• There are a variety of excellent informational texts about chocolate that can be used in your classroom to teach economics concepts.

On this post, I will illustrate how to use these texts in activities that meet Common Core State Standards. The main text I will use is from  The Story of Chocolate  website.

Before using the site for information, ask questions about the source. Who wrote this text? How do we find out? (prompt students to find the “About Us” section if they don’t come up with the answer on their own). Then have students discuss the individuals who created the website. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.)

Tell students: Read closely to discover who wrote this. What evidence can you find? Show me or read me the evidence. Who are they? What is their purpose for designing this website? (inference).( CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly andto make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text).

Ask: How do you think this is made? Tell students they will investigate by “Reading Like a Detective” to discover how it is made. Click on the website The Story of Chocolate and ask students to tell you which section they might find information about how chocolate is made. In order to do this, students have to navigate through the features of the website and figure out how these relate to each other. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.)

Ask students what part of the website do they think they would use to find the answer to the question. When they answer “where is it from?” navigate to that section and ask them where they should start to find out about the natural resources needed for chocolate. When they navigate to the Where Is It From? page, there are a variety of texts: traditional written text as well as video and photos. Spend time “reading” through these texts to discover some main points about the natural resource. Ask questions about key details with who, what, when, where, how, why questions. What is it called? Where does it come from? Who picks it? ETC. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Use a specific economics question to have students read closely to discover evidence about the productive resources (natural, human, capital).  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. Ask text-dependent questions about the productive resources needed to produce chocolate. Encourage students to cite the “texts” by providing specific descriptions of evidence from photos, videos, or written words. Discuss what type of evidence they found in different media and what inferences they can make. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words).

Have students investigate the other stages of production in order to create a timeline and discuss how the process develops over the texts. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.) Then, use the student interactive timeline tool from ReadWriteThink to help students construct a timeline of the stages of production. 

Students can use this timeline when they create their informational/explanatory writing about how chocolate bars are made. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content). But before they write, you might want to compare other texts as a mini research project for the students. For example, use one or more of the following:

1.  On the Hershey’s site you will find movies, images, and a downloadable informational text. These all relate to how chocolate is made. Ask questions about the productive resources: raw materials, human resources (workers), and capital resources (tools and equipment).
2. Exploratorium on chocolate for another source.
   
3. The Field Museum for more information.

This activity covers the following writing standards:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Students should compare and contrast information found from the different sources (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9 Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take).

Once students have all of their information, they can use technology (like this wordpress blog site) to publish their informational text. (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others). Alternatively, they can create PowerPoint slide shows, videos, or multimedia reports (using word, pages, or Glogster–lesson in the next post!)

The Common Core State Standards for Reading call for a use of a variety of texts, including multimedia. The Common Core Standards for Writing call for research using a variety of sources, including multimedia. Here are some “texts” beyond words that you can use to teach the economics of Chocolate. Yum!

First: Begin with a big question. What are the productive resources needed to create chocolate?

Head to the Exploratorium to find out how chocolate is made. What are the productive resources needed? There are many different types of texts on this site.

On the Hershey’s site you will find movies, images, and a downloadable informational text. These all relate to how chocolate is made. Ask questions about the productive resources: raw materials, human resources (workers), and capital resources (tools and equipment).

Use information from Manufacturing Chocolate to support your claims about productive resources.

Another source: The Field Museum.

Use a graphic organizer like the ReadWriteThink Webbing Tool to help students find information. Then, if you would like your students to summarize the steps of production, use the ReadWriteThink Timeline.

For younger children, scaffold their research by helping them find and organize their ideas.

Chocolate is a very interesting topic to study from an economic viewpoint. From the history of cacao beans as a form of currency to the supply and demand of chocolate today, there are many ways to view chocolate. Here are some ideas:

