After the teacher has read books about banking, how banking helps people save money, and how banks work within our market economy, the teacher may invite a professional banker to come to class to talk with students about banking.  The teacher may also plan a field trip for students to visit a local bank (and possibly open an account with parents’ permission).  Then higher-level students will work on a Think-Tac-Toe to produce writing, math, and arts projects to demonstrate their knowledge of banking.  Students may need to use the internet to look up banking terms.  This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

After the teacher has read books about trading and bartering and discussed situations in our history when bartering was extremely important for survival (for example when the Pilgrims traded with the Native Americans for survival/needs/wants), she will lead the higher level students in a game of bartering. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

Second grade students in Michigan continue their integrative approach to social studies by focusing in on the local community. Students are introduced to a social environment larger than their immediate surroundings.

After the teacher has read books about earning money and benefits of saving, disadvantages of borrowing, and decisions about saving versus spending or giving, the teacher will lead a discussion with students about how they have personally earned money and what they did with it. She will allow them to think about whether or not they think they made wise decisions when they saved, borrowed, spent or gave money and why they feel this way. Then the teacher will introduce the students to the “store” they are going to have in class. Higher level students will create scenarios for classmates to consider what they would do in different situations involving earning money, saving money, spending, or borrowing. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

After the teacher has read books about wants versus needs, managing money to buy wants and needs, bartering, trading, producers and consumers, resources, and scarcity, she will lead a discussion with the whole class about identifying local businesses in the community, how a market economy works, and how businesses both pay out and make money. Then higher level students will work on a R.A.F.T. project. They will assume the “ROLE” of a business owner, a producer, or a consumer, and they will write to a particular “AUDIENCE” (ex. business owner, consumer, producer) with a particular “FORMAT” (business letter, friendly letter, poem) about a given “TOPIC”. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.