Fourth Grade Thematic Unit Lesson Plan

Teacher: Dora Casimir

Lesson Title: Market Economy Competition

Lesson #: 3

Time Required: 50 min

Grade: 4th

Rationale: In relation to last week, once youve got your resources and made your
product, it is time to sell it! There are often multiple different companies that sell very
similar products that are used for the same purpose. These companies have to set their
products apart from the others somehow to be able to compete. This lesson allows
students to experience how prices, product features, and advertisements affect decision
making about purchases.
Standard(s)-Common Core State Standard (CCSS):
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults,
develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.
Standard(s)-Social Studies GLCE:
4 E1.0.4 Explain how price affects decisions about purchasing goods and services
(substitute goods).
Language Arts Objective:
The learner will be able to plan for writing an explanatory piece by completing the
provided business plan outline framework. By the end of this lesson, the learner will be
able to add 2 or more ideas to each section unless otherwise noted.
Content Objectives:
The learner will be able to describe, in writing, how price and one other factor affects
their purchase decisions.
Assessment:
In his or her learning journal, the learner will complete an exit ticket in which they write
a short paragraph (2-4 sentences) describing how price and one other factor affected their
purchase decision. What was the most important factor in their decision(s)?
The learner will complete all sections of their business plan outline framework, with 2 or
more ideas in each section unless otherwise noted.
The student will receive a (working toward), check mark (meets), or + (exceeds) for
each of the above assessments.

Key Vocabulary (Academic/Content)

Competition
Advertisement
Price
Decision-making
Purchase
Substitute Goods

Materials
Paper & Pencils
Individual Word Walls
Learning Logs
Week 3 image (from 1st week)
Paper money ($5 for each student)
Multiple kinds of pencils (classic
wooden, patterned, mechanical,
etc.)
Different ads for each kind of
pencil
Business plan outlines
Blank white printer paper

Before Lesson:
Before students arrive, set up a storefront displaying all of the different kinds of
pencils along with each of their prices and ads.
Suggested Prices:
fancy mechanical pencils - $5
Glitter mechanical pencils - $3
Patterned pencils - $2 (SALE: buy 2 get 1 free)
Classic wooden - $1
Anticipatory Set (Getting Started) {5 min}
To begin the lesson, revisit the images used to introduce the unit. Talk about students
ideas that they had about this weeks topic. Based on what they learned about
specialization last week, do they have any new ideas to add? What about if we look at
todays vocabulary words?

Lesson Sequence:
Vocabulary {5 min}
Tell students that once they have all of their resources and created their product, the next
step is to sell it to customers! Often there are many companies that sell very similar
products. Substitute goods are two or more different products that are used for the same
purpose. Show students a classic wooden pencil. What are some substitute goods for this
product? Can you think of any other examples of substitute goods?

Companies that sell similar products compete with each other for customers! This means
they have to try to make their product more appealing than the other companies
similar products.

Mock Store Activity: {~5-10 min}

1. Tell students that they are going to be shopping for pencils. They should pay
special attention to the different things that influence their decision making.
2. Provide each student with $5 in paper money that they can use to buy products
from the store.
3. Students should take some time to examine each choice they have in the store.
They should be paying attention to elements of the products, advertisements, and
prices.
4. Once students have had a chance to think about their purchase decisions, students
may begin paying for the pencils that they choose to purchase.
Discussion & Learning Logs {~10 min}
1. Have a discussion with students about what each student chose to buy. Why did
they each make the decision that they did? What were the different factors that
affected their decision?
a. Price
b. Advertisements
c. Product features
2. Introduce a new pencil product to students. Tell them that this is a new pencil
starting up. In their learning logs, students will answer the following prompt:
a. Do you think that this pencil will be able to compete with the other pencils
being sold in this store? Why or why not? If not, what could you change to
help it compete with the other pencils?

Business Plan Outlines & Advertisement Drafts {~20 minutes}

1. Students will now revisit their business plan outlines. They should already have
their first page completed, but they may add any new ideas if they have them.
They should spend this time completing the remaining sections in their outline.
Explain that they should have at least 2 ideas in each section.

2. If students finish their business plan outlines, they may work on drafting their
advertisement for their product. This only needs to be a sketchthey will work
on their final product next week. They should keep in mind the factors that
influence peoples purchases that we talked about today!
3. If students finish both their outline and ad draft, they may work on writing a first
draft of their business plan based on their outline.

Adaptations for Diverse and Special Needs:

If writing skills are lacking, students may dictate responses or represent them visually.
Students may choose their method of advertisement. They may want to create a
commercial to act out, make a poster, etc.
Hands-on simulation supports kinesthetic and visual learners.
Lesson can be adapted as needed.
Reflection - {reflection will be added here after lessons completion}