Too Many Toys. Lesson Description. Grades 1-4. Concepts. By Marsha Masters, MET Economics Arkansas Program Coordinator

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1 Too Many Toys By Marsha Masters, MET Economics Arkansas Program Coordinator Lesson Description Spencer, the main character in the children s book Too Many Toys by David Shannon, has too many toys! There is no more space in his bedroom. Because of this scarcity problem, Spencer s mom declares that he has to make some choices and get rid of some of his toys. Easier said than done! In the end, Spencer turns the box that holds the toys he is to discard into his favorite toy of all. Students will identify wants they have, explain the concept of scarcity, analyze choice and opportunity cost in decision making and produce a toy that consumers would demand. Grades 1-4 Concepts Choice A decision made between two or more possibilities or alternatives. Decision Making Reaching a conclusion after considering alternatives and their results. Demand The quantity of a good or service that buyers are willing and able to buy at all possible prices during a certain time period. Economics Wants Desires that can be satisfied by consuming goods and services. Also known as wants. Economists do not differentiate between wants and needs. Opportunity Cost The value of the next-best alternative when a decision is made; it s what is given up. Price The amount of money that people pay when they buy a good or service; the amount they receive when they sell a good or service. Production A process of manufacturing, growing, designing, or otherwise using productive resources to create goods or services used to to satisfy a want. Scarcity The condition that exists because there are not enough resources to satisfy everyone s wants. Please credit Economics Arkansas, 1

2 Too Many Toys Standards Arkansas Economics Standards E Determine the relationships between unlimited wants and limited resources. E Discuss that because of scarcity people must make choices and incur opportunity costs. E Distinguish between consumers and producers in a local community. E Define supply and demand. E Evaluate the priority of economic wants and consequences of the opportunity cost. Common Core Standards English Language Arts Standards Reading: Literature Grade 1 Key Ideas and Details RL.1.1. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. RL.1.2. Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. RL.1.3. Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details. Grade 2 Key Ideas and Details RRL.2.1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. RL.2.3. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. RL.2.7. Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrating understanding of its characters, setting, or plot. Grade 3 Key Ideas and Details RL.3.1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. RL.3.3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. Grade 4 Key Ideas and Details RL.4.1. Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character s thoughts, words, or actions). English Language Arts Standards Speaking & Listening Grade 1 Comprehension and Collaboration SL.1.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. Please credit Economics Arkansas, 2

3 Too Many Toys Grade 2 Comprehension and Collaboration SL.2.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. Grade 3 Comprehension and Collaboration SL.3.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly. Grade 4 Comprehension and Collaboration SL.4.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly. Objectives Students will be able to identify five economic wants they have define scarcity identify opportunity cost when making a decision produce a toy from a box, determine the price and market it to the class, creating a demand. Time required 1 class period, plus 1 class period for the assessment Materials required Too Many Toys, by David Shannon, 1 classroom copy Toys (if possible, include baby toys as well as age appropriate toys) Whiteboard or chart paper and marker Visual 1 (Wants and Scarcity Songs), 1 classroom copy Visual 2a and b (Opportunity Cost Songs), 1 classroom copy Activity 1 (Teacher Assessment for students in grades 1-2), 1 copy for each student group OR Activity 2 ( Create a Toy Rubric for students in grades 3-4), 1 copy for each student group Boxes (1 per group of 3 to 5 students) NOTE: This can be a home connection activity. Recyclables that can be used for toy production Markers, scissors, glue, tape, stickers Please credit Economics Arkansas, 3

