{"id":1840,"date":"2009-10-22T11:04:03","date_gmt":"2009-10-22T16:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/1840"},"modified":"2009-10-22T11:04:03","modified_gmt":"2009-10-22T16:04:03","slug":"teaching-economics-with-childrens-literature-the-big-buck-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2009\/10\/22\/teaching-economics-with-childrens-literature-the-big-buck-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Economics with Children’s Literature: The Big Buck Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If you’re\u00a0in search of a book to teach economics in your classroom, look no further than The Big Buck Adventure<\/a><\/em> written by Shelley Gill and Deborah Tobola and illustrated by Grace Lin.\u00a0 This colorful, rhyming picture book tells the story of a young girl who receives one dollar from her dad to spend any way she likes.\u00a0 But as she searches for exactly the right thing(s) to buy, she finds that the decision is harder than she thought it would be.<\/p>\n

The book begins when the\u00a0narrator and her dad are driving into town.\u00a0 She says, “Saturday morning, I sure am in luck!\u00a0 A raise in allowance–I get a buck!” As she begins to shop, however, she realizes there are many things she could buy with her dollar, and quickly becomes overwhelmed with the choices.\u00a0 By the end of the story, she thinks: “Now I wish I didn’t have so much money.\u00a0 At first this was fun, now it’s not even funny!”\u00a0 Ultimately, the narrator decides to\u00a0save the dollar and is quite happy with her choice: “My father walks in.\u00a0 ‘Hi, honey!\u00a0 Any luck?’\u00a0 I just have to laugh as I pocket my buck.”<\/p>\n

Curriculum Connections
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\n<\/strong>The Big Buck Adventure<\/em> could be used in many different ways in the classroom.\u00a0 Because of the choices the narrator must make, the text is applicable to SOLs focusing on opportunity cost (History\/Social Studies\u00a01.8, 1.9, 2.9, 3.9).\u00a0 Math lessons might also be structured around this book, because the narrator must calculate exactly how many things she can buy with her money.\u00a0 Reading the book aloud would be a great way to introduce either of these types of lessons; and because the text is very conducive to class discussion, using The Big Buck Adventure<\/em> would be a fantastic way to get students thinking about real-world connections to what they are learning.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n