Today was market day! Market day is where our growing knowledge of economics comes to life! The students have prepared for this day by creating our class currency, earning their weekly salaries, creating business proposals to sell goods or services, and advertising for their businesses using posters, invitations, and word-of-mouth. Market day takes place on the last Friday of every month. More details about the creation of our mini-economy can be found here. Let's take a look at the fun! Here are some pictures of the students setting up their various booths. Hover over each picture to read a description of that business. Now take a look at the market in action! If you hovered over my picture, you read that one of my items sold out in 3 minutes. This created an interesting economic effect. One student came to me and said that he noticed that item was scarce, as other students wanted one but there were none left. So what did he do? He sold the ones he bought from me at a higher price! This was such a concrete example of an abstract topic we have been discussing this whole unit: the more scarce an item is, the higher the price becomes! After the market was over, and they balanced their account records, it was time for the students to reflect upon how it all went. They spent so much time preparing for this day, and now that they experienced it, I really wanted them to be intentional in their thoughts about what worked, what didn't, and what they will do differently next time. Overall the market was a huge success. I can't wait to see what the next one has in store! I'd like to leave you with the remarks of a very important visitor who experienced the market for herself today. Here is what Mrs. Gettinger had to say: "I was absolutely amazed by the creativity, resourcefulness and maturity that the third graders displayed with the monthly market activity. Their background knowledge of economic principles and the real life experience of filling out a business proposal and having it approved, figuring out their good or service and the requisite planning and production outside of class time all provide critical life skills for these students! Entrepreneurship is so empowering! What a meaningful learning experience incorporating the 21st century skills of communication, collaboration, creative and critical thinking skills and what a perfect class for this project as they are so respectful of their peers and teachers alike. Kudos to teacher and students on this unique endeavor."
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Today we looked at a familiar story in a new way. Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree is a classic story, a favorite of many, and can be looked at through multiple lenses. Perhaps when you first read it you thought of the generosity of the tree and the youthful selfishness of the boy. Maybe the story made you think of the way close relationships change over time. Odds are you never read the book and contemplated the economic elements of the story, but that's exactly what we did today! Instead of reading the story, we watched an animated version that was created and narrated by Shel Silverstein in 1973. You can watch the video by clicking the link at the top of this post. Before listening to the story, the students were given an index card and told to divide it into 3 sections, labeled "G," "S," and "R." Immediately, a few students exclaimed, "goods, services, and resources!" Apparently I'm becoming predictable. As they listened, the students made lists in each category as they heard the elements in the story. The boy sold apples, so apples are a good. The tree was the resource that provided them. The tree provided the service of shade to the boy. The leaves and branches were the resources that made the shade! After reading and discussing these elements, the 3rd graders were given another student's thinking to evaluate. This reminded them of today's learning target, which is "I can evaluate a scarcity situation and defend my opinion." They knew that this next activity would be what today's lesson was all about. The basic question was this: is the tree in the story a scarce resource? Why or why not? They were told that a student named Yaakov says that no, the tree is not a scarce resource. They were asked to pick a side -- either you agree with Yaakov or you don't. Students took time to write out their thoughts individually. Then, I grouped the students based on which side they chose. The sides got together to complete some tasks that would help them synthesize their arguments. Here is what they came up with: Then we had a friendly debate. The students learned that a debate is not an argument, it is a friendly exchange of ideas and responses. The goal is to come away with either a new idea or a more refined version of your original idea. We used a sentence template to frame our responses to keep the debate focused. I was surprised at how well they stuck to the format, and how they really listened to the other side and adjusted their response accordingly.
We ended up at a place where we agreed that in the story only the boy wanted the tree, and the tree was able to give him everything he wanted; therefore, the tree was not a scarce resource. However, economically speaking, the tree would be considered scarce because other people could want the tree's resources and there wouldn't be enough to go around. I have to say, I started out firmly on one side of this debate, and ended up not so sure. What do you think? Today we had a guest speaker!
Rachel Gershman, who works in the advertising industry, came to our class to give us some pointers. We were looking for information on how to better our advertising campaign for our upcoming shirt-making project. One strategy we hadn't thought of before was developing a logo to go along with our business name, Star Shirts. Unfamiliar with our shirt-making business? You can read about it here. Ms. Gershman showed us Canva, an app that makes logo creation easy! This advice also gave students ideas for how to better their advertisements for their own small businesses that they will be running during our monthly class markets. With so many bright, creative students in our class, I can definitely envision marketing and graphic design being viable career options in the future! Now that we have studied economic concepts like resources, scarcity, goods, and services, the 3rd grade is embarking on a new journey -- our own mini-economy! Here's how it works: each week the students rotate through jobs like: door holder, librarian, veterinarian, and supply straightener. At the end of the week the students will receive a salary for completing their classroom jobs. They can earn bonuses for going above and beyond in their jobs, and can lose pay for not doing their best. They will keep track of their earnings and have the opportunity to spend their money at our monthly market. But they must be wise, because at the end of the year there will be a SUPER market, where they can buy more expensive, big-ticket items. In order to make our economy feel authentic, we held a design contest for our class currency. We first studied currencies from around the world to learn how important symbols can be to a community. After building that background knowledge, the students submitted their own designs. The designers got a chance to explain the symbols they included on their currency, then the students took a vote. After a few tie-breakers, the top 4 designs were chosen. These 4 designs became the 20, 10, 5, and 1 denominations. I copied them on colored paper to make it official.
