Lesson Title: Working in Communities: Introduction to the Unit

Day Number: 1
Author: Alyssa Carmona
Unit: Working in Communities (Harcourt Unit 6)
Grade Level: 3rd
Background Information

This will be the first lesson of the Working in Communities Unit. During this lesson, the
focus will be on introducing the students to some of the important concepts that will be
covered throughout the unit. This lesson will also provide students with several
opportunities to apply their current knowledge and experiences to some of the key
aspects of economics. In addition, they will be given the chance to see themselves as
having an active role in the community.
Expected duration: 60 minutes
Concepts
o Economics
o Wants
o Earning Money
o Buying and Selling
o Using Money to Help Others
o Producers and Consumers
o Products and Services
o Trading and Bartering
o Supply and Demand
Vocabulary
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Skills
o
o
o
o

Economics
Product
Service
Producer
Consumer
Trade
Barter
Currency
Supply
Demand
Listening
Speaking
Evaluating
Identifying

o Analyzing
o Creating
o Writing
o Sharing
1.1 Integration of Learning Outcomes/Objectives
Students will begin applying their current knowledge and personal experiences to unit
concepts.
Students will work cooperatively and respectfully with their peers in groups.
Students will identify how money can be earned and why people might decide to share it.
Students will understand how one person can make a difference by making good
decisions about money.
Students will evaluate and discuss images that pertain to relevant content vocabulary.
1.2 Standards PA Civics, History, Economics, Geography & NCSS Themes I-X & Other
Disciplines
PA SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS:

Civics and Government

o 5.2.3.C. Identify leadership and public service opportunities in the school,
community, state, and nation.
History
o 8.3.3.A. Identify and describe the social, political, cultural, and economic
contributions of individuals and groups in United States history.
Economics
o 6.1.3.B. Identify needs and wants of people.
o 6.1.3.D. Identify reasons why people make a choice.
o 6.2.3.A. Identify goods, services, consumers, and producers in the local
community.
NCSS:

Standard 1: Culture and Cultural Diversity

o NCSS.1.2.b: enable learners to analyze and explain how groups, societies, and
cultures address human needs and concerns.
Standard 4: Individual Development and Identity
o NCSS.1.4.i: assist learners as they work independently and cooperatively
within groups and institutions to accomplish goals.
Standard 5: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
o NCSS.1.5.b: help learners analyze groups and evaluate the influences of
institutions, people, events, and cultures in both historical and contemporary
settings.
Standard 6: Power, Authority, and Governance

o NCSS.1.6.a: enable learners to examine the rights and responsibilities of the

individual in relation to their families, their social groups, their community, and
their nation.
o NCSS.1.6.c: provide opportunities for learners to examine issues involving the
rights, roles, and status of individuals in relation to the general welfare.
Standard 10: Civic Ideals and Practices
o NCSS.1.10.j: create opportunities for learner participation in activities to
strengthen the common good, based upon careful evaluation of possible options
for citizen action.

Other Disciplines:

PA Core English Language Arts (Speaking and Listening)

o CC.1.5.3.A: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions on grade
level topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly.
o CC.1.5.3.B: Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud
or information presented in diverse media formats, including visually,
quantitatively, and orally.
PA Core English Language Arts (Reading Literature)
o CC.1.3.3.A: Determine the central message, lesson, or moral in literary text;
explain how it is conveyed in text.

1.3 Anticipatory Set

Being that this is the first day of the unit, the teacher will use this lesson to introduce the unit
topic to his/her students: Good afternoon, class! Today we are going to begin working on our
new Social Studies unit: Working in Communities. I am so excited to learn about this topic with
you, boys and girls, and I cannot wait to see all that we will discover together! Today, we are just
going to take some time to familiarize ourselves with some of the important concepts that we
will be covering throughout our unit.
At this point in time, the teacher will initiate an activity that will allow for the students to relate
their prior knowledge to some of the concepts addressed in this unit. He/she will do so by asking
the students to think about some of the things that they would like to buy, or purchase. Once the
students have been given some time to think, the teacher will move on to the procedures portion
of the lesson, described below.
1.4 Procedures

Upon completion of the anticipatory set (described above), the teacher will ask the
students to (individually) create a list containing the items that they thought of (that they
would like to buy/purchase).
o While the teacher gives students some time to write down their thoughts, he/she
will circulate around the room. During this time, the teacher will make sure all
students are on-task, and may also clear up any confusions.
This will serve as one instance of formative assessment during the lesson.

