Community Participation Lesson Plan - Developing Financial Decisions Instructional Area:  Leisure  Community  Home Living / Daily Living Ability Level:  Emerging  Developing  Mastery Topic / Skill Outcome: Learn to make financial decisions Learning Area(s): Literacy Communication Math & Science Purpose of Lesson / Objective: Become aware of relationships between sizes of items and costs Compare and contrast generic and brand names and their prices Become aware of sale items and their item location/placement within a store Materials / Equipment / Environment: Weekend ads from discount stores such as Target, Wal-Mart or K-Mart Classroom pricing booklet with prices of general shopping items by size and brand Classroom activities as well as a community trip to a discount store such as Target, Wal-Mart, or K Mart and transportation to that store Calculator Writing pad Pens or pencils Group Size: 4-5 Time Required: 50 minutes- 3 opportunities (more sessions needed if you do supporting activities) Lesson Procedure: Week 1 Students write a list of 5-6 favorite personal items They write down the sizes these products come in They use the classroom-pricing booklet to determine the prices for different sizes of their items Week 2 Students compare and contrast prices for generic and brand name items for the same size and product Week 3 Students go on a community trip and write down the prices for the items on their list They visit sale displays in the store They note which items are sale items Carry Over / Related Activities: Students can review ads and determine what sizes of goods area a better price They can also decide whether generic/store brand or the name brand is a better buy Supporting Activities / Possible Adaptations: Play a classroom game for picking the best buy Point to the size of product that costs the least from a selection of two items, one generic and one a name brand Identify sale items by tags and locations in stores. Point to a selection of up to three items to identify the sale item Strategies for Participation: Encourage students to come up with as many brand names as and generics for the same product as possible Make a game of picking the size of product that is the best buy Student Reaction / Evaluation: Students feel good about learning and using cost saving strategies when spending his or her money Lesson Support: The lesson can be introduced as practice for determining what is a best buy Examples of ways to save money and what the saved money can be used for can be covered as an incentive to learn the skill sin this lesson Students can be encouraged to show different ways to use cost saving techniques to save money This lesson aligns with the General Shopping part of the Community Participation Integrated Learning Continuum and Skills Inventory