Economics Classroom Resources
Books:
● What is Supply and Demand? by Gare Thompson
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-is-supply-and-demand-gare-thompson/113277
0497?ean=9780778744573
○ This book describes what supply and demand, two central economics concepts,
are in kid-friendly language. It goes into detail about how these concepts are
regulated in an open market economy like the United States as well as discusses
economic competition and government participation. We plan to use this resource
in the classroom by reading it to students to help inform them about these difficult
to understand topics which need to be learned to fulfill standards like 4.E.1.1
which center around understanding the basic concepts of a market economy
including supply, demand, scarcity, productivity, and entrepreneurship.
● What are goods and services? by Carolyn Andrews
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-are-goods-and-services-carolyn-andrews/1112
536493?ean=9780778742609
○ This book will help students understand what goods and services are as well and
who producers and consumers are. The goal of reading will be for students to
understand their role within the economy in relation to goods and services. When
explaining goods and services, the book references jobs that produce certain
goods and services. We plan to use this book in our future classrooms to expose
our students to various careers based on the examples they learn about while
reading.
● Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/alexander-who-used-to-be-rich-last-sunday-b
y-judith-viorst/#cart%2Fcleanup
Read-aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8ONiN5wN8Y
○ This book centers around the story of Alexander, a young boy who doesn't spend
his money wisely. This book is a great resource that we plan to use in our future
classrooms to teach students about spending or saving money as well as the
concept of wasting money. This is a great resource because students will be able
to relate to the main character, who is around the same age as them, and follow
him on his journey of understanding how money works.
● A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/a-chair-for-my-mother-by-vera-b-williams/#c
art%2Fcleanup
Read-aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV1ege3jEFE
○ This book is a great resource which teaches the concept of a long term savings
goal. In the story, a girl, her mother and her grandmother are saving the money
they earn in a jar to be able to buy a comfortable chair after a fire destroys their
belongings. We plan to use this book in our future classrooms to teach students
about sacrifices that have to be made when you have a savings goal and that it
may take a long time to save up for some things.
● If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz
● https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/if-you-made-a-million-by-david-m-sc
hwartz/
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psaNNW1T5vE
In this story, a bunch of different characters perform a variety of jobs and after
they finish, they go to a mathematical magician to help them count up all their
money. Since most children are fascinated by money, this book would serve as a
great resource we could use in our future classrooms that will help them
understand the different relationships between accomplishing tasks and earning
money. Throughout this fun book, children will also explore the mystery of
earning money, saving money, and investing in it.
Websites:
● Wise Pockets: http://www.umsl.edu/~wpockets/schoolhouse/lessons/lessons.html
○ This website includes 13 economics based lessons plans which can be included in
the classroom. The lessons provided are extremely detailed, providing step by
step instructions, and teach economics concepts present in a variety of children’s
books including The Hundred Penny Box and From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs.
Basil E. Frankweiler. We plan to use some of these lessons provided in our future
third to sixth grade classrooms, since those are the grades these lessons and books
are intended for.
● Marbles Kid Museum Financial Literacy Page:
https://www.marbleskidsmuseum.org/educator-resources
○ This website includes a variety of different resources related to financial literacy.
It includes lesson plans, financial based board games students can play such as
Moneypalooza, and word sorts to help students better understand economics ideas
like the difference between goods and services. This website would be a great
resource to use in the classroom since all the economics ideas and games it
provides are extremely engaging and could easily be adapted to multiple different
grades. We especially liked the Moneypalooza game and definitely plan to use
that with our future students to teach the concepts of earning, spending, and
saving money.
● Comparison Shopping Lesson:
https://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/assets/pdfs/lessons/lev_2/2_4.pdf
○ This website includes an activity that has students consider different alternatives
when they are buying products, recognizing the difference between needs and
wants, and recognizing the need to research products before making a decision.
These goals help students understand wise decision making when it comes to their
finances and what they want to buy. If their personal financial resources are
scarcer, they will learn to consider cheaper alternatives and do some research on
different options before making a purchase. This website is so great to use in the
classroom because it provides a real-life application where students are analyzing
ads so that they use critical thinking, rather than wanting to buy everything they
see just because an ad makes it look good. We plan to use a variety of these
activities in our future classroom to help students realize how spending and saving
affect everyday life in a positive or negative way. This resource’s activities relate
directly to standard 4.E.2.
● Resource: Financial Literacy for Kids:
https://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/teach/lesson_plans
Lesson Plan:
https://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/assets/pdfs/lessons/lev_1/1_complete.pdf
○ This resource provides both a teacher and student guide which aligns with many
grades economic standards including specifically the first-grade standard 1.E.1.
The activities were simple but provided enough work to ensure students were able
to gain information by completing the tasks. The students will develop a better
understanding of how money is a factor in “making spending decisions”. The
lesson gives students four different opportunities to see what money looks like
and how money is used, and we plan to use a couple of these different activities in
our future classrooms. The first two activities allow students to color and sort both
paper and coin money. The third activity allows students to choose what toy
would cost money to buy since not all things require monetary payment. The
fourth activity provides questions to check the students' understanding of what
money is used for. This lesson could easily be adjusted to make it more
appropriate for upper elementary school students as well.
● Costs and Benefits of Beans’ Decisions:
https://www.econedlink.org/resources/costs-and-benefits-of-beans-decisions/
○ Through this website’s activity, students will learn how to make decisions using a
cost-benefit analysis. After reading Full of Beans students will look at a series of
statements and decide whether each is a cost or benefit. The concepts that students
practice during this activity will help them learn how to apply a cost-benefit
analysis to their own financial decisions in the future. We definitely plan to keep
the story mentioned on this website, Full of Beans, in mind when teaching
economics in our future classroom.
