management, negotiation).
Illustrate how entrepreneurial opportunities are determined by having students each identify a consumer need or want and list products or services that could be developed or improved to meet this demand. Ask students to determine the stages of product or service development needed to take advantage of the opportunity.
Invite students to perform volunteer activities in the school or community and identify entrepreneurial skills and characteristics important to these activities.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Students learn about the nature of and attributes necessary for entrepreneurship. Assessment should focus on activities that allow students to observe, question, discuss, and reflect on what entrepreneurs do and on various entrepreneurial ventures.

Have students keep journals to describe entrepreneurs they learn about in class and meet in the community. Ask them to identify and record the skills and characteristics of these people. Provide stems such as:
- ___________ was successful at ___________ . The things she did to ensure her success were ___________ .
- Two things I noticed about him that are entrepreneurial are: ___________ . These are entrepreneurial because ___________ .
Following interviews with or research on entrepreneurs, have students brainstorm the steps each entrepreneur took to get from an idea to a product or service. As students contribute ideas, note evidence that they can identify the processes involved in turning a business idea into a business opportunity and finally into a reality. Can they describe how an entrepreneur recognizes a good business idea? Can they identify the kinds of risks entrepreneurs take as opposed to those other people in business take?
Ask students to reflect on their volunteering experience by completing the following sentences:
- What I enjoyed most about volunteering was ___________ .
- What I did best was ___________ .
- Next time I volunteer, I will look for jobs in which I can ___________ , because ___________ .
- Skills I learned as a volunteer are ___________ .

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

Print Materials

Towards Success

Video

Secrets of Selling
Supermarket Persuasion

Multimedia

Exploring Business

Note: It is anticipated that existing classroom and school materials will also be used to support the prescribed learning outcomes until additional learning resources are identified.

Revised: October 29, 1997

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