Ruby’s wallet, and the students should do the same on their handouts. In addition, they should circle the item purchased. 5. Read the story Bunny Money. Stop after each item is purchased and cross out the dollars spent. Give students time to do the same. (Items purchased: bus fare, $1; cherry vampire teeth, $2; soap, $1; washer, $1; dryer, $1; lunch, $4; bluebird earrings, $4; glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth, $1; $0.25, phone call to grandma.) Stop after the laundromat trip to ask the students to count how many dollars the bunnies have left. ($9) Stop again after the purchase of lunch to ask the students to count how many dollars are left. ($5) Stop a third time after the purchase of the earrings to ask students to count how many dollars are left. ($1) 6. When the story is finished, ask the following questions: • How many dollars had Ruby saved and put in her wallet for the shopping trip? ($15. Students may need to count all the dollars crossed out to get this total.) • What did Ruby plan to purchase for her grandmother? (Ruby planned to purchase a music box with skating ballerinas for her grandmother.) • Why didn’t Ruby buy the music box? (The music box cost $100; Ruby didn’t have enough money.) • How did Max spend some of Ruby’s money? (Max bought cherry and glow-inthe-dark vampire teeth; Max got cherry syrup on his clothes from the vampire teeth, so Ruby spent money at the Laundromat to clean his clothes; Max ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, two coconut cupcakes, and a banana shake for lunch.) • Why was Ruby upset with Max? (The mess Max made with the cherry vampire teeth cost her $3 at the Laundromat, and Max spent her last dollar on glow-inthe-dark vampire teeth.) • How did Ruby and Max get home from the shopping trip? (Ruby used Max’s lucky quarter to call Grandma to pick them up.) • Do you think Max made smart spending decisions? Why or why not? (Answers will vary.) 7. Remind students that Ruby didn’t buy the music box for Grandma because she hadn’t saved enough money. Tell them that it is helpful to have a goal in order to save. Describe a savings goal as something you try to reach or hope to achieve. Savings goals can be for goods you want to buy soon or goods you want to buy later. When you work toward a savings goal, it keeps you from spending your money now, so you will have enough saved to purchase your goal item in the future. 8. Ask students if they think Ruby could save enough money to purchase the music box in a short amount of time (soon) or a longer amount of time (later). (Since the music box costs $100, it would probably take a longer amount of time to save the money.) Lesson Plan Bunny Money ©2012, Federal Reserve Banks of St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Kansas City. Permission is granted to reprint or photocopy this lesson in its entirety for educational purposes, provided the user credits the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, www.stlouisfed.org/education_resources. 4 Explain that there are two types of savings goals: short-term savings goals (for goods you want to buy in the next few months) and long-term savings goals (for goods you want to buy in a year or longer). Tell them that long-term savings goals can be set for many years later, for when they will be a teenager or even a grown-up. 9. Tell students that you need their help in deciding whether certain savings goals would be short-term or long-term goals. Choose two students to wear the name tags from Handout 2: Name Tags, “Susie Short-Term” and “Larry Long-Term.” Both students should stand in front of the room facing the class. Hand each one the appropriate pocket folder or portfolio, labeled either “Short-Term Goals” or “Long-Term Goals.” 10. Explain that you will hand out pictures of goods that students can “save for” to volunteers. Each volunteer will take turns delivering his or her picture to either “Susie Short-Term” or “Larry Long-Term” to put in the proper short-term or long-term goal folder. 11. Hand out pictures from Handout 3: Short- or Long-Term Goals? to volunteers. Ask each volunteer to come to the front of the class and show his or her picture and name or describe the good to the students. Remind the students that goods that are shortterm goals could be saved for in the next few months, while goods that are long-term goals may take a year or longer to reach. As each volunteer shares his or her good, ask students to vote for “Susie” or “Larry.” Direct the volunteer to deliver the picture to the highest vote-getter. (Short-term goals: ball, book, board game. Long-term goals: bike, computer, game system.) Note: If the winner is the wrong choice, stop and explain why to the students and then direct the picture to the correct folder. 12. After this activity is completed, ask the students if any of the short- or long-term goals were goods that they would want. (Answers will vary.) Display Visual 1: What to Save For? and ask students to brainstorm two lists of savings goal items, short-term and long-term, that they might choose to save for. Record their ideas on Visual 1. 13. Distribute a copy of Handout 4: Choosing My Savings Goals to each student. Tell the students to complete the handout by choosing from the list created (Visual 1) one item for their short-term goal and one item for their long-term goal. They should write the names and draw a picture of each goal. Ask the students to share their completed goals with the class. 14. Ask students if they have ever been to a bank or seen a bank. Explain that a bank is a safe place for people to keep their money until they have met their savings goals. Students can start with a piggy bank or jar at home, and later go with a family member to start a savings account at a real bank. These banks not only keep people’s money safe, but also pay them interest. Interest is the money paid to customers for keeping their money at a bank. 15. Distribute a copy of Handout 5: Going to the Bank. Tell students to imagine that they have saved enough money to fill their piggy banks. Ask them to draw a picture of themselves taking their piggy banks to a real bank to start a savings account. At the bottom of the sheet, they should complete the sentence: “When I save money at a bank, the bank pays me_____________. (interest) Closure 16. Review the key concepts of this lesson by asking the following questions: • What are goods? (Goods are objects that satisfy people’s wants.) • What does it mean to spend money? (To spend money means to exchange money for items you want now.) • What does it mean to save money? (To save money means to keep money to spend in the future.) • Name the two types of savings goals. (Short-term and long-term savings goals) • Give an example of a short-term savings goal. (Answers will vary but might include a book, toy, or ticket to a movie.) • Give an example of a long-term savings goal. (Answers will vary but might include a video game, a bicycle, or a ticket to Disney World.) • Why is a bank a good place to save money? (A bank is a safe place to keep money, and it will pay interest on the money you save.) • What is interest? (Interest is the money paid to customers for keeping their money at a bank.) Assessment 17. Distribute a copy of Handout 6: Max’s Savings Plan/Assessment to each student. Tell them they will help write another chapter to Bunny Money. In this new chapter, Max decides to save his money for a glow-in-the-dark necklace to wear with his vampire teeth. The necklace costs $5. Ask them to help Max reach his goal by completing the savings plan.
