Student Start-Up: Create, Make, Sell!

All grades Project 4 weeks

Student Start-Up: Create, Make, Sell!

Eduardo S

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Content Expertise

Effective Communication

Collaboration

Academic Mindset

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Purpose

In this project, students harness their creativity and collaborative skills to identify and address the needs of their classroom community through sustainable product design. By engaging in hands-on activities, such as crafting handmade journals, students apply critical thinking to real-world problems, refining their products throughout the process. This experience encourages them to communicate effectively, both with peers during the co-design stage and with the broader community during the Marketplace Expo, fostering a sense of belonging and self-efficacy as they develop an understanding of practical applications of their academic skills.

Learning goals

Through this project-based experience, students will engage in critical thinking by identifying and understanding authentic needs within their community and designing tailored products to meet those needs. They will refine their communication skills by actively listening, sharing feedback, and articulating their design and sales processes during collaborative and reflective sessions. By co-designing projects, students will exercise effective collaboration, developing the ability to make shared decisions and assume leadership roles. Additionally, students will cultivate an academic mindset by exploring personal themes in product creation, fostering a sense of identity and belonging.

Competencies

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving - Students consider a variety of innovative approaches to address and understand complex questions that are authentic and important to their communities.
Content Expertise - Students develop key competencies, skills, and dispositions with ample opportunities to apply knowledge and engage in work that matters to them.
Effective Communication - Students practice listening to understand, communicating with empathy, and share their learning through exhibiting, presenting and reflecting on their work.
Collaboration - Students co-design projects with peers, exercise shared-decision making, strengthen relational agency, resolve conflict, and assume leadership roles.
Academic Mindset - Students establish a sense of place, identity, and belonging to increase self-efficacy while engaging in critical reflection and action.

Products

Students will create handmade journals using recycled paper, embellished with unique artistic covers that reflect their personal themes or passions. As part of the 'Marketplace Expo,' they will also design booths to showcase their journals, engaging in interactive presentations with visitors. These creations serve to both demonstrate learned skills in sustainability and functionality and address identified classroom needs, thereby fostering a symbiotic product development and selling experience.

Launch

Begin with an interactive ‘Classroom Needs Assessment’ scavenger hunt where students engage in conversations with peers and teachers to identify potential product needs. Each student will journal their findings and sketch initial product ideas. This activity will kickstart their creative thinking and lay a strong foundation for the project, encouraging them to consider how to address real needs within their classroom community.

Exhibition

Students will host a vibrant 'Marketplace Expo' where they set up booths to showcase and sell their handmade journals. Each display will feature the unique themes and passions reflected in their products, inviting classmates, teachers, and family members to engage with the creators. This event provides an interactive platform for students to present their marketing strategies, demonstrate learned skills, and discuss the sustainable crafting processes behind their work.

Learning Journey

Empathize

Students will investigate real classmates’ journaling and organization needs through direct interviews and observations, document evidence in structured empathy maps, and surface assumptions to prepare for defining a focused, user-centered problem.

Days 1 - 3