Vocabulary
Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards
Common Core Mathematical Standards
Required Project Materials
Multimedia Resources
Before the Lesson/Background Information
Homework from Previous Session:
The Lesson
Part 1: Reading Together (15 mins)
  1. Read One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money with the students.
  2. Make it fun: read with energy and give the characters voices!
Part 2: Shelling out the Goods (15 mins)
  1. Tell the class to imagine an economy without money. They have to trade and barter using seashells.
  2. Have the sellers trade items with each other—their own, or items from the classroom. These can include books, desks, globes, maps, you name it! Everything is up for grabs! Allow the students to practice bartering with seashells.
Part 3: Money Games (30 mins)
  1. In teams, students will play board games to exercise their skills in counting, simple arithmetic, and important concepts like earning, saving, and budgeting.
  2. Save a few minutes at the end of class to review what each team learned. 

Lesson 4: Classroom Sale

Grade Level: K-5 (Adaptable)
Suggested Time: 45-60 minutes
Overview
Students will practice having an old-fashioned garage sale—out of the classroom! Tasks include assessing the worth of items, deciding on a fair price, making change, and bargaining. Students will learn these skills, as well as why buying and selling used and repurposed items is important!
Vocabulary
Objectives
Next Generation Science Standards
Common Core Mathematical Standards

Required Project Materials

Multimedia Resources
Optional Multimedia Resources
Before the Lesson/Background Information
Homework from Previous Session:
The Lesson
Part 1: Reading Together (20 mins)
  1. Read A Bargain for Frances with the students.
  2. Make it fun: read with energy and give the characters voices!
  3. Discuss lessons learned from the book. Why is it important to set a fair price, for both buyers and sellers?
  4. What is price gouging? What is heckling? What is a fair bargain?
Part 2: Classroom Sale (30 mins)
  1. Separate the class into two teams: buyers and sellers.
  2. Have the sellers set the prices of items in the classroom. These can include books, desks, globes, maps, you name it! Everything is up for grabs! Allow the sellers to discuss and argue prices among themselves.
  3. Armed with toy money, it is now time for buyers to buy things! They may bargain to try to get prices they think are fair.
  4. When someone buys something, the seller will need to make change.
Part 3: Discussion (10 mins)
  1. Bring the class back together and discuss what they learned. How easy or hard was it to find fair prices for everyone?
  2. Review the process of making change.
  3. Identify the reasons that people have garage sales. Why is it beneficial to buy and sell used items?Discuss how many usable objects end up in land fills. Buying and selling used items is a form of recycling: it’s called re-purposing items!

Lesson 5: Cartoon Money Math

Grade Level: K-6 (Adaptable)
Suggested Time: 45-60 minutes*