Once the students have been given some time to create their lists, the teacher will ask
several students to share some of the things that they wrote down.
As the students share their individual responses, the teacher will create a class list on the
board (blackboard or whiteboard).
Once this list has been completed, the teacher may also choose to go item-by-item, taking
the time to ask the students, Other than (students name who offered item), how many of
you also wrote down this item when making your list?
o The teacher would then place an appropriate number of check marks next to each
item.
Before moving on to the next portion of the lesson, the teacher may also provide one last
opportunity for students to share any items that they wrote down that were not already
added to the class list.
The teacher will refer to the class list on the board, connecting it to the next portion of the
lesson.
o The teacher will call to his/her students minds the fact that although they would
like to purchase all of these things they are too young to work/get real jobs.
o The teacher will also note, however, that it is still possible for them to earn
money!
He/she will then ask the students to engage in a Think-Pair-Square-Share activity.
o During this time, the students will be asked to brainstorm and discuss the ways in
which they think they would be able to earn money at their age.
As the students discuss with one another in their groups, the teacher
should remind them to record notes regarding their discussions.
Also during this time, the teacher will circulate around the room. He/she
will use this time to listen in on each group of students, and can also help
to facilitate the discussion and/or clear up any confusions.
This will serve as another instance of formative assessment during
the lesson.
Once the students have finished discussing within their Square groups, a class
discussion will take place.
o Students will be asked to share some of the ideas that they came up with as they
talked within their groups, and the teacher will listen attentively as the students
respond.
o Also during this time, based on the students responses, the teacher will create a
class list on the board (blackboard or whiteboard) regarding some of the ways in
which money can be earned without getting a real job.
Once several students have had the chance to respond (preferably each Square group
has offered at least one idea), the teacher will use this discussion to introduce Alex Scott,
and the story of Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand (beginning on page 382 of the
text).
Before having students open their textbooks, the teacher will say: One way to earn
money without getting hired for a real job, as discovered by a girl named Alex Scott, is
to start your own business!

The teacher will use SMART Board technology in order to show his/her students some
real pictures of Alex Scott, being that the story in the textbook is only accompanied by
illustrations.
As the teacher shows his/her students the pictures, he/she will say: Today, we are going
to read a true (nonfiction) story about Alex, and I think that we can all learn a lot from
her.
At this point in time, the teacher will have students turn to page 382 in their textbooks,
and begin reading the story with the students.
o The teacher will read the story to the students as they follow along in their own
textbooks.
After reading the story in its entirety, the teacher will use some notes in the teachers
version of the text to further connect the story to relevant content:
o The teacher will ask the students, Why was Alex able to sell so much
lemonade?
Because she and her brothers worked hard and because other people
wanted to buy lemonade to help sick children.
o The teacher will point out that Alexs lemonade stand was a successful business
because she earned a lot of money.
The teacher will discuss with students the effects of Alexs success,
guiding them to see that with the money she earned from the lemonade
stand, she helped sick children get better. People began learning about
what she was doing and were inspired to send her cards and letters.
o The teacher will explain to the students that people who own businesses work to
make their businesses grow by selling more things and getting more people to
help them.
The teacher will discuss with the students how Alex made her lemonade
business grow, guiding them to see that she motivated kids in other states
to sell lemonade and raise money for sick children.
o The teacher will review with students some of the things that people can do to be
good citizens. He/she will encourage a discussion about how Alex is a good
citizen and how she used her business to help others. Through her actions, she
inspired others to be good citizens, too.
At this point in time, the teacher will refer his/her students attention back to two class
lists on the board:
o First, boys and girls, we came up with a list of things that we would like to buy,
or purchase. Then, we came up with some ideas about how we could earn money.
Through earning money, we would be able to buy some of the items on our first
list. However, after reading Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand, we have seen
that we can also use money that we earn to help others. So, now I would like to
give you some time to think about some of the ways you might like to use money
to help others.
The teacher will ask the students to engage in a Think-Pair-Square-Share activity.

