Excellent Economist
Things were surprisingly quiet during study group today. Of course, it was the kids first day back, and I was their first stop! Normally, they can be a wee bit chatty! Well, maybe more than a wee bit!
The last few weeks we have looked at traditional toys from a variety of countries. Today the students got to choose which country they wanted to immigrate from and what traditional toy they want to sell in their store. We started our business proposal books, and are getting closer to starting our own businesses. I am sure when they are more awake next week they will realize how close we are to the one thing they have waited all year on! With that, I bet they will be more talkative!
11/15/11 Your little economist is learning some very big things, such as what a free market economy is! We will be finishing up this lesson in one of the next study groups, but go on and ask them. Let's see what they remember!
11/8/11 We had a great lesson on taxes today. The lesson started with THE Queen from THE Queendom visiting and taxing students for any and everything. Most of the kids were even frightened to breathe for fear they might get taxed. Two students did not have enough money to pay their taxes and were sent to jail. Checkout their mugshots below. We even had a pretty heated discussion on how people should be taxed. The kids had very strong and different viewpoints which helped them understand why taxes are such a hot issue in our country. I just love, love, love seeing these kids able to grasp the beginnings of economics that even baffles some adults!
11/1/11 Producers and consumers are really cool science words. All these guys and gals know what they mean too! Now, throw in the twist - they are also economic words! Luckily, with a little team work and a few guesses, the kids were able to figure out how these words relate to business. Afterwards, the fun began.
We had a group of producers and a group of consumers. The producers made paper chains (high quality, of course) while the consumers rolled dice. Each time the consumers rolled enough to tally up 100 they earned $5. When time ran out, the shopping started. Third graders go bonkers over paper chains! There was haggling and lowering of prices and, of course, purchasing. Then we flip-flopped rolls and started again.
During our discussion we learned Ian was the most successful at selling chains. He made $9. We also learned quite a few students sold their chains for less than it cost them to make them. Many lost money today.
The important lesson learned besides what producers and consumers do was when selling something you have to price it right. You have to think about how much it cost to make it and how much the people you are selling to might be able to afford.
Be on the lookout for paper chains making it to a home near you! Bonkers, I'm telling you, bonkers!
10/25/11 Today was all about risks in business. The students had a chance to toss a ball into a trashcan and earn a profit. Of course, they had to pay me for every toss! The bigger the risk they took, the bigger the profit! Someone even paid me $50 multiple times to try to earn $100! I was rooting for him, but it just didn't work out!
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| A little celebration after making it in! |
10/18/11 We worked on understanding our "Allowance Ledgers" better. Teaching third graders to keep a balance sheet takes a little practice, but we are definitely getting there! Afterwards, we played Lemonade Stand. (Find it here - trust me, your kids will be begging to play it!) My main goal was to introduce everyone to this game since we will use it in a lesson later in the year, however they loved it so much they begged to play it at Lunch Bunch!
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| Here is a screenshot of Lemonade Stand. This is how it is sitting on my computer until the kids return for lunch! Successful lesson? I'd say so! |
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