Amanda's Third Grade Guide: Exploring Standards-Based Lesson Plans

I want to teach Early Childhood Education which is grades Kindergarten through 3rd. With that being said I would love to end up teaching 1st grade. The subject area for the lesson I chose is Economics. Although this seems like a tough subject area for 1st graders, this lesson is extremely important to learn at a young age. “Toys for Me” is a lesson of scarcity and choice. Some children have the opportunity to get every toy they want and others have to choose between toys based on if they would play with it or its cost. Students in this lesson must be able to define scarcity and opportunity cost and complete different activities and discussion topics to learn the wants and needs in everyday life.

Some Common Core Standards for this lesson include participating in topic discussions and following rules for the discussion. Students should try and provide examples for this subject and relate it to their lives. With help from their teacher (me) they should be able to answer written questions following up on the topic of discussion. This is addressed in this lesson because students will be learning about wants and needs and then I will start a discussion on how we can use this is our lives. Then I will share stories of others experiences, some written questions and examples on scarcity and opportunity cost, and some online activities to get the children involved.

I would implement this lesson by keeping it present in the classroom even after we have discussed it. I would guide children to go home and maybe donate a toy they are not using or when they go to buy a toy see if it something they really want and will use. One problem I think we will run into is getting them to grasp this concept. At a young age I was not concerned with costs or what toy I really wanted, I just wanted it all and wanted what my friends had. At such a young age I did not really know what the value of a dollar was, I got a one dollar bill when I was on good behavior and we would go to the store and buy candy. Children in 1st grade are not suppose to worry about the parents' money, they just want to play and be a kid. My focus would be to push the idea that choosing between and really thinking about the toys my students buy and whether a child who does not have as many toys could use it more. My hopes for this challenging idea is that children will understand needs and wants. It is okay to want things from time to time, but the amount of use the child gets out of it is also important. I think I would also get in touch will parents to work on this activity with their child and show them how to give up some toys and give to others for things they do not actually need.