o During this time, the students will be asked to brainstorm and discuss some of the
ways in which they might like to use money to help others.
Students may come up with specific groups of people that they would like
to help, and/or types of causes/organizations that they might like to donate
money to.
As the students discuss with one another in their groups, the teacher
should remind them to record notes regarding their discussions.
Also during this time, the teacher will circulate around the room. He/she
will use this time to listen in on each group of students, and can also help
to facilitate the discussion and/or clear up any confusions.
This will serve as another instance of formative assessment during
the lesson.
Once the students have finished discussing within their Square groups, a class
discussion will take place.
o Students will be asked to share some of the ideas that they came up with as they
talked within their groups, and the teacher will listen attentively as the students
respond.
o During this time, the teacher will also create a class list on the board (blackboard
or whiteboard) regarding some of the ways in which money can be used to help
others.
Once several students have had the chance to respond (preferably each Square group
has offered at least one idea), the teacher will relate this discussion back to Alex Scott:
o Boys and girls, I am very proud of you. These are all great ideas that we can use
to help ourselves become better citizens (like Alex)!
The teacher will then move on to the next portion of the days lesson, during which
he/she and the students will be briefly previewing some of the unit vocabulary via images
from the textbook.
o This will address the fifth learning objective.
The teacher will begin this next portion of the lesson by saying, Boys and girls, let us
take a moment to refer back to our story about Alex.
o At this point in time, the teacher will ask the students to turn back to page 383 in
their textbooks. He/she will then have the students evaluate the images on this
page, and ask them to identify which illustration shows people buying lemonade
and which one shows someone selling lemonade.
The top illustration shows people buying lemonade, while the bottom
illustration shows someone selling lemonade.
The teacher will take this opportunity to introduce two of the vocabulary
words from the unit: consumer and producer.
The people in the top illustration are consumers (people who buy a
product or service).
The person (Alex) in the bottom illustration is a producer (someone who
makes a product or provides a service).
She was selling a product, or good in this case, lemonade.

The teacher will then have students turn to page 378/379 in their textbooks, and use the
notes in the teachers version of the text to help the students use words and visuals in
order to preview some of the unit content. (This will also address the fifth learning
objective.)
o The teacher will have students look at all of the pictures and ask what they have in
common.
They all have to do with buying and selling goods and the world of work.
o The teacher will have students look at the picture for producer.
Go over the definition provided (someone who makes a product or
provides a service).
Ask, What is happening in this picture?
A woman is buying bread from a baker, who is a producer.
o The teacher will ask students to look at the picture for consumer.
Go over the definition provided (a person who buys a product or a service
Ask, How does this picture illustrate the word consumer?
The mother and child are shopping for school supplies. Because
they are buying a product, they are consumers.
The teacher will tell the students that a service is something that can be
purchased, but is not tangible.
Ask, How can someone be a consumer of a service?
Consumers can purchase services such as a haircut or car wash.
o The teacher will have students look at the picture for barter.
Go over the definition provided (to trade without using money).
Explain that long ago, bartering was how people exchanged most goods
and services.
The teacher will also tell students that today most people (producers and
consumers) trade with one another by giving one item (currency, or
money) in exchange/return for another (product or service). Trade is the
process of buying and selling.
Connection: Alex (a producer) sold lemonade (product) to people
(consumers) for money (currency). This is an example of trade.
o The teacher will have students look at the pictures for supply and demand, and
discuss how these terms are related.
Go over the definitions provided (supply: the goods or services that
businesses provide; demand: the willingness to buy a good or service).
Explain that both producers and consumers affect supply and demand of
goods and services.
Consumers may buy more of a certain product, causing the supply
to run low.
Producers might increase the supply of a product if many
consumers are willing to buy it.

Upon completion of this brief previewing activity, the teacher will tell the students that
all of these things are part of a bigger system known as economics (system involving
money that deals with producers, consumers, and the relationship between the two).
o He/she will then tell the students that they will be learning more about the idea of
economics as they work together to complete this unit.
At this point in time, the teacher will take a brief moment to tell the students about an
online resource that they may choose to explore during their free time:
o Social Studies for Kids site that allows students to explore various aspects of
economics.
This resource will be available in the computer portion of the classroom.
(See section 1.8 of lesson plan for actual link to this resource).