1. Use the History of Chocolate site to have students read for evidence (Reading CCSS Anchor Standard 1) of: chocolate as goods, the use of cacao beans as currency, supply and demand of chocolate, etc.
2. Use the Dirk Mateer: Willie Wonka Golden Ticket Scene and the link to read sections of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the book or online (Reading CCSS Anchor Standard 7) have students discuss Supply and Demand in the movie. Seek other multimedia information and/or lesson ideas on the Roald Dahl official site or Roald Dahl Fan site.
3. Use some of the information on the What is Money? lesson from EconEdLink. Click on the Key Concept: Characteristics of Money and use this text as you explore primary source documents (Reading CCSS Anchor Standard 1) about chocolate trade to have students link the characteristics of money to evidence they find about cacao beans being used as currency.
4. If you are teaching K-3, you can use Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory: With the online link, you can talk about George and the Man with the Yellow Hat as they decide to buy goods (chocolate) at the store/market. Discuss wants and making decisions about spending money on chocolate vs something else. You can also discuss buyers/sellers and consumers/producers as they relate to chocolate. Have students use both the text and pictures to find evidence to answer your questions. (Reading CCSS Anchor Standard 1, 3, 4. Speaking CCSS 1) For more ideas on other economics concepts for this book, visit KidsEconPosters.
5. If you would like to learn more about Milton Hershey, Chocolate Entrepreneur, check out this great new lesson from EconEdLink.
6. In order to view the processes of how chocolate is made, you can view these informational texts and multimedia texts (Reading CCSS Anchor Standard 7).

• Video of Factory Tour With Students
• Exploratorium: Mixed texts about the history & manufacturing of chocolate.
• Hershey’s Chocolate-Making Video
• Hershey’s Chocolate-Making Informational Text great for productive resources
• Cacao Web: multiple texts about how chocolate is manufactured
• Interactive texts about manufacture of chocolate also with great interactives for kids
• Math and more ideas from Education World

Here are some other chocolate stories:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator : The Further Adventures of Charlie Bucket and Willy Wonka, Chocolate-Maker Extraordinary by Roald Dahl
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Literature Units) by Concetta D. Ryan
Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith
Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
The Chocolate Cow by Lilian Obligado
Chocolatina by Erik Kraft
Cocoa Ice by Diana Appelbaum
A Chocolate Moose for Dinner by Fred Gwynne

April Bubbles Chocolate : An ABC of Poetry by Lee Bennett Hopkins
The Big Block of Chocolate by Janet Slater Redhead
Cam Jansen and the Chocolate Fudge Mystery  by David A. Adler
Hot Fudge (Bunnicula and Friends) by James Howe
The Chocolate Sundae Mystery (Boxcar Mystery No 46) by Gertrude Warner
The Ghost Who Ate Chocolate  by Susan Saunders
Chocolate Island (Usborne Young Puzzle Adventures) by Karen Dolby
The Chocolate Kingdom Caper  by Swanee Ballman
The Chocolate Train by Joanne Kornfeld
The Case of the Chocolate Fingerprints  by Parker C. Hinter
Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory  by Margret Rey
Wellington’s Chocolatey Day  by Mick Inkpen
Mary Marony and the Chocolate Surprise  by Suzy Kline
Max’s Chocolate Chicken  by Rosemary Wells
Chocolate : Riches from the Rainforest by Robert Burleigh
Beans to Chocolate (Welcome Books: How Things Are Made) by Inez Snyder
All About Chocolate: The Ultimate Resource to the World’s Favorite Food  by Carole Bloom
Chocolate by Hershey (About Milton Hershey) by Betty Burford
Milton Hershey : Chocolate King, Town Builder by Charman Simon
Chocolate (What’s for Lunch) by Claire Llewellyn
Chocolate : From Start to Finish (Made in the U.S.A) by Samuel G. Woods
A Guide for Using The Chocolate Touch in the Classroom  by Teacher Created Materials Inc
Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot: A True Story of the Berlin Airlift and the Candy That Dropped from the Sky  by Margot Theis Raven
1001 Chocolate Treats  by Gregg R. Gillespie
The Official M&M’s Brand History of Chocolate by Karen Pellaton
How Monkeys Make Chocolate: Foods and Medicines from the Rainforests by Adrian Forsyth
I Like Chocolate by Robin Pickering
The Hershey’s Kisses Addition Book by Jerry Pallotta
The Hershey’s Kisses Subtraction Book by Jerry Pallotta
The Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book by Jerry Pallotta
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Multiplication Book by Jerry Pallotta
Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Weights & Measures by Jerry Pallotta
The M&M’s Brand Chocolate Candies Counting Board Book  by Barbara B. McGrath

Welcome back for a new school year! This year I will be framing K-5 Economics activities within the Common Core Standards for Reading and the English Language Arts and Mathematics. Within this unit of Chocolate Economics, I will provide resources and materials about this yummy topic that align to content standards for Economics.

