Open Wide, Look Inside

Mittens are a great way to keep ourselves warm during the winter. Apparently, in The Mitten, a few wild animals seem to agree! Jan Brett has done a wonderful job of adapting this Ukranian folktale and creating wonderful illustrations to go along with it for us to enjoy. After Nicki’s grandmother knits a pair of new mittens for Nicki, he proceeds to promptly lose one and some animals decide to move in.

While the story may come off as slightly unbelievable, having so many animals all squeeze into such a tiny mitten, it is still a great story to entertain and teach children about economics. There is also great little part of science thrown in, with the mention of different characteristics of each animal, such as “the rabbit’s big kickers” or the fox’s shiny teeth.

Another great aspect of this story is the wonderful illustrations. Every page is completely filled with pictures. There is always the main picture that goes along with the story of that page, as well as two pictures on the sides that show either where Nicki is or where the next animal to come is. Along with these three pictures are beautiful embroidery-like pictures to bring back the Ukranian aspect of the story. Jan Brett also did a wonderful job researching the Ukranian culture and architecture which is obvious in the characters clothing and house.

Curriculum Connections
This story is a great book that can be read to a large age range of students and pertain to a wide range of lessons. It is a great way to approach the economic lesson of scarcity, which covers the Social Studies SOL 2.9 for Virginia teachers. Teachers can also use this book to take advantage of other learning opportunities for students. There are many ideas already out there for teachers to use to correlate this story with fine arts, phonics, math, English, and other subjects.  Also, the story is a great way to present another culture to students, showing the differences and similarities they have with others from around the world.

Additional Resources

• A fellow teacher has already created a blog filled with tons of different ideas to further incorporate The Mitten into multiple venues of lessons for your class.
• Here is another helpful site with some crafts, and phonetic worksheets, as well as more links related to the animals mentioned in the book.
• Have students use the Internet to connect this story to English lessons.
• Make The Mitten into a play or just have some more fun with it by using these animal masks.
• Here is an already created lesson plan on how to teach economics with The Mitten.

Book: The Mitten
Author/Illustrator: Jan Brett
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Publication Date: 1989
Pages: 36 pages
Grades: PreK-2
ISBN: 0-590-44015-2

Many children keep a piggy bank full of coins in the hopes of saving enough money for a special purchase. While they understand the concept of saving their money for future purchases, we often rarely think of where the money travels with each following exchange. Loreen Leedy’s book Follow the Money! personifies coins as their representable presidents as they document their travels with each monetary exchange.

In her book, Leedy uses a cartoon format to demonstrate the exchange paths of currency. Each picture has a caption at the bottom explaining the process of buying a good and receiving change. In addition, Leedy includes cartoon dialog bubbles for the coins who elaborate upon the facts by telling a fun story of the locations they travel with each purchase.

Students will gain a sense of how money continuously circulates with every purchase individuals make. Follow the Money! also highlights the necessary mathematical operations with each exchange. With every purchase Leedy includes the math off making change. The combination of currency information and mathematical calculations will demonstrate the process of exchange of money while still interesting and entertaining students with the coin characters’ tale of all the places they visit.

Curriculum Connections
Follow the Money! can help demonstrate to young readers the concept of continuous monetary movement with each purchase.  In Virgina this book can correlate with the standard 1.9 which shows that people save money for future purchases. While this book targets a younger reader to demonstrate how one coin is used by many people through multiple exchanges, it can also be used above kindergarten and first grade by using it as an introduction of incorporating money into a math lesson.

Additional Resources

• After reading Follow the Money! as a class, students can complete this webquest to further investigate details of our money.
• For additional ideas of introducing to money, teAchnology provides many lessons plans that utilize money.
• The United States Mint offers games, cartoons, and other activities for kids in expanding their knowledge of our currency.

Book: Follow the Money!
Author and Illustrator: Loreen Leedy
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication Date: 2003
Pages: 30
Grades: K-3
ISBN: 0823417948

Would you like to learn how tortillas make their way to your dinner table?