We then voted to name our currency, and the students settled on "millionaire money." Next, we chose a symbol - which looks like an @ symbol but instead of an "a" inside it's an "m" - and our currency was complete! As of this week, students either have m5 or m7 in their bunny bank, depending on the difficulty of last week's job. Our mini-economy does not stop there. No, the students have worked too hard learning about how businesses work to stop there. The final, and perhaps most exciting, piece of our mini-economy is the opportunity for entrepreneurship! If a student would like to earn extra income, he/she can start his/her own small business selling a good or service at the monthly market. A student with a talent for bracelet-making can sell bracelets. A more task-oriented student could start a cubby-cleaning business. Whatever they decide, they must fill out a business proposal and have it approved by me. Then, they must make an advertisement so that the consumers know what products are available for purchase at the market. With such a creative class, I'm excited to see what they come up with! If you are too, keep an eye on the blog! My final note on the mini-economy involves you, the parent. If you have small items or big-ticket items that you would like to donate to the market, please send me an email. The more diverse the market is, the more incentive the students will have to do their jobs well and start a business of their own! As you know, the 3rd grade class has had not just one loving teacher in the room this year, but two! Ms. Silverman, a senior at Butler University, has been with us since August, learning what it takes to be a classroom teacher. Today is Ms. Silverman's last day, and the students have worked hard to make it special for her. First, we wanted to express our gratitude for all the time, effort, and heart Ms. Silverman put into teaching this semester. We decided the best way to do this would be to make a book for her. Each student had his/her own page to write a letter to Ms. Silverman and draw a picture of a nice memory they shared. I've included some examples below. The cover of the book is a picture of Ms. Silverman with the class on Grandparents, Family, and Friends Day. Rachel was travelling that day, so I had to (hilariously) add her in. When discussing what else we can do for Ms. Silverman, Shlomo Moshe had a great idea: "We should make her a shirt!" So we did! The students worked together to come up with the design, and were so happy with the final product. We presented the gift yesterday so that Ms. Silverman could wear it to school today. It was the perfect symbol of our time together. Good idea, Shlomo! In the afternoon, we had a farewell party! We ate treats, told Ms. Silverman our wishes for her, and read her the letters in the book we made for her. All in all, it was a lovely day. We made plans to see Ms. Silverman again next semester and gave lots and lots of hugs. You may remember that last year's 3rd grade class owned and operated their own real-money bracelet business. This year, the 3rd graders are making and selling t-shirts! Our first t-shirt order came at the very beginning of the year. The middle school designed shirts to wear on their retreat way back in August. Because we had a short amount of time to fill this order, I wasn't able to do any documenting for the blog. Our first order was such a success that we recently obtained a new customer! The Schusterman family is celebrating a family member's 70th birthday, and they wanted shirts for the occasion. So how does one go about making a shirt? Here are the steps! STEP 1: PRESS THE SHIRT TO ELIMINATE MOISTURE AND WRINKLES STEP 2: CENTER THE DESIGN ON THE SHIRT AND PRESS AGAIN. HOLD FOR 30 SECONDS. STEP 3: RELEASE THE HEAT PRESS. VOILA! The process may sound simple, but we did encounter some bumps along the way. For example, after spending hours printing the design onto the transfer paper, our first shirt came out with a backwards design! Whoops! I forgot that the images must be printed in reverse. Processing this mistake with the kids gave us an opportunity to discuss loss, a very common occurrence when running a business. Not only did we lose 30 sheets of transfer paper (on which I had printed the designs), but those transfers used lots of valuable ink from our printer, and I lost hours of time! When running a business, one little mistake can cost a lot. Lesson learned for all! Next week we will work on calculating our earnings for this order. Stay tuned to hear what the future has in store for Star Shirts!
