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an activity is available for download in Adobe Acrobat .pdf
format. You will need to have the free Acrobat Reader (available
for download here) installed.
"How
Smart Are YOU With Money?"
Shel
Silverstein's poem, Smart, will tickle your student's
funnybones and teach lessons about the value of money at
the same time! A
printable Adobe .pdf file
of the poem below is provided for classroom use.
Objectives:
Students will reason and logically come to understand the
value of money
Materials
Needed:
- A copy of the
poem, Smart, by Shel Silverstein
- Play or real
coins for students to use as manipulatives
Procedure/Activities:
- The poem is
read aloud by the teacher.
- Teacher and
students reread the poem together.
- Teacher encourages
student discussion of the poem. Did the boy get a good deal?
What was wrong with his logic?
- Teacher reads
poem aloud again, a stanza at a time. Students determine
the amount of money the boy in the poem has by acting out
the "swap" described in the poem with coin manipulatives
and comparing the amounts.
Extensions:
- Ask students
to find out how much money the boy in the poem loses after
each transaction. (For example: "And just 'cause he
can't see...He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,...And
four is more than three!" The boy lost 10 cents.)
- Students respond
in writing to the prompt: "Did the boy in the poem
get a good deal?"
- Students write
and explanation as to how the boy in the poem lost money.
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Smart
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My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one! |
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And
then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes -- I guess he don't know
That three is more than two! |
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Just
then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three! |
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And
I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
And the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four! |
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And
then I went and showed my dad,
And he got red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head--
Too proud of me to speak!
-
Shel Silverstein
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