February 2009 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • �

$Activities• Inviteabankertocomeinduringstory-time

andsharealittleabouthisorhercareer.• Conductacardcatalogsearchonbooks

aboutmoneyandsortthemintocategoriessuchasfiction,non-fiction,andreference.

• Takeafieldtriptoalocalbankorcreditunion.MakeaVennDiagramcomparingandcontrastingthedifferencebetweenabankandacreditunion.

• Ingroups,comeupwithapoemorsongentitled,“ReadingPays!”

• Withapartner,thinkabout“Ifastoryisworthitsnumberofcharactersingoldpieces,I’dread________”Pairsshouldcom-petetocomeupwithastory/bookwiththemostcharacters.StartwithahintlikeSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

• ConductawebquestontheU.S.mint.asshownonpages5–6.

• Askstudentstobringintheoldestpennytheycanfindandmakeatimelinewiththecoins.Then,usinganalmanac,findoneimportanteventthathappenedforeachyearrepresented.Uselongchartpapertoillus-trate.Displayinhallway.

Reading Pays! Reading Incentive Party

Whatbetterwaythanmoneytomotivatestu-dentstoread?Thismonth-longincentiveisfunanytime,butworksespeciallywellduringFebruarybecauseofPresident’sDay.

Objective:Togetkidsreading!

Incentive SummaryMoneyisprobablytheworld’sgreatestmotivatingfactor,evenforkids.Withthatinmind,incorpo-ratea“ReadingPays”monthintothecurriculum.Afterstudentshave“invested”theirtimeinread-ing,they“earn”theirmoneyandgetpaid“divi-dends”byreceivinginvitationstoaparty.

Bulletin BoardHere’sasampleofour“ReadingPays”bulletinboard.Getcreative!Wehadfunusingmonopolymoneyandbookcovers.

by | Carol Thompson

Reading Pays! Reading Incentive • Keep ’em Reading •

Grades K–2,3–5

� • LibrarySparks •February 2009 Web Resources $

$• Campaignandelectonenewpersontoput

onAmericancurrency.Workinteamstodrawnewpicturesofcoinsandbills.Teamsmustjustifywhytheychosethatperson.(Theycanusebiographiesorreferencesec-tion.Thispersoncanberealorfictional.PastexampleshaveincludedRambo,MartinLutherKing,BabeRuth,andevenSantaClaus!)

• Conducta2-weekcoindrivetoraisefundsforbooks.Allowstudentstodotheorderingaftermoneyiscollected.Whatbookswilltheychoosefortheircollection?

• ResearchFortKnox.UseaSmartBoardtotakeavirtualtrip.

• Usinganalmanac,havestudentslocatethetopgrossingbooksalesfortheyear.Letthemtakethedatatomathclasstodiscoverthemean,median,mode,andotherinformationbasedoncurrentobjectives.

• WatchavideoonhowtheU.S.Treasurymakesandcirculatesmoney.

Reference QuestionsReferencequestionscanbeusedinmanyways.Onewayistobroadcastaquestionofthedayontheschoolintercom.Studentscanconductresearchandturnintheiranswerstothemediacenterforprizedrawings.Studentsshoulddocu-mentwheretheyfoundtheanswer.Anotheroptionistodisplayagrade-appropriatequestionduringlibrarytime,andteachstudentshowtofindanswers.Useyourimaginationwiththese.Theyareagreatwaytodemonstratetheimpor-tanceofthelibraryreferencesection.Herearesomesuggestedquestions:• Whosefaceinonthe$1.00bill?

(GeorgeWashington)• Whosefaceisonthe$2.00bill?

(ThomasJefferson)• Whosefaceisonthe$5.00bill?

(AbrahamLincoln)• Whosefaceisonthe$10.00bill?

(AlexanderHamilton)• Whosefaceisonthe$20.00bill?

(AndrewJackson)• Whosefaceisonthe$50.00bill?

