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Alexander Used to Be Rich

Lesson 3:

From Unit Investing In Others (3-5)

Lesson

Handouts

Academic Standards

Philanthropy Framework

3rd-5th Grade

Subjects:

Language Arts, Philanthropy and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view

ELA:	Group Discussions; Questioning; Reading; Response to Text/Others
PHIL:	Donate; Service
SOC:	Community; Economics; Family; Opportunity Cost

Purpose:

Students compare how they spend their time to how Alexander from Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday spent his money. They discuss positive incentives for donating money and make a plan.

Duration:

One 45-Minute Session

Objectives:

The learner will:

compare and contrast choices of a book character to choices in their own lives.
choose action they can take to share their resources with others in need.
describe the opportunity cost of philanthropic giving.

Service Experience:

Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.

Start a penny war to raise money for an agreed-upon charity. Each team chooses a charity to support and starts a jar for saving pennies. Over a given time, they collect pennies and add to the jar of their choice. Adding coins other than pennies counts against their score but adds to the charity. So they may add silver coins to a competitor’s jar in order to win. At the end of the time, the team with the highest score wins the game, but all the charities win overall. Read about penny wars at
http://www.pennies.org/index.php?Itemid=35&id=22&option=com_content&task=view

Vocabulary:

common good: working together for the benefit of everyone
save: to keep or put aside for future access
invest: to put resources, such as money, in an account or in an organization for the purpose of growing the resources’ value and/or impact
spend: to use money or resources for something you want or need
donate: to give time, talent or resources for a charitable purpose with no expectation of something in return
incentive: positive or negative factors that motivate or influence people

Materials:

Viorst, Judith. Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday. New York: Atheneum, 1978. ISBN: 0689711999
prepared blank chart to be filled in by students (See Instructional Procedure for the chart sample.)

Handout 1: Literature Reflection Questions

Teacher Preparation:

After reading the book, students work in groups of three to answer questions about the story (Answers provided here for Handout One).

What choices did Alexander have with his money/income? (spending now and saving for a walkie-talkie)
What positive incentives (a good reward for his action) prompted Alexander to spend his money? (renting a snake, bubble gum--items looked attractive)
What negative incentives (a punishment or bad effect) made him sorry he spent his money? (lost money for using bad words, rental time ran out, ran out of money)
What resource is scarce for Alexander? (money)
Give examples of unwise decisions Alexander made with his money. (lost money for using bad words, rented a snake, etc.)
How do you think Alexander felt about his spending? What will he do next time? Have you ever felt this way?
What are “impulse spending” and “buyer’s remorse”?
In the story we hear Alexander say “Saving is hard.” Do you think this is true? Why or why not?
Why do you think Alexander didn’t choose to donate any of his money? (He wasn’t thinking past his own wants.)

Instructional Procedure(s):

Anticipatory Set:

Ask the students if they are good spenders or savers of money. Listen to their responses about whether they like to spend or save, given the opportunity. Remind them that they have choices (spend, save, invest, or donate).

Tell students you are going to read aloud a story about a boy who had a little money to spend. Tell them to listen for positive or negative influences that affected the way that Alexander acted with his money. Read aloud Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst. After reading, have students work in groups of three to answer the questions on Handout One.
Meet as a whole group to review the groups’ answers. Each group shares their answer to one question and adds to the discussion of all the answers.
Discuss how Alexander’s choices are like and different from what they would choose. Discuss positive and negative incentives they have for earning, saving, spending, and donating money.
Tell students that money and time can be spent in responsible ways. Make a chart with the layout shown below, leaving plenty of room to write in each row. Have them brainstorm ways they can use time and money in positive ways to help themselves, their families, their communities, and the world.
After brainstorming, ask them to choose one of the ways they can donate time or resources to help others learn about money or get needed resources. Discuss opportunity cost when you have students identify what choice they give up when they choose to donate time or treasure. They discuss positive incentives for donating time or treasure.
Have students select a project and plan to carry it out.

	Spend	Save	Donate	Invest
Time Help Self Help Family Help Community Help World
Money (or other treasure) Help Self Help Family Help Community Help World

Youth Voice:

When students offer their opinions and suggestions to the service projects, they are using their voice - an instrumental part of service-learning. Use ideas from the reflection to engage students in a discussion about what they are interested in doing to spend their time, talent, and treasure.

Curriculum Connection:

Language Arts: Read A Chair for My Mother by Vera Williams. During the reading of A Chair for My Mother, listen for examples of scarcity, opportunity cost, incentives, goals and philanthropy. Read and answer the following questions (answers provided):

What is the scarcity problem in the story? (the family lost everything in a fire)
What are some of the things that are scarce for this family? (furniture, money)
By choosing to save, what opportunity cost (what she could spend the money on) is there for Rosa?
For her mother? For her grandmother?
What jobs did Rosa do? What job did her mama do? (mama was a waitress)
How did this family use this new, special chair? (to snuggle)
What were some positive incentives that might have motivated Rosa, her mother, and her grandmother to keep saving? (help of neighbors)
Do you think saving for the chair was a short-term goal or a long-term goal? (long-term)
What so you think Rosa will do the next time she gets money? (put it in the jar)
What do you think the family will do with the empty jar? (fill it up again)
Where in the story did you see philanthropy? (neighbors help them out after the fire)

Cross-Curriculum Extensions:

Introduce the economic concept of incentives by writing the word on the board or chart paper. Tell children that incentives are “positive or negative factors that motivate or influence people,” such as those that motivated Alexander to spend in this story.

Positive incentives are like rewards that motivate you to do or not do something.
Negative incentives are like penalties that motivate or persuade you to do or not do something.

Use a plus (+) sign and a negative sign (-) on the board or chart paper to show the two kinds of incentives. Under the + and – signs, briefly list some positive and negative incentives at work in your school setting, such as incentives for attendance or completing an activity.

Reflection: (click to view)

Bibliographical References:

Viorst, Judith. Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday. New York: Atheneum, 1978. ISBN: 0689711999
Williams, Vera. A Chair for My Mother by Vera Williams. Greenwillow, 1984. ISBN: 978-0688040741