4 Too Many Toys Procedure 1. Place the toys on a table in front of students. Do not say anything but allow students time to ponder what the purpose of the toys is for the lesson. 2. Ask students to predict what the lesson is about today. (Toys.) Challenge students to think about the toys in their room and ask: Do you have a favorite? Do you have a few toys or would you say you have a lot of toys? Do you have only new toys or do you have toys you had when you were a baby? Do you play with every toy you own every day? 3. Tell students that today we are going to meet a boy named Spencer. His mother thinks he has too many toys. Read the first page: They covered the floor of his bedroom and piled up in his closet. They were stashed under his bed. They spilled down the stairs and into the living room. Ask students how many toys they think Spencer owns. (Allow time for students to share responses.) Do you agree with Spencer s mom? Do you think he needs those toys or wants the toys? (Answers may vary but the consensus should be he wants them.) 4. Explain to students that wants are things we d like to have. Have students hold up one hand and identify five things they want as they point to each finger and their thumb. Allow time for students to share things they want. In economics, we call things we can touch, hold, feel, use or consume economic wants. (Note: Economic wants is the focus of the lesson: goods and services that can be consumed, not ideals such as peace, love.) 5. Introduce Wants Song (Visual 1). Take turns allowing each student to share a want as his/her name is sung in the blank. Record the wants shared on chart paper or white board. 6. Review the list. Explain to students that we have unlimited wants, which means we can t count all the things we would like to have. Spencer wants toys. Continue reading the book and identify toys he wants. (Answers may include: basketball, airplane, fire truck, blocks, cars, airplanes, crane, rubber ducks, puzzles, bikes, checkers, pull toys, stuffed animals, trains, army of action figures, electronic toys, board games, talking books, musical instruments, alien spaceman weapons.) Stop when you come to the page that says, That s a lot of TOYS! 7. Spencer has a lot of toys, but he does not have space for them in his bedroom. Ask students where Spencer stores his toys? (The floor of his bedroom, stashed under his bed, spilled down the stairs, into the living room, in the backyard, in the bathtub, stretched from one corner of the house to the other and back again.) Read the next two pages: They were becoming a household hazard. Have you ever stepped on a Lego piece in your bare feet? Or a jack? Well, it really hurts! Especially if you weigh as much as Spencer s dad. You can also trip on things like railroad tracks and race cars if you re carrying a load of laundry. What seems to be the problem? (Answers may include: Spencer s toys are all over the place. He doesn t have enough space in his room to keep them.) 8. Read the next page: One day, Spencer s mom had had it up here with all the toys. SPENCER! she yelled on her way upstairs. YOU HAVE TOO MANY TOYS! Ask students if they think Spencer s mom was upset. (Yes.) Challenge them to identify clues that led them to this conclusion. (Answers may include: she yelled, the phrase, she d had it up to here, the print is in all caps with exclamation marks, her face in the illustration.) 9. Finish reading the page, Then she said, We re going to get rid of some of them. We learn in economics that Spencer had a scarcity problem. He wants a lot of toys, but there is not enough space for him to have all the toys he wants. Scarcity means there is not enough of something to satisfy our wants. 10. Introduce Scarcity Song (Visual 1). What did Spencer want? (Toys.) What was the problem? (Not enough space to keep all his toys.) Continue reading. Pick out which toys you don t want, she ordered, and put them in this box. What does his mom suggest they do? (Get rid of some of them to make space by choosing the toys he wants to keep and those he wants to give away.) 11. In economics we learn that we have to make choices. Sometimes choices are easy, but sometimes they are hard. Spencer cried, BUT I LOVE THEM ALL! Was Spencer facing an easy or hard choice? (Hard.) Please credit Economics Arkansas, 4

5 Too Many Toys 12. Continue reading and challenge students to listen for the toys Spencer had to choose from. (Alien Space Ninja, one eared bunny, Mr. Fluffers, pig, Johnny Choo-choo, cow, Gitchigoomies, Little Peeper.) 13. Reread the line, Tell you what, I ll let you have the pig, but I get Johnny Choo-choo. Spencer had to choose between the pig and Johnny Choo-choo. Those were his options or alternatives. What did he choose? (Johnny Choo-choo) What did he give up the opportunity to have? (The pig) We say that the next best choice when making a decision is your opportunity cost. The opportunity you lost when you decided. What is his opportunity cost? (The pig) If you had to choose between a puzzle or a book, and you choose the book what is your opportunity cost? (The puzzle) Why? (It s what you give up the opportunity to have when you made your choice your next best choice.) Introduce the Opportunity Cost Songs (Visual 2a, b). 14. Continue reading until you come to the sentence that says, Finally, they were finished, and his mom had a cup of hot tea and a short rest. On the next page, have students observe what has happened to all the toys he had ready to give away. (They are all over the floor.) Spencer s mom screams: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? WE HAD A DEAL! Spencer replied, You were right, Mom! I do have too many toys. But we can t give away this box It s the best toy EVER! 15. What was Spencer s final choice? (Turning the box into a toy.) Spencer became a producer as he made a toy he wanted more than any of the other toy alternatives. Producers are people who use resources to make goods and services, things we can touch, hold, feel, use and actions we do for others like mowing the lawn, cutting hair. When we buy and use goods and services, we are consumers. When you go to the store and buy a toy, you are a consumer. When we use resources to make goods and services we are producers. What resources did Spencer use to produce his toy? (Paper plate, box, pencils, tape, markers, empty paper towel rolls.) Closure Ask students the following questions to review and debrief the lesson: Today we read about a boy named Spencer. We learned he had unlimited wants. What did he want? (Toys) Spencer faced a scarcity problem. What does scarcity mean? (There is not enough of something to satisfy everyone s wants.) What was scarce? (Space for his toys) Have you ever had a scarcity problem? (Allow students time to share.) Would you have a scarcity problem if you were asked to put your toys in your toy box and you had plenty of space in your toy box for all your toys? (No) Would you have a scarcity if three boys wanted to fly their own kites and there were only two kites? (Yes) What would be scarce? (Kites) What did his mother suggest? (Make some choices to get rid of some toys and keep others.) When he decided between the pig and Johnny Choo-choo and chose Johnny Choo-choo, what did we call the pig? (His opportunity cost) What does opportunity cost mean? (It s the opportunity you lose when you make a choice; the next best choice when a decision is made.) If you had to choose between a basketball and a video game, what would you choose? (Select several students to share.) What would your opportunity cost be? (Response will depend on the choice made.) Please credit Economics Arkansas, 5