One of the key issues being stressed in Common Core discussions is the inclusion of both literary and informational texts (including photos, videos, websites, charts, graphs, etc.) into the Language Arts curriculum. In the next few postings, I’ll provide ideas and links to resources.

Literature:

Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Informational Texts:

The Hershey Company: Making Our Chocolate (elementary school lexile levels)

Chocolate Making Interactive Book by Field Museum (requires updated Adobe Flash Player)

Manufacturing Chocolate (higher lexile levels)

Movies: Learn how to download these videos in Technology Tips
Curious George Visits Taza Chocolate Factory

How Chocolate is Made in a Factory

How It’s Made: Assorted Chocolates

How It’s Made: Chocolate Coins

Where Chocolate Comes From and How It Was Made

Investigating food production is a great way to introduce beginning economic concepts. Students need to learn that although money doesn’t grow on trees, food sometimes does! However, movement from the tree, to the grocery store, to their home is a complex process.

Now let’s investigate some NGSSS Standards for Economics that could be investigated using the multiple texts:

Kindergarten

SS.K.E.1.1. Describe different kinds of jobs that people do and the tools or equipment used.

1) Read Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory. Before reading tell students that they are going to help Curious George solve the mystery of how chocolate is made! During an interactive read-aloud, encourage students to search for the different jobs and equipment needed to make chocolate in the factory Curious George visited. After reading, ask the students what the author showed them about how chocolate was made. Help students by looking back through the text and encouraging them to look at both the words or the pictures to find the answers. Then have students create a written product to illustrate their understanding. They can create their own picture book (using a combination of images and text based on their ability) where they label the tools and jobs/equipment that were used to make chocolate in the factory George visited.

2) Informational Text #1 Video. Show students the videos of Curious George Visits Taza Chocolate Factory and/or any of the other videos. Have them identify the different jobs and tools/equipment and ingredients (goods) they see in the video and compare this to Curious George’s factory from the book.

3) Informational Text #2 Chocolate Making Interactive Book by Field Museum (requires updated Adobe Flash Player). This is a very engaging example of an informational text because the students read and interact with the story. Before reading, ask the students to look for the different jobs or tools used to produce chocolate. Then, during reading make notes on chart paper or a board when students identify different tools and jobs. For example, they may discuss the machette or knife that is used to cut the cocoa pod off of the tree or they may discuss the leaves that are placed on top of the pods while they ferment (explain vocabulary word). After reading ask the students what this author taught them about making chocolate. What new facts did they learn in this story?

3) Writing about the processes of chocolate making. An excellent digital tool for timeline organization is the ReadWriteThink Timeline, which can be used to make a timeline together. Then, students you can print a blank timeline and students can fill it in as you discuss the different jobs and equipment that are identified in the informational text.

If you are a Florida Educator, this post is for you! I have created short teacher prompts for you to use to elaborate on the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Economics K-5.

Lemonade Economics: Teacher prompts for NGSSS for Social Studies: Economics

Kindergarten

Standard SS.K.E.1.1

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Describe different kinds of jobs that people do and the tools or equipment used. Teacher Prompt: Examine the different lemonade stories (fiction and non-fiction) and think of the different jobs people might do in: 1) a lemonade stand; 2) a lemon grove; and, 3) making lemonade in a factory. Make lemonade in the classroom. What tools and equipment do you need? What types of jobs do people need to do to make lemonade?

Standard SS.K.E.1.2

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Recognize that United States currency comes in different forms. Teacher Prompt: What if a glass of lemonade cost $1.00. How could you pay for it? (teacher puts out a dollar bill, a dollar coin, and other combinations of coins if she thinks students are ready to count 100 pennies, count by 10’s to 100, etc.)

Standard SS.K.E.1.3

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Recognize that people work to earn money to buy things they need or want. Teacher Prompt: Read Lemonade for Sale and have students to discuss how the kids made money in the story. Why did the students produce and sell lemonade (to raise money for their clubhouse). Then ask them to imagine they have their own stand. What would they want to buy with the money they made? Branch the discussion out to other jobs. Relate this to Arthur’s Pet Business (the video and online readings were included in the workshop CD).