The Tortilla Factory, by Gary Paulsen, is a perfect read-aloud for the classroom in order to teach young students the growth cycle of corn. Paulsen touches on all aspects of the process, from the planting of the seeds to the harvesting of the corn to the shipping of the baked dough. Students will be enlightened as to all the places the tortilla has been and all the people who have made it possible for the tortilla to be a part of the meal. The book portrays the mechanical devices needed,not only  to produce the tortilla, but to bring it to the places where it will be sold. Whether its planting the corn, mashing the dough or transporting the boxes of tortillas, all these different jobs are crucial to the final stop the tortilla makes, our stomachs. However, Paulsen makes it clear that this is a cyclical process, a never ending sequence that will continue as long as their are people to make it happen.

…eaten by white teeth, to fill a round stomach and give strength to the round hands that work the black earth to plant yellow seeds…

With very few words on the page, and simple, earthy, painted illustrations, this read-aloud makes for a great introduction to learning about economics. The process depicted is universal and can be applied to a wide range of agricultural products like berries or chocolate.

Curriculum Connections
This book could be used to explain the differences between goods and services and describe how people are consumers and producers of goods.(1.7)

Additional Resources

• Here is a lesson plan including The Tortilla Factory to teach concepts.
• Watch this You Tube video about how tortillas are made at a real life tortilla factory in Hawaii!
• Have students complete this Consumer/Producer activity.

Book: The Tortilla Factory
Author:  Gary Paulsen
Illustrator:Ruth Wright Paulsen
Publisher: Voyager Books/ Harcourt Brace
Publication Date: 1995
Pages: 26
Grades: 1-3
ISBN: 0-15-201698-8

Have you ever wanted to something so badly, that all your thoughts go into somehow attaining that special treat?  You may have saved and saved your money for days, months, or years, until you had enough money to buy it.  Teaching children how to save is a valuable lesson that they will use throughout their lifetime; saving teaches children hard work, diligence, and to appreciate their possessions.

Author and illustrator of A Chair for my Mother, Vera B. Williams, has created a story that captures the art of saving. The story revolves around a little girl, her mother, and her grandmother as they cope with a life tragedy.  After shopping in town one day, the little girl and her mother come home to see a fire has engulfed their house and ruined all of their goods, including their sofa and chairs.  Their neighbors all help furnish their new home, yet without anywhere to “take a load off my feet,” the little girl, her mother, and grandmother soon come to desire a big, comfy chair in their new home, that they can use to relax.

 Yes, a chair: A wonderful, beautiful, fat, soft armchair.  We will get one covered in velvet with roses all over it.  We are going to get the best chair in the whole world.

Therefore, together the three save all of their money, putting their extra coins into a big glass jar.  The little girl even goes to the Blue Tile Diner where her mother waitresses to earn some money to put in the jar.

 I wash the salts and peppers and fill the ketchups  One time I peeled all the onions for the onion soup.  When I finished, Josephine says, “Good work, honey,” and pays me.  And every time, I put half my money into the jar.

Her mother also puts her tips in the jar and her grandmother buys things on sale in order to add to the jar.   When the jar became so heavy that the little girl can no longer lift it, she helps her mother wrap the coins and exchange them at the bank for dollar bills.  With their money in hand, the three travel to the furniture store in search for the perfect chair.  After hours of searching, they find the chair of their dreams.  Finally, they bring the chair home and enjoy it each day!

Through the use of watercolors, Williams beautifully illustrates the pages of her story.  Using bright imaginative pictures, the story comes alive with emotion, capturing every reader.  Along with the illustrations on each page, Williams outlines the pictures with a corresponding painted border.  The combination of text and illustrations make this book a truly great piece of literature.

Curriculum Connections
A Chair for My Mother serves as a great book to teach several different themes of economics.  By reading about the little girl working at the Blue Tile Diner, children can learn that people work to earn money to buy things they want (Virginia SOL K.7).  The distinct changes in the amount of coins in the glass jar as the story progresses, stresses that people save money for the future to purchase goods and services (Virginia SOL 1.9).  This story is a great introductory piece of literature that can easily be relate to children’s daily lives.  It may be a good idea to have students practice saving as a class; students can  bring in their extra change each week in hopes to buy something that the whole class can enjoy!

