Thematic Units - Money, Math & Literature

Money, Math & Literature

This lesson was designed for 3rd grade, but can be adapted for others.

Materials: menus from local restaurants, the book Pigs Will Be Pigs, calculators (optional), paper & pencil.

Description: This lesson integrates children's literature into a math lesson. The pigs are hungry and there's no food in the house and no one went to the bank, so there's no money. How can the pigs buy dinner: They go on a money hunt. Students solve how much money the pigs find and then select food items from various menus not to exceed the amount of money they found.

Objectives: The Student Will (TSW) listen to the story Pigs Will Be Pigs. TSW calculate how much money the pigs find during their money search. TSW select food items from various menus not to exceed $34.67.

Procedures: Before you begin this unit, you will need to collect menus from area restaurants. Most are will to donate one menu for a class project. Divide your class into five teams (make sure you have at least 5 menus). Instruct the class that they will need a sheet of paper to calculate how much money the pigs find on their money hunt. As you read the story, stop and have the students calculate how much money the pigs accumulate. Stop reading after page 22 (where the pigs ask, "what's the special?") and distribute real menus for each team. Have the students select items from the real menus for the pig family. They need to choose a meal and drink for each member of the pig family (a total of 4 meals). The cost of the meal cannot exceed the amount of money the pigs found ($34.67). After solving their problem continue reading the book and have them solve how much the pigs spent at the Enchanted Enchilada. They can solve how much money they have left.

Extension:
1. Have the students calculate the change the pigs would get back from their menu search.
2. Students can use calculators to check their answers.
Submitted by: Cindee Knight