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Third Grade - Mathematics

 

Activities

Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday

Financial and Economic Concepts: Basic budgeting

(NOTE: If you do not own your own copy of the book check with your school librarian or the public library to get a copy. The book is also available for purchase online.)

Read "Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday" aloud to your students.

Divide the class into pairs, and give each a set of coin manipulatives. Tell them that you are going to read the book again and that they are to remove the number of coins Alexander spends at each point in the story from their manipulatives. When you've finished the book, check to see if any pair still has "unspent" coins.

Hand out a large (12" x 18") piece of paper to each student pair. Ask them to fold the paper into tenths, and then have them draw a box around each of the ten sections.

Read the book again, stopping at each "transaction" so the students can record it on the paper. For example, have students write the amount of money Alexander receives from his grandparents in the first box. Then in the second box, have them calculate how much money Alexander has left after he buys all his gum. Continue this way throughout the story until Alexander has spent his last 20 cents.

Money Cards (pdf)

Cards (pdf)

Worksheet (pdf)

Additional Lesson Plan

Additional Lesson

Allowances & Spending Plans overview
Children in grades three through six are capable of managing small amounts of money. They can divide their money into several categories, including "spend," "save," and "give." At the same time, they can spend their money and keep a record of what was spent.

This lesson provides an introduction to allowances for third through sixth graders. Allowances are the first step to understanding written spending plans or budgets. With guidance managing allowances in childhood, children can become financially responsible adults. Adults with effective budget skills create healthier family relationships and contribute to building a stronger economy.

Teachers and parents can encourage children to keep track of the money that they spend for their needs and wants. goals

Provide practice developing effective spending plans and following where money goes.
lesson objectives

• Recognize how to divide an allowance into a spending plan.
• Learn how to balance income and expenses.
• Gain confidence in preparing spending plans.

Complete Lesson Plan

Student Activity Sheets (pdf)

This activity helps students learn that money is a limited resource.

• Give each student a set of expenditure cards and 15 beans (or similar small objects).
• Explain that the beans represent their allowance (income).
• Ask the students to allocate their allowance to the expenditure categories on the cards by placing beans on squares.
• There are more squares than beans, so students must make choices of where to spend their allowance.
• Each card offers different amounts of spending choices. This helps students consider alternatives within each spending category.
• Discuss the choices they made.
• Optional: After students have allocated their allowance, take away four beans.
• This represents loss of income.
• It forces students to further refine their spending choices.

Music Connection

Bargain Hunter

Financial and Economic Concepts: Basic budgeting

Are you a smart shopper? Find out by taking a trip through the Math Mall!  First look at the column on the left to see what you need to buy. Then figure out which store has a better deal. Write your answers in the last column.

Bargain Hunter Worksheet (pdf)

Music Connection

Basic Weekly Budget

Financial and Economic Concepts: Basic budgeting

After viewing Heather Learns About Earnings and Tim’s Turn to Learn complete the following worksheets on budgeting.

Tim’s Turn to Learn

Heather Learns About Earning

Sample Budget with Questions (pdf)

Then, make your own budget using this form.

Creating a Budget Interactive

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Budgeting Time

Financial and Economic Concepts: Basic Budgeting

Activities for Kids and Money Spending and Saving:
In How to Save, your students learned the potential value of investing. But ice cream and Game Boys can be very tempting. How can kids spend some of their money on items they need and want while still having funds to invest for future use? By budgeting, of course! Have kids practice budgeting money with our ready-to-print reproducible, Budget Time worksheet. In it, students plan and graph how they would allocate a $30 birthday gift.

Extend the article and activity by inviting students to brainstorm some reasons to save. Ask: What things might you need or want to buy in 1 to 2 years? In 5 to 10 years? Are these goals worth saving for?

Teacher Information

Complete Lesson Plan

Budget Time Worksheet (pdf)

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Make a Plan. Start a Budget!

Financial and Economic Concepts: Basic budgeting

Is there something your students want that requires money? Is it a new book, a bicycle, a Gameboy®, a vacation, or something else? Help your students use the planner to figure out how to budget their money and plan for the things that they  want and need.

Student Magazine pages and worksheets:  Make a Plan. Start a Budget! (pdf)

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Future Wants

Financial and Economic Concepts: Basic budgeting

Ask students to carefully consider some future wants and then list the one that they would obtain first.  Have students also list the cost of the item.

Have students pretend that they are getting $2.00 allowance per week.  Ask them to figure out how long it will take before they can have the item they want.

In a class discussion ask students if the item is worth the amount of time needed to save the money to purchase it.  Why?

Music Connection

Writing a Math Story

Financial and Economic Concepts: Basic budgeting

After learning how to add and subtract decimals, the students will listen to Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst, then write their own story that involves adding and subtracting money. Students are required to show their math work.

1. The students will listen as I read Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday.
2. Class will discuss the steps that happened in the story to cause Alexander to not be rich anymore.
3. The students will write their own story either about themselves or a made up character that involves the addition and subtraction of money.
4. Instructor will give them an example: I started with $200 that I got for my birthday. I wanted to buy this really cool CD so I did. It cost $15.95. That left me with $184.05. I had to babysit for my neighbor on Tuesday and I made $12. Now I have $196.05.
5. When students are finished they must turn in their story and show their math work for each step of the problem.
   

The students will be assessed on the accuracy of the math work in the story.

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Four Dollars and Fifty Cents

Financial and Economic Concepts: Loans and borrowing money, including interest, credit card debt, predatory lending, and payday loans

The lesson is based on the book, Four Dollars and Fifty Cents. 

Shorty Long is in debt to everyone; when they start demanding payment, he figures death is the only way out, and fakes his demise--coffin and all. Widow Macrae isn't fooled, though, and sits up all night to watch the body. If Shorty doesn't move by morning, she'll nail the coffin and bury it. And if he does move, he pays up. As luck would have it, a group of on-the-run bandits happen upon the phony corpse and, out of respect, try to close the coffin. But to do so they'll have to trim Shorty's very long nose, and he jumps up to protest. The shocked robbers take flight, leaving their loot behind, and Shorty is saved in more ways than one.

This complete lesson plan has discussion question, worksheet, vocabulary and extension ideas to go along with the book.   Do the worksheets with the class to make it easier for the 3rd graders.

Complete Lesson Plan (pdf)

Worksheet (pdf) - See pages 10 & 11

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