Grade 3 Learned All About Money!

 

Troy MacLellan
Grade 3 Teacher Intern

This week saw the end of the Grade 3 ‘How We Organize Ourselves’ unit of inquiry. The central idea of the unit was “Decisions about money shape everyday life.” As part of the unit and following the lines of inquiry, the students participated in a classroom economy. Their goal was to both experience how people earned an income and learn how to manage money. 

To accomplish this, students were given a list of classroom jobs for which they could apply with a resume and cover letter. Each job lasted one or two weeks and was given to the student who submitted the best application. Not everyone in the class gained employment. In a class of twenty students, there were only seventeen jobs available. In addition to a daily income of $20.00, each job provided a weekly salary of between $75.00 and $225.00, with white collar jobs earning the most money. As a supplemental income source, some students showed their entrepreneurial spirit by creating goods and services to sell to the others. 

To simulate the real world economy, students were provided with various methods to spend their money. They were required to rent desks, chairs, and stationary equipment. Some students chose to do this, while others did not. For six weeks, a small portion of our students chose to sit on the floor rather than rent a chair. In addition to income, the teachers instituted the use of fines. Students paid a monetary penalty for infractions. Lastly, students were able to buy items at Friday’s classroom market and any goods or services offered by their classmates during the week.

To experience managing their money, the students maintained a logbook of all income and expenses. If at any time they had more money than was reported in their logbook, they would lose that money to the bank. If they had less money than was shown in their logbook, the search was on for where the money went. In most cases, the student forgot to log an expense, but in some instances, the money trail ended without answers.  These students discovered that  keeping a well-organized logbook is extremely important.

To finish up the unit, a grade level marketplace was held. As one class set up their shops, offering anything from cookies to slime, jewelry to games, and ice cream to a nail salon, the other two classes shopped and spent the money they had acquired during the unit. After the market was finished, businesses then compared their expenses with their income to determine their profits, if any. 

All in all, our marketplace was a huge success. Yes, there were tears. Yes, there was debt. Yes, there were lots of unsold goods. But in the end, our students learned valuable, real-life lessons. They learned that just because a person applies for a job, this does not mean he or she will get it. One must persuade the employer to hire him or her. They learned that being organized is vital if one wants to keep track of income, expenses, and one’s current state of financial affairs. Finally, our students learned the little expenses add up to a large portion of one’s budget and must be considered when planning finances. The whole unit was an amazing learning experience and the students should be commended for a job well done!