Type: Middle School

Recommended for grades 5-8

Through learning by doing activities and modern learning tools, students discover the importance of entrepreneurship education in the development of a community and an economy. By analyzing the business models of famous entrepreneurs, learners discover the journey from an idea to a successful business with a positive impact on people's lives.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

Part of JA's national Entrepreneurship Education program, the It's My Business! module aims to develop students' entrepreneurial skills by encouraging critical thinking and carrying out practical activities that help them understand the relationship between the theoretical concepts acquired in school and a successful involvement in the market economy.

EDUCATIONAL CONTENT

The It's My Business! module, made up of six activities that can be carried out in the classroom under the guidance of teachers and business volunteers, uses a kit of educational materials which includes:

• teacher's guide;
• student’s workbook;
• activity sheets.

SKILLS DEVELOPED

• Critical thinking • Decision-making and expressing opinions • Identifying resources and seizing opportunities • Teamwork • Taking responsibility • Creativity and innovation • Connecting school learnings to economic reality

ACTIVITY LIST

1. I’m an entrepreneur
   Through games and interactive tasks, students learn new concepts specific to the entrepreneurial field, such as: entrepreneur, profit, company/organization, product, service, innovation, characteristics of an entrepreneur.
2. I can change the world
   Students discover the brainstorming method, which helps entrepreneurs in coming up with new ideas for products and services, but also in identifying customer needs and how they can be met. They also learn about the skills and knowledge needed to start and run a business.
3. I know my customer
   Students work in teams to learn about the importance of marketing and how to promote the products/services developed by a company. They become familiar with the second characteristic of an entrepreneur– knowing your customer and your product.
4. I have an idea
   Students understand how creativity and innovation, skills required of each entrepreneur, can make a business successful.
5. I have identified a need
   By analyzing business models, students discover what a business plan is and how important knowledge and the four characteristics of an entrepreneur are in the process of developing a business plan.
6. Celebrate entrepreneurs!
   To illustrate the fourth characteristic of an entrepreneur – self-confidence – students create entrepreneurial profile sheets and also identify their own entrepreneurial traits.

As an introduction to JA’s It`s My Business! educational program, we developed the It`s My Future digital module, as part of an Erasmus+ project funded by the European Commission.

The digital module is available HERE.

"It's My Business! is an educational module designed to help students get a taste of starting and running a business while using their critical thinking to acquire entrepreneurial skills. My students understood that in order be entrepreneurs they need to be highly motivated individuals and become experts in certain fields." – Maricica Diaconu, teacher at Mihai Eminescu School, Zapodeni