(UlyssesS.Grant)

• Whosefaceisonthe$10.00bill?(BenjaminFranklin)

• Whosefaceisonthepenny?(AbrahamLincoln)

• Whosefaceisonthenickel?(ThomasJefferson)

• Whosefaceisonthedime?(FranklinRoosevelt)

• Whosefaceisonthequarter?(GeorgeWashington)

• Whosefaceisonthehalfdollar?(JohnF.Kennedy)

• WhoistheonlyfemaleportrayedonU.S.currency?(Sacagawea)

• Whatisanothernameforfake(asinmoney)?(counterfeit)

• Whatisanothertermformoney?(currency)• Whatistheplacecalledwherecoinsare

produced?(Mint)• Whatisthegovernmentagencythatprints

money?(Treasury)

Money JokesJokesareanothergoodwaytopromotewhatishappeninginthemediacenter.Itgetskidsinvolvedandcurious.Morningannouncementsareanopportunetimetoreachouttothewholestudentpopulation.Promotionaladvertisementsarealwaysagoodidea.• Whatdoyougetwhenyoucrossawoman

onabroomwithamillionaire?(averywitchperson)

• Whyismoneycalleddough?(becauseweallkneadit)

• Whatisthefastestwayofdoublingyourmoney?(folditinhalf)

• Whatdoyoucallamanwithalotofmoney?(Bill)

• Whatmoneydoyouuseunderthesea?(sanddollars)

• Howmuchmoneydoesaskunkhave?(onescent)

• Wheredopenguinskeeptheirmoney?(inasnowbank)

• Wheredofrogsborrowmoney?(fromtheriverbank)

• Whydidthefarmerburyhismoney?(hethoughtitwouldmakehissoilricher)

Keep ’em Reading

Keep ’em Reading

February 2009 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • �

$

• Whatdidthepennysaytothe$100bill?(you’reworthalotofmoney,butyoumakenocents!)

• Whydidtheboyswallowthreedollarbills?(becauseitwashislunchmoney)

Books• Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sundayby

JudithViorst.AladdinPaperbacks,1980.• Arthur’s TV TroublebyMarcBrown.Little,

BrownandCompany,1997.• Blackberry BootiesbyTriciaGardella.Orchard

Books,2000.• Boom TownbySoniaLevitin.OrchardBooks,

1998.• Bunny MoneybyRosemaryWells.Turtleback,

2002.• Count Your Money with the Polk Street School

(PolkStreetSpecial)byPatricialReillyGiff.Yearling,1994.

• Cowries, Coins, Credit: The History of Money(MyMoney)byGerryBaileyandFeliciaLaw.CompassPointBooks,2006.

• Dollars(WelcomeBooks)byMaryHill.Children’sPress,2005.

• How the Second Grade Got $8,205.50 to Visit the Statue of LibertybyNathanZimelman.AlbertWhitman&Company,1992.

• It’s Not Funny, I’ve Lost my Money!byMelodyCarlson.CrosswayBooks,2000.

• Money (DKEyewitnessBooks)byJoeCribbandLauraBuller.DKChildren,2005.

• Money HungrybySharonFlake.JumpattheSun,2007.

• Money Magic Tricks(GiggleFit)byBobLone.Sterling,2001.

• Money, Money, Honey Bunny (Bright&EarlyBooks)byMarilynSadlerandRoger Bollen.RandomHouse,2006.

• Pigs Will Be Pigs: Fun with Math and Money(AladdinPictureBooks)byAmyAxelrod.Aladdin,1997.

• Sam & the Lucky MoneybyKarenChinn.Lee&LowBooks,1997.

• The Story of MoneybyBetsyMaestro.HarperTrophy,1995.

• The Tortilla FactorybyGaryPaulsen.VoyagerPictureBooks,1995.

• Willimena and the Cookie MoneybyValerieWilsonWesley.JumpAtTheSun,2001.

Related Web sites• UnitedStatesMintProcesswww.usmint.gov/

kids• BrainPop(someactivitiesarebyregistration/

feeonly)www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/eco-nomics/money/

• www.rblewis.net/technology?EDU506/WebQuets/mo_money/mo-money.html

• http://www.usm.edu/english/fairytales/jack/k.htm(“JackandtheBankStalk”isalessonplanthatIfoundonthewebconcerningthefunc-tionsofabank.)