1.5 Differentiation
While the teacher may be meeting the needs of different types of learners through the types of
questions being asked/activities being used throughout the lesson, additional potential forms of
differentiation may be:
For Gifted Students: For students who need more of an academic challenge, the teacher
can alter the way in which these students are required to take notes throughout the lesson.
While the teacher might only expect the other students in the class to write phrases,
he/she might instruct his/her gifted students to write complete sentences, or even entire
paragraphs.
For ELL Students: For students who are not yet fluent in the English language,
language may be a barrier to learning academic content. One accommodation the teacher
can make for these students would be to preview the vocabulary from the lesson with
them before the actual lesson takes place. In addition, the teacher may also choose to
preview the story that will be read during the lesson (Alex and the Amazing Lemonade
Stand) with these students. Another strategy would be for the teacher to use gestures
when speaking, as well as use simple, rather than complex, phrases and sentences. In
addition, each time students are instructed to take notes throughout the lesson, the teacher
may allow his/her ELL students to draw pictures and write some words to represent their
ideas, rather than writing entire phrases.
1.6 Closure
To provide closure for the days lesson, the teacher will give each student an index card, which
will serve as an exit slip. The teacher will then instruct the students to write on the card: at least
one new thing that they learned/found interesting during the lesson, as well as anything that they
feel they are still confused about. Being that this was the introductory day of the unit, the teacher
will also ask the students to write down at least one thing that they would like to learn more
about as the unit progresses. The teacher will collect these cards from the students as they exit
his/her classroom (or just simply go around the room in order to collect them from the students if
the students will not physically be exiting the classroom). In addition to providing closure, this
brief exercise will provide the teacher with a concrete way to evaluate his/her students learning

during the days lesson. Furthermore, it will give the teacher the opportunity to see if there are
any ideas, concepts, skills, etc., that he/she should spend extra time covering throughout the unit.
In an effort to verbally wrap things up for his/her students, the teacher can say something along
the lines of: Boys and girls, I would like to thank you for your active participation in todays
lesson! I loved working and learning with you as we began our new Social Studies Unit:
Working in Communities. I appreciate all of your hard work, and cannot wait to learn more with
you tomorrow when we continue with our discussion about workers and consumers!
1.7 Formative/Summative Assessment of Students (P-12)
Formative Assessment: This type of assessment will continually occur throughout the days
lesson as the teacher continually observes and talks to his/her students, being mindful of ways to
alter instruction. The first instance of formative assessment will occur as students are given time
to write down their thoughts about the things that they would like to buy. During this time, the
teacher will circulate around the room, checking for understanding, making sure that all students
are on-task, and clearing up any confusions. This instance of formative assessment relates back
to the first learning outcome (1). The second instance of formative assessment for this lesson will
take place as students engage in the first Think-Pair-Square-Share activity, during which they
will be brainstorming and discussing the ways in which they think they would be able to earn
money at their age. As students do so, the teacher will circulate around the room, listening in on
each group of students, facilitating their discussions, and clearing up any possible confusions.
This instance of formative assessment relates back to components of the first three learning
objectives (1, 2, and 3). The next instance of formative assessment for this lesson will occur as
the students are asked to engage in the second Think-Pair-Square-Share activity, during which
the students will be asked to brainstorm and discuss some of the ways in which they might like to
use money to help others. As students engage in the activity, the teacher will circulate around the
room, listening in on each group of students, facilitating their discussions, and clearing up any
possible confusions. This instance of formative assessment relates back to components of the
first four learning objectives (1, 2, 3, and 4). In addition to the instances of formative assessment
previously described, the third and fourth learning objectives (3 and 4) will also be addressed as
students read and discuss the story of Alex Scott. In addition to this, the last portion of the lesson
during which students use information from the textbook (i.e. words and visuals) to preview unit
content/vocabulary will address the fifth learning objective (5). The last instance of formative
assessment that pertains to this individual lesson is the exit slip filled out by students during the
closure portion. Being that the students have freedom in what they will write on their individual
exit slip, there is no one specific learning outcome that this will cover. However, because
students will be writing things that pertain to the days lesson (one new/interesting thing that they
learned during the lesson; anything that they are still confused about; at least one thing that they
would like to learn more about throughout the remainder of the unit) this item should relate back
to the learning objectives/outcomes in some way.
Summative Assessment: There will be no instance of formative assessment in this lesson.
1.8 Materials/Equipment/Resources

A. STUDENT MATERIALS/ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Textbook: one per student

Index Cards (to be used for exit slip): one per student
Social Studies for Kids site:
o http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/economics.htm

B. TEACHER MATERIALS/RESOURCES FOR LESSON DESIGN

*Pictures of Alex Scott

Textbook (teacher version)
Websites, mostly for building content knowledge:
o http://www.learningtogive.org/resources/definition-want-vs-need
o http://www.alexslemonade.org/about/meet-alex
o http://www.alexslemonade.org/
o http://familymint.com/blog/21-simple-ways-for-kids-to-earnmoney#.Vk_hB3arTIU
*See Appendix B

1.9 Technology

Interactive whiteboard (SMART Board) technology will be used during this lesson when
the teacher shares real-life pictures of Alex Scott with his/her students. (See Appendix B
for examples of pictures that the teacher may choose to show).