Additional Resources

• Check out this lesson plan that re-enforces the importance of helping others.  In this lesson, students will make a card for a family who have just arrived to the neighborhood.  Just like the neighbors in A Chair for My Mother, students will learn to help others in a time of need.
• Use this site to help structure a discussion after reading this book.  A list of comprehension questions as well as other concepts connected to economics are available.
• Looking for more books about savings?  KidsEconBooks offers a list of kid-friendly books that teaches about economics.

Book: A Chair for my Mother
Author/Illustrator: Vera B. Williams
Publisher: HarperTrophy 
Publication Date: 1984
Pages: 32 pages
Grades: K-3
ISBN: 0688040748

Monkey for Sale by Sanna Stanley is a great book for kids about a girl in an African village and her adventures on market day. Luzolo begins with five francs to spend and walks around the market deciding where to spend her money, she thinks about her options and barters for a fair price. After making her purchase, Luzolo meets up with her friend Kiese and they find a monkey for sale at a stand. The girls want buy the monkey and rescue him, but the they don’t have any money left. They then work to trade what they have through a complex series of barters and deals involving many people in the market before they have what they need to buy the monkey.

The story is engaging and kids will love the detailed and bright pictures. The words are big enough too so learning readers can try to read it. Luzolo’s long chain of bartering teaches kids about the economic cycle, how everyone needs something and has something to sell. The book can also be used as a tool to start discussions about Africa and the cultures of Africa or the jungle even. Specifically the story is based on the athur’s childhood in the Republic of Congo. A teacher could use that to start a lesson on the geography of Africa and the Congo area.

Curriculum Connections
Monkey for Sale satisfies the Virginia SOL requirements for first grade 1.8 – the student will explain that people make choices because they cannot have everything they want, and second grade 2.8 – the student will distinguish the use of barter and money in exchange for goods and services. The books introduces cultural themes with it’s African setting and can be used to integrate cultural studies into the lesson. Also, a teacher could plan word problems around Luzolo’s initial allowance of five francs and let kids figure out how to split the money to buy want they want with the right amount of money.

Additional Resources

• Here’s an interesting lesson plan directly planned around the book involving Luzolo’s trading expericence.
• ProTeacher! offers a huge list of lesson plans and class activities centered around Africa and the African culture.

Book: Monkey for Sale
Author: Sanna Stanley
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Publication Date: 2002
Pages: 32 pages
Grades: 1-3
ISBN:  0374350175

The book A New Coat for Anna, written by Harriet Ziefert and illustrated by Anita Lobel, takes place right after World War II and tells the story of young Anna, who has outgrown her old winter coat. As a result of the war, money, food, and other goods, including clothes, are still very scarce and Anna’s mother does not have enough money to buy her a new coat:

Last winter Anna’s mother had said, “When the war is over, we will be able to buy things again and I will get you a nice new coat.” But when the war ended the stores remained empty. There still were no coats. There was hardly any food. And no one had any money.

Anna’s mother must make choices about what she will buy and decides to exchange the few valuable items she has left for the services of a farmer, a spinner, a weaver, and a tailor to make Anna a new coat.

“Anna, I have no money,” she said, “but I still have Grandfather’s gold watch and some other nice things. Maybe we can use them to get what we need for a new coat.”

The story takes readers through all the steps involved in the production of Anna’s new coat. First, Anna and her mother go to the farmer and offer to trade grandfather’s gold watch for enough wool to make the coat. When spring comes, the farmer sheers his sheep and gives Anna’s mother a big bag of wool. Anna and her mother then take the wool to the spinner and offer to give her a beautiful lamp if she will spin the wool into yarn. After receiving the yarn, Anna decides that she would like her coat to be red, so she and her mother pick lingonberries and dye the yarn red. Then they take the red yarn to the weaver and ask her to weave it into cloth in exchange for a garnet necklace. Two weeks later, Anna and her mother take the cloth to the tailor, who measures Anna and makes her coat in exchange for a porcelain teapot.

At the end of the story, Anna proudly wears her new red coat home and shows her appreciation for everyone who helped make her coat by telling her mother that she would like to invite the farmer, the spinner, the weaver, and the tailor to come to their Christmas celebration.

