Lesson Title: What’s for lunch?
Creator: Laura Fiscus
Grade Level: K
Big Idea: Measurement (Money)
Essential Question: How does the amount of money I have affect the type of lunch I buy?
Learning Skills:
21C.O.PK-2.3.LS.2 Student demonstrates ability to assume different roles and responsibilities
as assigned by the teacher and abandons ineffective strategies when introduced to more effective
strategies for solving a problem or completing a task.
21C.O.PK-2.1.LS.3 Student articulates thoughts and ideas, representative of real and imaginary
experiences, clearly and effectively through oral, written or multimedia communication.
Technology Tools:
21C.O.PK-2.3.TT.3 Student identifies how technology is commonly used in homes,
community, and other environments.
CSO’s:
M.O.K.4.6
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Identify the name and value of coins and explain the relationships between:
penny
nickel
dime
SS.O.K.3.3 Discuss and give examples of economic concepts:
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needs and wants
exchange of money for goods and services
saving for the future
Launch/Introduction:
Read the title of the book, I Need a Lunchbox, by Jeanette Caines. Ask children why someone
might need a lunchbox. Chart ideas that are given by students then read the book to them. Talk
about what foods are put in a lunchbox and list them on a chart. Where do we get the food for
our lunches? Stress the point that food needs to be paid for. What are some coins that are used
to pay for food? Show large coins and put them in the children’s hands. Review the money
song to show value of the coin.
Song: “ A penny is worth one cent, one cent, one cent, A penny is worth one cent all the time.”
Repeat substituting with “A nickel…..five cents”, and “A dime….. ten cents.” Children are
holding up the coin when the coin is named.
Show children how they are going to make a lunch and pay for it. “Take a cookie for instance, it
is worth 6 cents. How am I going to pay for it? What are some ways I can pay for this cookie?”
Take several answers and stop. Send children back to their seats. Tell them they are going to
make and pay for their lunch. They may use the calculators to check their money.
Vocabulary:
Penny, nickel, dime, cents, lunchbox, equal, more, less, similar and different.
Investigate/Explore:
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Children will work individually to fill their own lunch boxes, and then share with their
table how and why they chose the items they put in their boxes.
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Each work table will contain space for 3 children. Each child will have a picture of a
lunch box that has 5 velcro dots glued to it. Each child will be expected to attach 3-5 food
pictures to the dots.
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There will be a cup at each child’s space to put their money in to pay for lunch.
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A calculator will be at each table to determine the value of their lunch, if they need it.
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Each child is given two baggies. One baggie has food pictures with velcro dots glued on
the backs of them. The other baggie has coins.
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Each child begins adding pictures one at a time to the lunch box. They can either pay for
it as they go, or total all purchases on calculators and pay when completely done.
Summarize/debrief the lesson:
Look at your neighbor’s lunch. How are they the
same, different? Explain to your table why you chose the lunch you did?
From various tables, display about 7 or 8 lunch boxes on the white/chalk board. Ask the class to
compare lunch boxes for similarities and differences (which ones cost the most, which ones cost
the least, and why.)
Example questions that can be asked during this section are:
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Why did you choose the selected items for your lunch?
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How does the amount of money I gave you affect the type of lunch you bought?
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Did any of you run out of pennies? How did you decide what to do?
Materials for each child:
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Lunchbox pattern with 5 velcro circles glued on the front, clip art or pictures of foods
and drinks and glue velcro on the backs (milk, juice, sandwich, cookie, apple, chips,
pudding and carrots)
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Snack baggies that contain twenty-five cents in change (10 pennies, 1 nickel and 1 dime)
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Calculators
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Cup (plastic or styrofoam)
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Set of large coins
Materials for whole group:
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Book - I Need a Lunchbox, by Jeanette Caines
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Enlarged coins depicting pennies, nickels and dimes
Duration - (60minutes)
Teacher Notes:
The vocabulary has already been taught by this time of the year. Make sure you have
given the children practice in buying other things throughout the year. For example,
just paying with pennies to get a sticker or eat a snack. For mastery, they only need to
use pennies. The nickels and dimes are for above mastery and distinguished. They
need to have the knowledge of one to one correspondence. The children should also
have a general idea of how the calculator works. I have also taught about the basic
food groups and healthy foods before this lesson is given. Children are in
heterogeneous groups of three. Classroom management – my children are in groups of
6 for the first half. I put them in groups of 3 for the second half. My children are
familiar with me coming to their tables and asking questions.