2.1 Reflection on Planning

This lesson was relatively difficult to plan, but I think that a lot of the difficulty
originated from the fact that it was an introductory lesson for an entire unit, and this was my first
experience writing such a lesson. Until writing this lesson, all lessons that I had ever written
were only on one topic in particular. I had never written a lesson in terms of having it fit into a
unit all lessons that I had written up until this point were essentially standalone pieces. Thus, it
was hard for me to figure out where to start with this lesson. In addition, being that this unit
contains quite a lot of information, I didnt want to try to include too much of it in just one
lesson. At the same time, however, I didnt want to leave important concepts out. This was a hard
balance to find, as there are a number of important concepts covered throughout the unit. As a
result, in order to guide myself through the selection process, I decided to rely more heavily on
the textbook as a guide.
Although this is the first lesson for the overall unit plan, I actually wrote it after the other
lesson that I had been responsible for writing (the lesson plan for day 6). In comparison to the
first lesson that I had written for this unit, I felt that the text played a much bigger role in this
lesson. While I was still able to find some ways to incorporate ideas of my own into the lesson, I
can definitely see more teacher text aspects in this lesson. My biggest struggle while creating this
lesson was undoubtedly trying to decide what I should and should not try to include in the lesson
as a whole. Thus, this is where relying more heavily on the text came in. I tried to use it as a

springboard for my planning, and that seemed to provide me with some guidance. I will say,
however, that I am not as confident with this lesson as I have been with previous lessons that I
have written. The reason for this is, I think, is that I have never written a lesson like this before,
and was initially unsure about the approach that I should take.
This is kind of a weird thing to say, but I think that because I essentially had so much
information to work with when planning this lesson, I felt like I didnt have enough to work with
I had too much that it wasnt enough. By this, what I really mean is due to the immense amount
of content covered within this unit, it was difficult for me to narrow down and explore
components for this lesson plan in a more in-depth manner. For instance, the previous lesson
plan that I wrote for this unit was on just one topic in particular (technological advancements and
advertisements). Thus, I knew exactly what I needed to teach, and was able to incorporate a
number of ways to expand upon/explore the topic further.
After writing this lesson plan, one thing that is clear to me is that it definitely couldnt
hurt for me to gain more experience writing introductory lessons. Although this lesson was kind
of tough for me to tackle, I am happy that I was the person in my group who was responsible for
it. My reason for feeling this way is that I now know more about myself as a future educator, and
I know that this is one area in which I need to work on in order to further develop my skills.

APPENDIX A: Content Outline

*The information from the content analysis outline that has been incorporated into the lesson in
some way, shape, or form is highlighted in yellow.
Unit Overview
The Big Idea: Economics
People depend on one another to produce, buy, and sell goods and services. Good decisionmaking helps the economy of a family or a community.
Ideas for independent reading based on various reading levels (basic, proficient, advanced)
contained in the teacher text
Relating Content to Prior Knowledge
Ask students to list things that they would like to buy
Ask students to make a list of ways they might earn money
Create a class list from individual students responses
Incorporate a discussion relating to wants versus needs
Look for appropriate resources that may help with such a discussion
BrainPOP for Educators Needs and Wants: http://educators.brainpop.com/bp-jr-topic/needsand-wants/
Unit Vocabulary
Preview vocabulary via images
Economics: system involving money that deals with producers, consumers, and the relationship
between the two
Product: a good

Service: something that can be purchased, but is not tangible

Producer: someone who makes a product or provides a service
Consumer: a person who buys a product or service
Trade: to give one item (money) in exchange/return for another (product or service); the process
of buying and selling
Barter: to trade without using money
Supply: the good or services that businesses supply
Demand: willingness to buy a good or service
Currency: another word for money
Perhaps look for images on the internet that can help to extend this discussion. Such images may
include depictions of the content as it is related to various groups of people around the world (i.e.
comparing and contrasting within a community; comparing and contrasting one local community
with another; comparing and contrasting one country with another).
Starting with a Story: Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand
Identify how money can be earned and why people might decide to share it
Understand how one person can make a difference by making good decisions about money
Supplement this story with real images of Alex and her family
Have students connect to the story, as well as reality ask them to think about and discuss the
types of people that they would like to help

APPENDIX B: Materials
Real-life Pictures of Alex Scott
*The teacher would show larger versions of these images.