Third Grade: 2014

I wanted to add a post of past projects my class has done for my colleagues and peers to see.

Family Business Economics:

For our economics unit students were assigned to a 'family business' team. Throughout the project the families had to earn money together by doing their classroom jobs together. The money went into a 'bank account' which was posted and tally marks were their dollars. The family was fined of they did not do their jobs for the day. They had to decide what their family name was and came up with some pretty funny names. They also sat at the same tables together for the unit. This was an even bigger lesson in teamwork. It was very difficult for them to make decisions together and work together. They were each given a packet that was like a first grade level business plan. They needed to think of a business that could produce a product that people would buy. The money they earned through the weeks helped them buy business supplies to make their products. They had to make a product with the resources we had like paper, glue, glitter, staples. They were not able to bring things from home for at no cost to the business. They ended up with bookmarks, journals, fans, paper airplanes, and art pieces. They had to set a price that the consumers could afford. Each day they worked on their products and advertising.

During the unit we took a field trip to a grocery store that is in walking distance. The store gave us tours behind the scenes so we could see how their business ran and what occupations people had. While at the store the families had to find a meal and price it for only $20. They once again had to decide together and realize $20 didn't go very far when they had to feed 6 people. Many groups chose steak for dinner (haha!).

The final day of the unit was the family marketplace where the producers got to sell their goods. Their tallies became cash, and it was what they had left after they bought the supplies to make their products. Some groups realized they spent a lot of money on supplies and had little to spend.

In the end the kids absolutely loved this project. They looked forward to it everyday and were completely invested and engaged in the project. I feel they gained real experience in how business and money works AND teamwork!

Living Historical Figure:

Another project we did was a living history project. Each student was assigned a historical figure. They researched it and wrote about their life.

After researching, they wrote drafts and also typed their report. We also used feather pens to sign their paper, since that's how they would have done it! Next, we started practicing our speech (from our typed research) to tell others about who we are in our living history museum.