6 Too Many Toys In the end, Spencer made his own favorite toy out of a box. What do you call someone who makes a good or service? (Producer) Have you ever been a producer? (Allow students an opportunity to share.) When you buy something at a store what are you called? (Consumer) If I buy a jump rope at the dollar store, am I a consumer or a producer? (Consumer) If I make lemonade to sell at my lemonade stand, am I a consumer or a producer? (Producer) If I get my haircut at Cuts for Less, am I a consumer or a producer? (Consumer) If I make bookmarks to sell at the local library, am I a consumer or a producer? (Producer) Challenge students to create their own scenarios. Assessment NOTE: This can be a home connection, if preferred. You will take a box just like Spencer did and your group will produce a toy that students in the class would want to buy. You will be creating a demand for the toy which means consumers would want the product you are selling. You will name the toy, share the price, what it does, and where it could be purchased. Sell it to the class. Be creative! Distribute rubric for students to use while creating their project. (Activity 1 for students in grades 1-2 and Activity 2 for students in grades 3-4.) After time has been allocated for production and practicing their marketing strategy, have teams present their toys to the class. Challenge students to decide which toy they would most demand. Please credit Economics Arkansas, 6

7 Too Many Toys Visual 1 Wants Song (Tune: Mary Had a Little Lamb, lyrics/mary-had-a-little-lamb.html) By Martha Hopkins and Donna Wright Wants are things we d like to have, Like to have, Like to have. Wants are things we d like to have. wants. (Student s name) (student choice). Scarcity Song (Tune: O Christmas Tree, By Martha Hopkins Oh, Scarcity! Oh, Scarcity! We can t have all the things we want. Oh, Scarcity! Oh, Scarcity! We cannot have it all. We really want a lot of stuff, But sometimes there s just not enough. Oh, Scarcity! Oh, Scarcity! We cannot have it all. Please credit Economics Arkansas, 7

8 Too Many Toys Visual 2a Oh, Give Me a Choice (Tune: Home on the Range, By Martha Hopkins Oh, give me a choice, Oh, a difficult choice, And I ll think about what I could use. I ll have to decide, With my eyes open wide, What I ll give up and what I will choose. Opportunity cost! It s the thing you give up when you choose. It s the price that is paid When a choice must be made, It s the things that I surely will lose. Please credit Economics Arkansas, 8

9 Too Many Toys Visual 2b Be Careful Song (Tune: If You re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands, Be careful little eyes what you want. Be careful little eyes what you want. Wanting goods and services, Can put you in a fizz, Be careful little eyes what you want. Be careful little mind when you decide. Be careful little mind when you decide. Weigh the costs and benefits, They will help you quite a bit. Be careful little mind when you decide. Be careful little hands when you choose. Be careful little hands when you choose. Opportunity cost is the choice that is lost. Be careful little hands when you choose. Please credit Economics Arkansas, 9

10 Too Many Toys Activity 1 Teacher Assessment 1-2 Group Members Name of Toy You made a toy like none you have at home We named our toy. We chose a price for our toy. We looked at the audience when we told them about our toy. We spoke loud enough for the audience to hear us tell about our toy. We told others where our toy could be purchased. We created a demand for our toy. Please credit Economics Arkansas, 10

11 Too Many Toys Activity 2 Create a Toy Rubric CATEGORY 4 Advanced 3 Proficient 2 Basic 1 Below Basic CREATIVITY * Originality in designing toy Totally original design, no element is an exact copy of toys seen in lesson. Most of the toy elements are unique, but 1 element may be copied from toys seen in lesson Some aspects of the toy are unique, but several elements are copied from source materials or other students. The toy is a copy of a toy seen in today s lesson or the toy is not complete. MARKETING Were the following questions answered: * What is the name of the toy? * Who would want the toy? * How much does the toy cost? * Where can the toy be purchased? * Is a demand created? PRESENTATION * Focus on audience * Use descriptive vocabulary * Create a demand * Speak in a tone easily heard All elements included. Three or four elements included. All elements included. Three or four elements included. Two elements included. One element included. One element included. Lacks focus, not easily understood, hard to hear presenters. APPEARANCE * Overall design and neatness of the finished product The toy is complete and the overall design is polished and ready for market. The toy is complete and the overall design is neat. The toy is complete but the overall design is messy. The toy is not completed or the toy does not appear to be ready for market. Please credit Economics Arkansas, 11