via Scholastic News magazine.
Along with mastering domain-specific vocabulary, students get paid for classroom jobs and use math skills to pay rent and make change. Fines and bonuses also occur. We have completed lessons on needs vs. wants, goods and services, demand and supply, and profit. Market Days allow for students to act as both consumers and shop owners. All that a consumer needs is money in his/her account (classroom dollars in his/her payment pocket). Shop owners, however, must submit a business plan and have $75 available to jumpstart their businesses. All services must be provided by the student and all products sold must be manufactured by the student.
Unit 1: The World - Students examine the world from its largest scale (the continents) to its smallest (the street on which each student lives).
Unit 2: The 5 Regions - Students identify the five regions of the United States and explore the characteristics that set them apart. Via a study method, called chunking, they also memorize the zip code abbreviations and locations of the states that comprise each region.
Unit 3: Map Skills - Students will hone a myriad of map-reading skills as they complete the workbook, Map Skills for Today.
So far students have learned the history of the Pledge of Allegiance and Veteran's Day and have completed a week-long study of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. Our current unit includes contributions of African Americans (to be studied throughout Black History Month and the first week of March). The research will culminate into an informational essay and a Flipgrid presentation with the help of our school librarian. Additionally, Erdenheim's first ever Black History Month program was PHENOMENAL and featured the work of our students and their families at home.