MATERIALS

World map and/or globe

Immigrant card (1 per student)

Get me to America: GAME (24 cards per group)

Tracking my savings worksheet (1 per student)

VOCABULARY

Immigrant - a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.

Continent - a large, continuous mass of land

Saving - an amount of something that is not spent or used.

Spending - pay out (money) in buying or hiring goods or services.

Producer - a person, company, or country that makes, grows, or supplies goods for sale.

Consumer - a person who purchases goods and services for personal use.

PROCEDURES/ACTIVITIES

Read the book When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest or watch it here

Discuss with the class what Jessie did to earn money and the challenges immigrants faced in coming to America.
Explain to students it took around $30 for Immigrants to come to America. Help students understand the difference in monetary value now and in the past.
Introduce Immigrant cards to students and have them locate their Immigrants continent of Origin on a map and/ or globe.
Introduce ‘Get me to America’ Game. Split students into groups of 4 or 5 as they play the game. Students will pass the deck of cards around drawing one at a time. When student reads the card, they will record money spent, earned or lost on their tracking my savings worksheet. Students then return the card they drew to the pile and pass the deck to the next person. Once students get to the needed amount ($30) they have made it to America! You can continue with the game until l all have made it, one person from each group has made it, or for a specific amount of time.

As a class, discuss what was learned from the activity. Help them understand the concept of producing and consuming.
As a class discuss different producers (companies) that make a product or service near you. Discuss how these companies produce things but also need to consume things from other companies. Help students understand that Producing and consuming go together.

ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION

Collect tracking my savings worksheet. Assess for understanding of money spent and earned.

Informal, anecdotal assessment can be done during savings game.

EXTENSIONS

Bananas from Manolo to Margie, by George Ancona.

Peppe the Lamplighter, by Elisa Bartone

Where Does This Come From? Bubble Gum, by H.I. Peeples.