Shopping!

Ten years ago when I first started teaching, I came upon some great resources left behind in the classroom by a previous teacher.  These included the Box It or Bag It Mathematics : Teachers Resource Guide series(Burk, D., Symonds, P., Snider, A., 1988).  A cornerstone activity in this series-- the shopping project--is one that I try to use regularly as well.   A shopping project is the ultimate open-ended activity and it works well for a wide range of learners.  I've used it with just first graders and I've also used it with wider multi-age spans of first- through fourth-graders. 

Here's how it works:

First I collect five or six interesting art elements.  Sometimes these are pieces of construction paper cut into different shapes-- red triangles, blue squares, yellow circles, etc.  Sometimes these are squares of paper, squares of fabric, squares of foil.  I make sure to have lots of each element.  Next, I make price tags for each element--  1 cent, 2 cents, 5 cents, 10 cents, 12 cents.  Lastly, I prepare zippered sandwich baggies full of pretend coins for each student.  I just put in random handfuls of coins so that each child has plenty of money, I don't bother counting it.  

When I introduce the project to the class, I show each material and the price and model the process of developing a piece of artwork and purchasing the different elements.  Here I think aloud as I create a shopping list, pay for the pieces, and arrange them on a base piece of construction paper.  Then I give each child a big piece of construction paper to use as a base, a bag full of money, and a piece of paper for their own shopping list.  I send students off to plan, and as they finish, I open the store for shopping. 

The tricky part is keeping the line moving at the store.  If you can have help running the store from an assistant or volunteer, all the better! 

I find that younger students rely mostly on pennies for shopping, older students are fascinated by getting change back on their purchases (and often misunderstand this process as getting free money).  The most advanced students can be challenged to look at finished pieces of artwork and calculate the total cost of each project or compare two projects and determine which one cost more to produce.  Some students might be able to handle a budgeting aspect to the project, but I prefer not to include that element because of the social issues that crop up once you introduce scarcity into the classroom.  (Again, see this great post by Lori of Camp Creek Blog.)