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Introductory

activities
entrepreneur?

What

is

an

The following activities can be used at several points in the school year, especially in the first weeks of the
course, to help students begin to define a profile of an entrepreneur and to begin to develop their own
personal profiles in relation to entrepreneurship. See page 4 for handout.

Activity 1 | What do entrepreneurs: think, say, feel,


do?
Handout: EN_think_say_feel_do.doc
Time: 30 minutes
Grouping: individual, pairs, small groups
Pedagogy: prior knowledge, group discussion, developing common definitions, assessing growth in
knowledge
The purpose of the activity is to guide students to think about the different characteristics of what it means to
have entrepreneurial spirit. Students brainstorm what they believe are the things entrepreneurs or
intrapreneurs or self-employed people think, say, feel, do.
1. Think could relate to attitude, ideas, self-talk, motivation, etc.
2. Say could relate to words used, expressions, vernacular, communication skills, etc.
3. Feel could relate to beliefs, convictions, motivation, engagement, principles etc.
4. Do could relate to actions taken, approaches, strategies etc.

Classroom implementation possibilities

Use the activity in the first class, asking individuals to complete the profile of an entrepreneur
according to the four categories.
Discuss as a group and begin to build class portraits of intra/entrepreneurs.
A few weeks into the course, ask students to return to the same handout and add, in a different
coloured pen, other attributes they now know about entrepreneurship spirit.
Reflection questions: What strategies did you use to learn more about entrepreneurial spirit? Do you
have entrepreneurial spirit? How can one build entrepreneurial spirit?

Notes:

MELS working document


EN_intro_activities.doc

Activity 2 | Piecing together an entrepreneurial spirit


Materials: paper, glue, business magazines, newspaper, scissors, and markers
Time: 30-45 minutes
Grouping: individual, pairs, small groups
Pedagogy: prior knowledge, group discussion, and own entrepreneurial portrait
The purpose of the activity is to guide students to think about the different characteristics of what it means to
have entrepreneurial spirit. Students create a collage by searching for words and images, which define the
entrepreneurial spirit. Use old magazines, newspapers, free to use images, etc.

Classroom implementation possibilities

Use the activity at any time in the course, asking individuals to create a visual collage that expresses
what it means to be an entrepreneur and to have entrepreneurial spirit.
Groups could compare their collages, circling things they found in common and discussing outliers,
or creating a top ten list of most important traits of an entrepreneur. They could return to this list later
in the course to see if their views change as they take on the development and implementation of an
entrepreneurial project.
Once students complete individual collages, ask them to circle in red the qualities that they
themselves have.
Reflection questions: How am I like and unlike an entrepreneur? Is my profile anything like my
classmates profiles, in what ways? What qualities could I develop and how? What qualities are far
from who I am? Is this problematic for having an entrepreneurial spirit?

NOTES:

Activity 3 | Word Wall


Materials: paper, markers
Time: minutes, throughout the course
Grouping: individual, large group
Pedagogy: entrepreneurial portrait, language, communication
The purpose of the activity is to guide students to think about the different characteristics of what it means to
have entrepreneurial spirit. Throughout the term as students are involved in projects, take a few minutes to
reflect as a group about what makes an entrepreneur, and what it means to have entrepreneurial spirit. Write
one word or phrase on a paper and begin to piece together your Word Wall.

Classroom implementation possibilities

Cooperative team building: periodically create crosswords, scrambled words using the words and
have teams compete. Lead in question: What are you going to do to win? Debrief: roles in a project,
entrepreneurial spirit, language we use to work and encourage others, facing challenges
Encourage individuals to add their own words throughout the course.
Reflection questions: What role did you play in your team today? What role would you like to take on
the next time? How did you contribute to your teams success? What obstacles were faced and how
did you work together to surpass them? What were your strengths as a team member? What
weaknesses as a team member would you like to improve on? How did you determine who was
doing what to help you win the game? Did you discuss potential difficulties? What strategies did you
foresee using as a team if you ran into difficulties?

NOTES:

Profile of an Entrepreneur | Think, Say, Feel, Do

SAY

THINK

FEEL

Do

MELS working document


EN_intro_activities.doc

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