Curriculum Connections
A New Coat for Anna would be an excellent book to use as part of an economics lesson on scarcity, specialization, and/or barter and trade. This book includes numerous details about the producation of Anna’s coat and clearly explains the role of the farmer and his sheep, the spinner, the weaver, and the tailor.  It also reveals the benefits of specialization, as each of these people are able to trade their services for valuable items. The book is simple enough to be read to Kindergartners or first graders but also contains sufficient details to be used as an introduction to a 3rd or 4th grade lesson on scarcity and specialization.

In Virginia, this book relates to social studies SOLs 1.8, 2.8, 2.9, and 3.8, which state that students will

• distinguish between the use of barter and money in exchange for goods and services,
• explain that scarcity requires people to make choices about producing and consuming goods and services, and
• recognize that people specialize in what they do best and trade for everything else.

Additional Resources

• Here is a link to a 2nd grade lesson plan for the story A New Coat for Anna. This lesson focuses on barter and trade and the economic resources used to produce Anna’s coat. It includes lots of discussion questions, worksheets, and activities to go along with story, as well as a class bartering activity.
• This teacher’s guide for the story provides activities designed to help students understand the steps involved in creating fabric from sheep’s wool. Activities include discovering factual information about sheep, weaving a placemat, and dying a coffee filter with food coloring, jello, or Kool-aid.
• The website “Show-Me Economics” contains student activities and lesson plans for a variety of economics concepts for grades K-5.
• You can listen to a terrific podcast review of the book.

Book: A New Coat for Anna
Author: Harriet Ziefert
Illustrator: Anita Lobel
Publisher: Dragonfly Books
Publication Date: 1986
Pages: 40 pages
Grades: K-4
ISBN: 0-394-89861-3

Are you interested in seeing the results that occur when a person does not save as opposed to someone that does?  In Rock, Brock, and the Saving Shocks, written by Sheila Bair and illustrated by Barry Gott, the reader is introduced to twin brothers that have two distinct saving habits.  Learn what happens when one saves and the other does not.

Illustrated by Barry Gott, this book attracts young readers because of its animation like characters.  Gott does a great job at showing kid friend pictures that not only seem realistic but entertaining. Sheila Bair, who is also a member of the FCIC, has extensive knowledge about saving money.  Furthermore, Bair is able to relate all the information that she has learned about money to the younger readers.

The story of Rock, Brock, and the Savings Shock begins with the two twins that are complete opposites. Rock is the cleaner, healthier,  early bird, and studious while Brock is not.  Rock was almost a perfect guy but he loved to buy while Brock like to save his money.  One summer their gramps gave them a dollar and proposed a savings plan.

For ten straight weeks each Saturday,
I’ll give you each one dollar’s pay
to mow my lawn and wash my car.
These simple chores will get you far
because I’ll  do a little trick:
each buck you save, I’ll match it quick!
Spend it- there’s no extra dough,
so save you can and watch it grow!

So Brock saved his dollar while Rock went straight to the mall and spent it.  Rock kept spending his dollar while Brock was receiving double from gramps.  At the end of the ten weeks Brock had saved 512 dollars and Rock had none.  Brock than bought nice things like a telescope, robe, shirt, and a book.  With the 50 left over Brock opened a joint savings account his brother and him.

From that day on the twins saved their money, and when their hair had turned gray they had become millionaires!

Curriculum Connections
Rock, Brock , and the Savings Shock  would serve as a great closer to a lesson about savings.This is a great tool for teacher to use when they want students to recognize that people save money for the future to purchase goods and services this correlates to sol 1.9 Virginia.

Additional Information

• Money Word Problems – The Change Game this online math activities allows children to find out how much change they need or how much change they will receive.
• This Little Piggybank Went to Market This lesson provides students with the opportunity to learn about saving money and banking.  This activity is more appropriate for students in lower elementary.
• The Hundred Penny Box Great lessons for students in upper elementary. The students analyze the advantages of regular saving and how savings grow with compounding.

Book: Rock, Brock, and the Savings Shock
Author: Sheila Bair
Illustrator: Barry Gott
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 32 pages
Grade: K-5
ISBN: 978-0807570944