Reading for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Fall, 2011

After reading lesson plans in different content areas for third grade, I found a lesson in math using one of my favorite trade books, A Chair for My Mother, by Vera B. Williams. The lesson, Exploring Cost and Savings Using Children's Literature,
incorporates math, social studies, language arts, and technology through four different sessions, in a real world application where students can easily connect their own lives. In the first session of this lesson, students will analyze the plot of the story about a family who loses some of their furniture and personal belongings in a fire but find a way to save enough money to purchase mother a new chair. During the read, students are encouraged to make predictions at certain places in the text and then reflect on their prediction after further reading. I think this a great book for showing students how major purchases, like furniture, need to be planned and budgeted.
Once students have read the book and engaged in discussion about the plot, the teacher leads another discussion on how the family saved for the new chair and other possible ways to save money. Students work in groups to write an opinion paragraph about saving money to buy a replacement item or how to find a lost item. In the third session of this lesson, students choose a piece of furniture they would like to purchase after saving money. I really like this part of the lesson because it connects students to their real world. We all have pieces of furniture that for one reason or another, we would like to replace. This exercise allows students to either use the internet or newspaper advertisements to price a piece of furniture for their family. This is a great way for students to learn the value of money and saving. If possible, parents are asked to take students to a furniture store to compare costs on similar furniture. Students must complete a Cost Comparison Chart using three different retailers. In the last session, students discuss the terms income, spending, and saving while discussing their individual Comparison Charts with the class. Students must then complete a savings plan to purchase the items by listing how much they would save and for how long.
I would like to use this lesson with my guided reading groups rather than whole class.

Michelle Carlson