Standard SS.K.E.1.4

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Identify the difference between basic needs and wants. Teacher Prompt: Do the children need the clubhouse? The difference between basic needs and wants is that needs are things required for health and survival (food, clothing, shelter). Even though the children don’t “need” the clubhouse, they wanted a clubhouse because it was important for their club so they made a choice to work to raise money.

First Grade

standard SS.1.E.1.1

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Recognize that money is a method of exchanging goods and services. Teacher Prompt: What did they customers use to buy the lemonade from the children? They traded money for a good (lemonade).

Standard SS.1.E.1.2

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Define opportunity costs as giving up one thing for another. Teacher Prompt: The opportunity cost is the next best choice you could have made. For example, the children could sell lemonade to raise money for their clubhouse or they could choose to play instead. Because they chose to sell lemonade, they had money for the clubhouse. But they gave up some playtime. On the other hand, if they chose to play, they would not have money for the playhouse (think about the Three Little Pigs-what was the opportunity cost of the Straw and Stick pig not taking the time to build a sturdy house because they wanted to play instead?)

Standard SS.1.E.1.3

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Distinguish between examples of goods and services. Teacher Prompt: Think about a lemonade stand. The lemonade is a good. If someone is pouring lemonade for the customers, she is providing a service. If someone creates an advertisement for the lemonade stand, he is providing a service.

Standard SS.1.E.1.4

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Distinguish people as buyers, sellers, and producers of goods and services. Teacher Prompt: Think about a lemonade stand. Who are the buyers of lemonade? Who are the sellers of lemonade? Who are the producers of the lemonade?

Standard SS.1.E.1.5

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Recognize the importance of saving money for future purchases. Teacher Prompts: Think about the children in Lemonade for Sale. They were saving the money they made for future purchases in the club house. Think about your own life. Have you—or anyone else in your family—ever saved money for a future purchase? What happened?

Standard SS.1.E.1.6

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Identify that people need to make choices because of scarce resources. Teacher Prompt: How would the story change if the children ran low on lemons? Sugar? What kind of choices would the students have to make if lemons or sugar became scarce resources? What would happen if some of the children couldn’t help make or sell the lemonade?

Third Grade

standard SS.2.E.1.1

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Recognize that people make choices because of limited resources. Teacher Prompt: How would the story change if the children ran low on lemons? Sugar? What kind of choices would the students have to make if lemons or sugar became scarce resources? What would happen if some of the children couldn’t help make or sell the lemonade?

Standard SS.2.E.1.2

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Recognize that people supply goods and services based on consumer demands. Teacher Prompt: What would happen if nobody wanted to buy lemonade (no consumer demand)? What would happen if more consumers wanted lemonade? Should the children make more?

Standard SS.2.E.1.4

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Explain the personal benefits and costs involved in saving and spending. Teacher Prompt: What are the personal benefits for the customers buying lemonade? What are the costs? What are the benefits for the children who are selling the lemonade? What are the costs?

Standard SS.3.E.1.1

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Give examples of how scarcity results in trade. Teacher Prompt: How would the story change if the children ran low on lemons? Sugar? What kind of choices would the students have to make if lemons or sugar became scarce resources? Could they trade some of their profits for goods? What if two lemonade stands were working side by side and one was short on lemons and the other was short on sugar. What could they do?

Standard SS.3.E.1.3

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Recognize that buyers and sellers interact to exchange goods and services through the use of trade or money. Teacher Prompt: Think about a lemonade stand. Who are the buyers of lemonade? What do they use to purchase the lemonade? Who are the sellers of lemonade? What do they receive from customers in exchange for lemonade?

Standard SS.3.E.1.4

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Distinguish between currencies used in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Teacher Prompt: Search the Internet for different types of currency. Then ask students how they would pay for a glass of lemonade in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, or Caribbean countries.

Fourth Grade

Review Basic concepts from Third Grade Plus:

standard SS.4.E.1.1

Standard 1: Beginning Economics

• Identify entrepreneurs from various social and ethnic backgrounds who have influenced Florida and local economy. Teacher Prompt: The children in Lemonade Wars, the Warren Buffet Video, and the Lemonade Stand video were all entrepreneurs in the stories. Describe these children. What were their challenges? How did they succeed?

