In our Business Venture course at North Junior High, we have included a lesson on franchising as an entrepreneurial option. This EconEdLink (part of Thinkfinity) online activity serves as a precursor to our Business Plan unit as it provides an engaging method for students to learn more about franchises that they are already very familiar with and excited about. Check out this Cold Stone Creamery link at Entrepreneur.com to see what my students discover.
Here is the teacher link.
Here is the student link. I provide the worksheet in Activity 3 as a handout to be completed as an assessment.
I have also used this Word file (converted to a Google.doc) to reinforce what students have learned about franchises.
In my first two years at North, I have found this lesson to be a successful learning experience for my eighth and ninth graders but I would like to move it up to a higher LoTI level. My experience indicates that this multimedia lesson is currently at Level 3 as it involves online research with an effective progression of tasks. The Activity 3 worksheet involves comparison and analysis.
3 comments:
I think this looks like a great activity. I agree that it is currently a level 3 activity. The hard part is always finding a meaninful way to bump the activity up a level. Students could each create a presentation that they need to give selling their franchise as the best choice for your community. Cities have planning commissions that approve new businesses, and your students could sell their "new business". I think the difficulty is how to make this authentic instead of make believe. I think part of level 4 is that it can't be just for the teacher. Do you have a community member who would come to your classes and decide which person sells their new franchise best?
I had actually done some personal work into starting my own business several years ago, but ran into some road blocks and then decided that I didn't have the time to invest while trying to raise my family single-handedly. Having students interview current business owners and talking to the City Manager are two ways to bump up the level on your LOTI. One other possibility is to talk to college professors that teach business courses at a university who could lead the students. Students could also create their own business and present it at a City meeting.
Shari
I agree with comments from Kris and Shari that if you can involve community members it will increase the authenticity of the project. I recently learne that banks are required to put in so many hours of community service so you may be able to get someone from a bank come to your class and explain how they decide to loan someone money based on their proposals.
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