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Sample Lesson Plans
Using Literature to Teach Elementary School Math and Science
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Education
ED312, Spring 1996; Professor Maria Varelas
Lesson by Sarah Davidson
- Second-grade classroom
- a great introduction to the concept of money.
- The value of money and its uses are crucial topics in primary school mathematics.
My lesson revolving around the poem, "Smart", would be an introduction to money. The lesson would consist of two forty-five minute math lessons. The first lesson would be basically about the poem, "Smart", and what is happening in the poem and the mistakes that the little boy makes. The second lesson would be based on correcting the little boy's mistakes; here, the students would be reviewing what they already know about the values of various pieces of money. These two introductory lessons based on "Smart" would pave the way to a more comprehensive unit on money about how to count money and make change.
The first lesson would begin with me reading "Smart" slowly aloud to the class. After the reading, we would have a large class discussion centered around the following quesions, "Why was the little boy's fatehr angry? What mistaked did the little boy make? Isn't it true that five pennies are more than one dollar? And if not, why not?" After the discussion, I will read the poem again to the class so that they can be more familiar with it. At this point, the class will divide up into small groups and role-play the poem. By allowing the children to actively participate, they can more clearly understand the mistakes that the little boy in the poem makes. While role-playing, the children in each group would take turns being the narrator and reading the poem aloud.
The second lesson would begin with a lesson on the values of various pieces of money: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and dollars. Each child would get into a small group to determine how many of each piece of money are needed to make a dollar. Each group would have an assortment of cardboard money, and their assignment would be to divide up the money into piles that equal one dollar (one dollar, two half-dollars, four quarters, ten dimes, twenty nickels, and one hundred pennies).
After this activity, we would attempt to correct the mistakes made by the little boy in "Smart". First, I would read the poem aloud to the class to refamilarize them with the details of the poem. Then, I would reread the poem one stanza at a time. After each stanza, I would call on volunteers to correct the little boy's mistakes. I would ask the class if they agreed or disagreed with their classmate. For example, he would want to change his dollar for four quarters in stanza one. In stanza two, the little boy has two quarter. He needs five dimes to equal two quarters and ten dimes to equal one dollar, not three dimes. At the end of this activity, I would read the poem again just for fun!
I think that the poem, "Smart", works very well as an introduction to the topic of money, It allows the children to be very interested in learning because the poem arouses the curiosity of naturally inquistive children. Also, it allows the children to feel successful because they can correct the mistakes that the little boy in "Smart" makes. All in all, "Smart" is only one marvelous poem out of many in Where The Sidewalk Ends. Teachers can use this book often and find many great poems to use in the classroom.
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Last updated: 9/7/96
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