Fifth Grade: Review Third Grade basic concepts plus:

Standard SS.5.E.1.1

Standard 1: Market Economy

• Identify how trade promoted economic growth in North America from pre-Columbian times to 1850. Teacher Prompt: First discuss the concept of trade from today. For example, in the Lemonade Wars discuss how customers trade currency for lemonade and how the sellers trade lemonade for money. Then move back in time to explore other forms of currency from pre-Columbian times and revisit: consumers, producers, and sellers. What did they use for trade? If you didn’t have money, what could you use?

Standard SS.5.E.1.2

Standard 1: Market Economy

• Describe a market economy, and give examples of how the colonial and early American economy exhibited these characteristics. Teacher Prompt: First describe the basics of a market economy as illustrated in the circular flow model: Think of glasses of lemonade as the goods (outputs). Think of the flow of money where consumers spend money to buy goods/services. Money is used in the production and distribution of new resources that consumers can buy. People use resources (inputs) in the production and distribution of goods and services. What are the resources (human, natural, capital) required to make lemonade? (Human=jobs, natural=natural resources, capital=capital goods, tools, equipment). Now think how this would look in a different historical period, prior to the current market economy (that includes money and credit cards)

Standard SS.5.E.1.3

Standard 1: Market Economy

• Trace the development of technology and the impact of major inventions on business productivity during the early development of the United States. Teacher Prompts: Think how different technologies we have today allowed the students to make their lemonade faster than in the past. (frozen lemonade, powdered lemonade drink mix, bottled water, tap water, lemons transported to supermarkets, lemon juicers, etc.)

The lesson plan Finding Fabulous Financial Literacy Vocabulary with Fancy Nancy has been published online with ReadWriteThink.org, in association with the International Reading Association. The lesson and associated resources are free! Enjoy!

What would happen if you gave a cat a cupcake? How does this relate to economics? If you click on the book to look inside, you will have a mini lesson for teaching these concepts: wants/needs & goods/services.

Before Reading: Discuss wants and needs. Is a cupcake a need? What other foods are needs?

After Reading: Discuss the difference between needs and wants. We want many things, but there are some things that we need to survive or keep us healthy: food, shelter, clothing, medicine. Cupcakes are a food, but are they a food we need for health or are they an extra food? Extras are wants but not necessarily needs.  Play the Brain Pop Game about needs and wants with the students together or have them use the game individually on computers.  Here are some yummy cupcake recipes!

Here are some extra activities to use with the book!

Brain Pop Needs/Wants activity.

Goods and Services drag and drop activity from EconEdLink.

There are some excellent children’s books available to teach economics through the real-life activity of a lemonade stand. Use these books to provide a context for learning the economic concepts of operating a lemonade stand.

Then, use the EconEdLink Lesson plan The Lemonade Squeeze. In this lesson, students read “The Lemon Story” to learn where lemons come from. They also put on a play and discuss economic concepts about having a lemonade stand. They also learn elementary economic concepts–

Choice, Consumers, Demand, Price, Producers, Scarcity, Supply

–and play The Lemonade Stand Game in the lesson Not Your Grandma’s Lemonade Stand.

After they use the lesson, they can read the online book Make and $ell Fresh Lemonade by Sunkist…who also provides lemonade stand tips!

How many of you have seen this Lemonade commercial from Verizon?

Think of the commercial in terms of the 6 Core Economic Principles.

1. People choose. We always want more than we can get and productive resources are scarce. How does Suzy get human, natural, and capital resources for her lemonade empire?
2. All choices involve costs. An opportunity cost is the next best alternative you give up when you make a choice. Suzy makes the choice to go big with her lemonade stand. When she chose to go corporate, she refused something else…
3. People respond to incentives. Did incentives change in the commercial? How did people respond?
4. Economic systems influence individual choices and incentives. When her dad gave her the phone, he introduced a good that helped change the economic system from a roadside lemonade stand. What were the changes in the system as compared to a regular lemonade stand?
5. Voluntary trade creates wealth. What were the different types of specializations  of goods and services that helped Suzy’s lemonade empire?
6. The consequences of choices lie in the future. What were the consequences for Suzy’s dad? What were other unexpected consequences–good and bad?