Lesson Plan #3: Integrating Language Arts & Social Studies Grade: 3rd Social Studies Strand: Economics

Submitted By: Aaron Clay

EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social Science Nevada State College Spring 2014 Instructor: Karen Powell

Lesson Plan #3 - Economics

B. Summary of the Lesson Plan:

submitted by: Aaron Clay

This is a third grade economics lesson focusing on trade and income earned in St. Louis during the 1800s. Pages 150 through 157 will be used from the textbook Social Studies: Communities which is published by Houghton Mifflin. C. Basic Information: Grade Level: 3rd Time to Complete this Lesson: 50 minutes Groupings: Small groups and whole group

D. Materials:

Paper Pages 150 through 157 of the textbook Pencils

Crayons or coloring pencils Premade and laminated pictures of craftsmen, entrepreneurs, and professionals found

in an American city during the 1800s.

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2014

Karen Powell- Instructor

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Lesson Plan #3 - Economics

submitted by: Aaron Clay

Handouts explaining the importance of each respective career, average income, and

how they made a profit.

Pictures of daily life in St. Louis during the 1800s.

Tokens used in place of money A list of goods and services sold in St. Louis during the 1800s as well as the appropriate

price.

Notecards for each student E. Objectives: o NV State Social Studies Standards o E9.3.4 Demonstrate an understanding of income and give examples. I can explain how settlers in St. Louis made a profit and income from selling goods and services.
EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 3

Student-Friendly Standards

Nevada State College

Lesson Plan #3 - Economics

F. Vocabulary

submitted by: Aaron Clay

Goods- are things of value that people buy or sell to each other for money. Service- work that one person performs for another such as a barber giving you a haircut. Entrepreneur- a person who takes a risk starting a business in which goods or services are sold to other people. Profit- is the money left over after paying for the cost of running a business.

G. Procedure: 1. I would begin by explaining to the students that much like today people in the 1800s had to earn an income to buy the things they needed or wanted. Next I would tell the students that people either sold goods or services to earn a profit. For the purpose of our lesson profit and income can be used interchangeably even though they are not precisely the same thing. 2. Prior to reading the chapter I would review the vocabulary with the students. I would go into more detail about how profit and income are related. For example the amount of profit earned in a year by a craftsman would be his income while the money left over after paying for materials to build a product would be the profit earned. 3. On page 151 I would point to the map and ask the students to think about why St. Louis is a good place to build a city. Next I would have the whole class read the first two pages of the chapter with me. I would then ask how rivers helped with travel and the trade of goods. The vocabulary strategies on the margins of the teachers edition would be used to reinforce vocabulary words as the class progresses through the reading. The next idea I would stress would be the wagon builder making a profit pictogram on page 152. To ensure that the students understand what profit is I would give them a new making a profit problem to solve. Once the students are able to solve the new problem on paper I would give them a number of wagons built in a year and ask them to multiply the profit by that number. After the students come up with the correct dollar amount for this problem I would tell them that this would be the annual income of a craftsman who builds wagons. 4. During the last part of the whole group reading activity I would ask the students to envision themselves as either a person willing to settle in St. Louis or someone who would continue traveling west. Next we would read the story about the Boone family and the Fitzgerald family that begins on page 154. At the conclusion of the reading I would have the students present ideas about why it might be desirable for the Boone family to stay in St. Louis. (The answer I would prompt them towards would be that Joseph Boone could earn profits or an income from selling horses or mules.) 5. For the next part of the lesson I would have the students draw an advertisement for a good or service that might be provided in St. Louis during the 1800s. I would have a list of goods and services sold during that time period along with the appropriate price and picture. The students would then think up ideas to help their sales with pioneers or locals. The students would be given 10 minutes to draw their advertisement, write down a sales slogan on the advertisement, and think of at least one selling point for potential customers. The students would be divided into small groups based on the similarity of
Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 4

Lesson Plan #3 - Economics

submitted by: Aaron Clay

their goods and services. Each small group would represent a specialty market that would sell to visitors from other groups. Each group would get a chance to be buyers while the others would use their advertisements and selling points in order to encourage the buyer. Token money would be used to make purchases. At the end of the market game the students would be given a cost for their good or service so they could calculate the profit made. They would then be told to multiply this by 365 to get an annual income. The students would then take all paper with their calculations or notes and staple them to the back of the advertisement they drew. Name and date would be added as well. H. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding? I will use informal assessment by watching the student perform profit and income calculations. The advertisements, market game, and calculations will all be used in concert with each other in order to measure student understanding. This will be presented as a role playing game to encourage engagement and provide verbal as well as visual proof of understanding. Through completion of this assessment students will prove that income is derived from the sale of goods and services. Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. The advertisement drawing proves the student knows a good or service must be sold to earn a profit. The profit to income calculation provides written proof that the student has a rough idea what income is and how to prove it mathematically. I. Closure: Ok class today we learned how settler in St. Louis during the 1800s earned income through the sale of goods and services. If you have any questions about this concept please write them down on your notecard and place them on my desk.

J. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? I believe that the vocabulary portion will be the easiest part for me to teach. Im a technical person by nature so terminology is one of my strong suits. If a student doesnt quite understand one explanation of a term its pretty easy for me to explain it in a different way. 2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? The calculations for profit and income will likely present the most difficulty. Many students dislike math and may try to avoid doing this part. Other students might have a math specific learning disability so the use of manipulatives might be necessary to help them count out profits and income. 3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson?
Nevada State College EDEL 453 - Spring 2014 Karen Powell- Instructor page 5

Lesson Plan #3 - Economics

submitted by: Aaron Clay

I will follow up this lesson by addressing the questions that the students write down on their notecards. This will mitigate any misunderstandings as well as show the students that they input on the lesson. Next I would integrate this lesson into the math class which would be right after social studies. The math class would be used to extend the economics lesson as well as to address multiple standards across two disciplines. Half of the math class would consist of word problems that utilize the trading of goods and services from the 1800s. 4. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? First I would have to identify at what point the student began to struggle. Next I would have to simplify the process to increase the chance of the student understanding the concepts. If simplification doesnt work perhaps using visual aids or alternate methods that play to the students learning style. Overall the best adaption would be to integrate options for multiple learning styles so that struggling students can more easily grasp concepts. 5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? I might have to cut out the part where the students draw their advertisement, think up sales strategies, and play market. If there are behavior problems or a disruption during class this would have to be cut to save time for instruction. 6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? I would say that two things tie for being the most difficult part. Work has really worn me down this week and I couldnt seem to decide where to start my lesson plan. Just picking a standard to combine with an appropriate strategy took me too long. Perhaps if I had been less tired and able to concentrate better this lesson plan might have actually been finished much earlier. 7. Explain the strategy from Integrating Language Arts & Social Studies that you included in this lesson plan. I used strategy 19 in which students engage in a sell it approach. This strategy depends on the use of a product image, its description, its benefits, and information about its price. On page 140 the strategy has the students picking a product of their choice and creating an advertisement for it. Figure 19.1 on page 142 gives a visual of this. Essentially the students are crafting an advertisement appropriate to the time period and this results in a real world practical application of economics. The activity further engages the students by using art to make it fun. The specific activity I chose is appropriate for 3rd through 5th grade.

Nevada State College

EDEL 453 - Spring 2014

Karen Powell- Instructor

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