Third+Grade+Teacher+Instructions

Children this age have very little understanding of how money is earned; I remember my own darling daughter at age 8, after listening to me complain about not being able to afford something, suggesting that I just needed to go to the ATM and get some more. This lesson looks at the impact of having a job, having a non-paying job such as volunteer or stay-at-home parent, and having no job, whether intentional or not.
 * Third Grade Lesson **
 * Get a Job! **

//Color-coded tags// for students to wear during game play, using construction paper or something similar //Play money// (ten dollar bills from a __Monopoly__ or __Life__ game work well) Possible color codes: White for white-collar workers; ½ of these should have a sticker or mark. Blue for blue -collar workers; ½ of these should also be marked. One yellow tag for one non-paid worker; orange for the other Red tags for the unemployed worker //Items for “sale”// (stickers, cool pencils, small snacks, a homework pass, a cut-in-line pass—whatever is inexpensive or free and appeals to the age-group) to stock the store for the game.
 * Materials: **

Ask the students what jobs they think they’d like to do. Discuss and then explain that there are many kinds of jobs and that they will be exploring them today. Students explore types of jobs using one of these webquests: [] [] (If computer access is a problem, this day could be omitted.)
 * Day 1: **

Explain to students that they are going to play a game. Draw cards or use some other technique to randomly select two students to have a non-paying job and two students who have no jobs at all.
 * Day 2 ** :

Randomly select half the class to have so-called white-collar jobs that require college (jobs like doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers); half of this group is designated as professionals who went to graduate school while the others are and the other half to have blue-collar jobs (construction workers, waitresses, hairdressers, etc.). Distribute tags randomly to these students.

Assign the yellow tag worker to one of the white-collar workers; the orange tag worker should be randomly assigned to a blue collar worker. Partner a blue and white; give them a pink piece of paper; match two blues and give them a green piece of paper; finally give a team of two white-collars a piece of purple paper.

Explain to blue tags with no marks that they are workers whose jobs require no college for the time of the game, jobs like waitress or clerk in a store. Give each of them $50.
 * Game Play **

The marked blue tags indicate jobs that require some college or technical school, like hairdresser or emergency workers; each of them receives $70.

Unmarked white tags indicate workers who have a four-year college degree like teachers, engineers, and nurses $100.

Marked tags represent professions like law and medicine which require advanced degrees. Each of them receives $150.

Non-paid workers in both groups receive nothing.

Explain that paired workers are family groups or roommates who share costs. Have them add their amounts together and write it on their shared colored paper. Post on the wall, starting with the largest.

Open the store for business and “sell” items. Base “prices” on your available time; make them high if you want the game to end quickly. Students should quickly realize that their peers with more education are able to buy more things, teams are able to purchase more than singles, and those with no jobs can only purchase if they have a partner. Have everyone spend all of their money and then see what everyone has.

Ask who wants to play again. Ask who wants to be the players with no jobs. Ask why no one wants that part. Discuss the impact of different teams. Ask what roles students would prefer and why. Ask what are the reasons some people have no jobs, making sure that everyone understands that sometimes people are unemployed through no fault of their own (disability, lay-offs, etc) and that some people chose unemployment because of other rewards, such as stay-at-home parenting. Ask about trade-off made by different groups to consider the opportunity costs of education and longer work hours,

Finish the discussion by giving “Good Sport Awards” to the two students who had no money to spend for the entire game and give them some sort of special treat. Objective assessment worksheet Reflections Journal Lesson adapted from EdEconLink.org
 * Assessments: **