Lawn Boy, by Gary Paulsen, focuses on a young boy who receives his grandfather’s broken-down riding lawn mower for his 12th birthday. What starts out as a boring summer activity quickly becomes an entrepreneurial endeavor as a full-time lawn mowing business that takes Lawn Boy on a journey he’ll never forget! Supply and demand, labor laws, and investing, these are all part of Lawn Boy’s summer experience. This lesson is designed to introduce students to the concepts of both entrepreneurship and the stock market.

Participants utilize Quizlet’s Flashcards for vocabulary, watch the “Stock Market Whiz Kid” video, do a “Could I be an Entrepreneur?” quiz, read Lawn Boy, track stocks for 10 days, and do a pop-up character sketch.
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Cross-curricular keywords: ELA, Art, Math

Lesson Objectives

  • Understand the concept of entrepreneurship
  • Analyze the role of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in our economy
  • Recognize how the stock market works
  • Recognize how the stock market plays a role in personal financial management
  • Understand how the stock market impacts our economy
  • Understand the value of saving and investing

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Reviews

Tiffany K. April 28, 2026

Rated 5 stars