• www.yahooligans.com• www.kidsbank.com(agreatsiteforyounger

kids)• www.younginvestor.com

Cafeteria MenuWhenthewholeschoolparticipatesinanevent,itsignalstostudentsthattheeventmustbeimpor-tant.Eventhelunchroomcanspreadapositiveatmosphereaboutatheme.Herearesomesug-gestions:• PennyPasta• MoneyHoneybiscuits• “Quarter”lb.cheeseburgers• “Po-Boy”Sandwiches• “Rich”chocolatebrownies• MilliondollarMeatLoaf• SilverdollarSteaks• PaycheckPizza• NickelNuggets• DimeDoughnuts• “Broke”biscuits

Keep ’em Reading

� • LibrarySparks •February 2009 Web Resources$

$• “Lett-uce”getsomemoremoney(saladbar)• Banker’sBolognaSandwiches• U.S.Mintmints

Student RecordForeveryincentivethereshouldbearecordkeepingtoolformotivationandtokeeporga-nized.Arecordkeeperhelpsstudentstracktheirprogress,anditalsohelpsthemediaspecialistrecordreceivedinvitations.Forstudentstoearnaninvitationtothisparticularparty,studentsmustearn$9.99(whichcorrespondstothehigh-estDeweyclassification)byreading.Theamountofmoneycanbechangedtoaccommodatedif-ferentgradelevelsorindividualneeds.Eachstu-dentisgivena“PiggyBank”(seepage7).Theycanearnmoneybyreadingappropriatebooks.Forexample,theycanearnapennybyreadingamagazinearticle.Theycanearnupto$5.00forreadingabiographyaboutoneofthepresidentsonanycurrency.Eitherplaymoneyorclip-artmoneycopiedonconstructionpapercanbeusedtostapletothepiggybankoncetheyearnit(orseepage8fortemplate).Themediaspecialistshouldkeepthemoneyand“payout”onlywhenthestudentcandocumenttheirreading.Whenthestudentearns$9.99ormore,theyareinvitedtotheReadingPays!Party(seepiggybankrecord/explanationdisplay).

Party Food and Decorations•Greenpunch•LargeSheetCakeDecoratedLikeaMillion

DollarBillwithaPictureoftheMediaSpecialistintheMiddleoftheCurrency(UseattachedClipArtandinsertdigitalpictureofmediaspe-cialist,thentaketobakerythatdoesairbrush-ing).Thisisaveryinexpensivetreat.[Seemil-liondollarcake]

•Individuallywrappedcoinchocolates(foundatpartysupplystores)

Reading Pays! Incentive PartyThereareseveraloptionsforthispartythemedependingonyourfundsandtime.Foraninex-pensiveincentive,coordinateyourbookfairatthetimeofthisunit.Giveout“bookfairbucks”forprizes.Studentscanspendtheirmoneyonbooks.Anotherideaistorentawindblowingmoneymachinefromapartysupplystore.Ifappropriate,realmoneycanbeused.Ifnot,useplaymoneyandletstudentsusetheirmoneytobuyotherpre-selecteditems.Whateverthecost,thepayoutwillberewarding.Themovie“RichieRich”isanotherincentivetoculminatethemoneymonth.

E E E

Carol Thompson a media specialist in Rockmart, Georgia shares her passion for literacy with her stu-dents and community at the same elementary school that she attended. The author of four books from the Mr. Wiggle series and countless magazine articles, Carol strives to make reading fun. Please feel free to e-mail her at cdthomp@bellsouth.net.

After exploring the website for 10 minutes (set your timer), begin completing your webquest. Remember the Internet Etiquette rules!

Stay on the following website:

www.usmint.gov/kids/

1. Whatanimalisdepictedonthethreeupcomingcoinsforthe2008specialeditions?(halfdollarcoin,onedollarcoin,and$5.00coin)

2. Usingthetimeline,whatwas“LadyLiberty”wearingontheonecentpiece?

3. Believeitornot,PresidentG.Washingtonwasnotthefirstpersontoappearonacoin.Whowas?

4. WhowasthefirstAfricanAmericantobefeaturedonaU.S.coin?

5. Whatisthelifeexpectancyofacirculatingcoin?(howlongdoesitnormallylast?)

6. Howlongdoesapaperbillnormallylast?

7. TheIndianheadthatyouseeontheBuffalonickelsactuallywasacombinationof3differentNativeAmericans.Whoweretheyandfromwhattribe?

8. Whatisamint?(asitrelatestomoney)

9. Wherearethe4mintslocated?

10.Whoauthorizesthecreationofanewcoin?

11.Onthegamepage,chooseyourfavoritestatecoin.Paintandprint.Stapletothiswebquestbeforeyouturnin.

12.Usingthe“Exchange-o-Meter”,findouthowmuch$100.00AmericanisworthinJapaneseYen.

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