Grandparents, Family, and Friends Day is a day worth looking forward to each year. It is such a pleasure meeting those people who are nearest and dearest to the 3rd grade students, as well as visiting with the family members I see often. Thank you to all who were able to go through the scavenger hunt with your child -- it was a meaningful and memorable experience for them. To those who we missed -- I hope you had a restful and family-filled holiday weekend! The 3rd graders are currently finishing up a robust unit on civics and government. Part of what we learned during this unit was who The Constitution states is qualified to run for president, and what unwritten qualities people look for in a president. Studying real campaign posters helped us determine that the people want a president who is trustworthy, energetic, focused, and kind. The students have also finished reading a novel about a character who is campaigning for office (Bad Kitty for President, The Kid Who Ran for President, or NEATE to the Rescue). Another topic of study was the two main political parties, and the basic beliefs of each. Democratic posters taught us the symbol of the donkey, the party color of blue, and the main beliefs of social responsibility, equality, and a powerful government. Republican posters taught us the symbol of the elephant, the party color red, and the core beliefs of personal responsibility, limited government, and lower taxes. With their new understanding of candidates, campaigns, and parties, along with the background knowledge gained from the "pumpkin politics" activity you read about here, the students created their own campaign posters for a fictional candidate. The requirements for the poster were based on what we saw in real campaign posters throughout history: they must represent their party, include a slogan, and communicate something to us about what their candidate is all about. Each student acted as the campaign manager for his/her candidate, giving a brief description of the candidate and the poster, and telling why their candidate is the best person for the job of president of the United States! The campaign posters were then hung in 2 categories, Democrat and Republican. Next, we held a primary election to choose our 2 presidential candidates. When the results came in, the campaign managers got the chance to make their argument as to why their candidate should be chosen. It was now time for the general election. But FIRST, we had to learn about electoral colleges. The students cast their vote, and were then assigned a state to represent. This meant that their ballot would be worth the amount of electoral votes that their state gets. This added an element of suspense and surprise as I added up the votes. As each ballot came in, I represented the votes in various ways, using addition, subtraction, or whole numbers. The students were then tasked with finding the total for each candidate. Even with the random voting and assignment of states, the election came down to just TWENTY ELECTORAL VOTES! I'm sure you can imagine the excitement as the republican candidate was announced the winner. The democratic candidate gave a graceful concession speech, and our new president was equally as graceful, promising to make our country proud.
Our student teacher, Ms. Silverman, led the students through a fun and engaging exercise in politics last month. Read her post below to find out what the students did and how it went! In order to teach the kids more about elections and the political process, we decided to use pumpkins. You might wonder how pumpkins connect to the political process? Pumpkin politics, of course! Students had the opportunity to learn about campaigning and elections, using two pumpkins as our candidates for "Best Pumpkin in the United States." Two students were each assigned to one of the pumpkins and were asked to campaign on its behalf. Students learned about campaigning, and how it is a process where candidates try to convince and influence others to vote for them. Students representing the pumpkins wrote campaign speeches, which they delivered to the whole class. After, the students who presented the campaign speeches "traveled" throughout the room to different states represented by the remaining students, trying to convince the students to vote for their pumpkin. Then, we held a mock election. Before the winner was announced, we made sure to discuss the importance of appropriate behavior, whether the pumpkin candidate they voted for won or lost. Ultimately, it was a very close race. The names of the two pumpkins running in this election were Sir Pumpkin Lo Pumpkinoid and Roaldy. The winner was Roaldy by one vote. This showed the kids how close election races can be and how every vote counts. The kids really seemed to enjoy this experience and gain a better understanding of politics. If you've read the blog you know by now that the 3rd graders are deep into a unit of study about civics, government, and communities. We spent a lot of time learning our rights and studying points in history when people needed to fight for their rights. We came up with a list of rights that we have in the classroom, and used those to develop a class constitution which includes what rules need to be in place to protect our rights. This week we are transitioning to learning more about how the government works, but before we do, I wanted to pause to ask this question: So what? Why are we learning this? What's the big idea? The answer is cooperation. We are studying these topics in order to help us better understand the importance of cooperation in maintaining healthy communities. After all, no community - no family, school, city, or country - could function if its members did not cooperate. To begin our discussion about cooperation, we made a mind map. Students volunteered connections, examples, and definitions of cooperation and added it to the chart. I prompted them to think deeply about the books we've read and the discussions we've had, and to use those as catalysts for understanding all the many facets of cooperation. This mind map will be posted in the room so that we can refer back to it and add to it as we go further in our unit. After thinking all the thoughts we could think about cooperation, we embarked on an activity that would require a lot of cooperation on the part of the students. I began by telling the students that they would now be writing and performing skits. Before I told them what the skits would be about, I had them divide themselves into groups. I told them I wanted at least 2 people in each group, but that they could have more if they wanted. Interestingly, the class divided into two groups by gender. I told each group to pick a number, which they were able to do quickly and with consensus. Based on their number, I assigned the topic of their skits: the girl group was to create a skit showing cooperation, while the boy group was to create a skit showing the opposite of cooperation. Both groups were excited by the task and eager to get started! Observing them as they prepared, it was interesting to see the different ways in which cooperation was evident. From a glance, it would appear as if the girls team was not cooperating. Everyone was loudly shouting ideas and interrupting each other. However, a careful observer would notice that all ideas were being taken into account and put into action. Even though they were talking over one another, everyone's ideas were being heard and respected. Though it looked chaotic from my point of view, they were functioning in a way that was comfortable for them. The boys team was much quieter, and each member had a job delegated to him. However, towards the end of their preparation time, the boys realized they had left one member completely out of the skit. Luckily, they all realized this was unfair and they quickly fixed the problem. It took cooperation not only for the boys to fix the problem, but also for the one who was left out to be willing to forgive and join back in. The final result was two very different but very clear skits. We discussed the two groups' different approaches, and how the team members' working together allowed for a coherent final product to be created. |
3rd GradeLittle people, big minds. Archives
May 2019
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