Standards Correlations

R.1, R.2, R.3, R.4, R.6, R.7, W.2, SL.1, L.4, L.6

Learning Objective

Students will identify cause-and-effect relationships in a story about a teen who started his own business.

Key Skills

problem and solution, text features, vocabulary, sequence of events, central idea, point of view, making connections, drawing conclusions, informational writing

Complexity Factors

Purpose: The article describes a teen’s experience starting his own business. Themes include pursuing goals and overcoming challenges. 

Structure: The story is told in the third person and is chronological.

Language: The language is conversational.

Knowledge Demands: No prior knowledge is required.

Levels

Lexile: 500L-600L 

Guided Reading Level: T 

DRA Level: 50

Lesson Plan: Mason’s Super Idea

Essential Questions

  • What does it take to be an entrepreneur? 
  • How can we adapt to challenging times?

Literature Connection

  • Novel: Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
  • Novel: Payback on Poplar Lane by Margaret Mincks 

1. Preparing to Read 

Make a Connection (5 minutes)

Ask students if they’ve ever thought about starting their own business. What would they sell, or what service would they provide? How would their business be different from others?

Preview Text Features (10 minutes)

Guide students to locate the article. Then preview the text features by asking the following questions:

  • Read the article’s title and subtitle. What was Mason’s super idea? He couldn’t find a job he enjoyed doing, so he decided to start his own business selling hot dogs.
  • Look at the photos of Mason that are included in the article and read their captions. What do they tell you about him? From the photos and captions, we can tell that Mason sells hot dogs and that his family helps him.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

  • Point out the vocabulary box. Read the terms (independent, inspiration, pitch, investors, loyal) aloud and discuss their definitions.
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow. 

Make a Plan for Reading

Before students start to read, walk them through a reading plan:

  • Set a purpose for reading: Tell students that after reading, they’ll identify problems and their solutions in the story. Point out the activity at the end of the story. 
  • Encourage students to pause at the end of each section so they can monitor their comprehension. Prompt them to take note of sentences they think tell them important ideas in each section, as well as any words or sentences they don’t understand.

2. Reading and Unpacking the Text

Guide students to read the article. Once they understand it well, discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (15 minutes)

  • In the beginning of the article, the author gives three examples of jobs that Mason had before starting a food business. Why does she give these examples? What is the main point she’s making? (central idea) With these examples, the author makes the point that Mason didn’t like any of the jobs he had. He had to deal with angry dogs for one job, scrape gum out of cupholders for another, and deal with bugs and snakes for a third. 
  • What were some of the challenges Mason faced in growing his business? How did he overcome them? (problem and solution) Mason’s first challenge was that his cart was too small. He solved this by saving up for a bigger cart. Second, he did poorly in his Shark Tank tryout. Instead of giving up, he tried his pitch on a college president and got the chance to sell food on campus. A third challenge was when people stopped gathering in crowds because of Covid-19. In response, Mason changed his plan: Instead of buying a food truck to drive to crowded areas, he opened a walk-up restaurant where people could safely come to him.
  • What is Mason’s message to other kids who are interested in starting a business? (point of view) Mason encourages other kids to put their hearts into their work. He thinks it’s never too early to go after what you want, even if other people say you’re too young. He also suggests waking up early and going to sleep early to have enough time for schoolwork and relaxing.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

  • The story says that young Mason wanted to be independent. What did being independent mean for him? What does it mean for you?  (making connections) For Mason, being independent meant being able to buy things on his own. For others, it might mean being able to travel independently (not having to ask for rides) or being free to make one’s own schedule.  
  • What are three words you could use to describe Mason? Explain why you chose each one using details from the article. (drawing conclusions) Sample answer: Mason is driven. He had a dream and he made it come true, even though he was young and had not run a business before. Mason is creative. He named items on his menu after superheroes, and he created new topping combinations. Mason is smart. When he saw that his food truck plan wouldn’t work, he changed course and opened a walk-up restaurant.

3. Skill Building and Writing

Learn Anywhere Activity

An enrichment activity to extend the learning journey at home or in the classroom

Your Own Food Cart

Follow Mason’s example to plan your own business.

Watch our video “My Story: Mason Wright.” In this video, Mason describes the steps he took to start his business. If you were to open a food cart, what kind of food would you sell? What would you do to make your business a success? 

First, list the first few steps you’d need to take to start your business. Think about what equipment you would need and how you could get it. 

Next, create a menu for your food cart. Give each food item a catchy name, a short description, and a price. Write the name of your business at the top of the menu. Underneath, write a catchy tagline—a sentence or phrase that summarizes what your business is about.

Language-Acquisition Springboard

Discuss silent letters to boost students’ fluency

Before reading, tell students that they’re going to read about a boy named Mason. Write Mason’s last name on the board and ask students to guess how it is pronounced. Many will likely sound out the name, speaking the w and the gh. 

Explain that in English, many words have silent letters. Some show how other letters in the word should be pronounced, and some don’t seem to serve any purpose.

Let students know that wr at the beginning of a word is typically pronounced the same as r. Write these examples and ask students to say them aloud:  

  • wrap
  • wrench
  • wrinkle
  • wrist
  • wrong
Then tell students that ight is typically pronounced the same as ite; for example, bright rhymes with bite. Write these words and ask students to say them aloud: 
  • fight
  • light
  • might
  • night
  • sight
Now point to Mason’s last name again and ask students to make another attempt to pronounce it. Chances are they’ll get it “right” this time! 

Looking for more ELL support? Download our full lesson plan and scroll to p. 5 to find questions that will help your ELLs respond to the text at the level that’s right for them.

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