This course will achieve rigorous English standards by motivating students to participate in a synergistic experience exploring English together with Entrepreneurship, specifically looking at the exploding entertainment ecosystem of ESports. These three diverse areas of study come together around a unifying theme, the importance of decisions. Through literary character analysis, students explore the decisions the protagonists make as they interact with society and the environment with which they operate. In entrepreneurship, decisions are at the heart of the venture and its ultimate success, so students are introduced to an evidence-based framework, Decision Quality, early in the course so that the language and topic of making good decisions can be woven throughout the course. In the rapidly evolving world of ESports, students engage with the ecosystem of economic activity that is accelerating in real-time as new technologies and cultures empower new developments.
Throughout the course, using the district-approved anthology and other diverse literature, students will read a combination of fiction and nonfiction pieces that reflect the themes and ideas related to both entrepreneurship and ESports. Through these texts and accompanying assignments, students will deepen their understanding of the world around them and expand their skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
STEM connections are embedded throughout this year-long course of study. Students will iteratively develop and refine their conceptual model of entrepreneurship. This work requires that they demonstrate proficiency in evidence-based argumentation as a pillar of effective written and oral communication. Entrepreneurship also requires students to purposefully engage in design thinking practices in order to identify, analyze, and meet the needs of consumers.