Classroom Supplies

10 min

Narrative

The purpose of this Warm-up is to elicit ideas about the different categories of school supplies and the varying prices, which will be useful when students use a similar table of supplies and their costs in a later activity. While students may notice and wonder many things about the tables, the large selection and wide range of prices are the important discussion points.

Launch

  • Groups of 2
  • Display the tables.
  • “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
  • 1 minute: quiet think time
Teacher Instructions
  • “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
  • 1 minute: partner discussion
  • Share and record responses.

Student Task

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

work supplies cost
box of 25 markers $5
box of 100 crayons $8
class library cost
set of 20 books about history $259
storybook (80 to choose from) $8
special items cost
carpet for the reading corner $65
a class aquarium, with fish $152
entertainment cost
board games (40 to choose from) $15
interactive computer games (math and reading) $75

Sample Response

Students may notice:
  • There are different categories.
  • This looks like a list of school supplies.
  • Some items are much more expensive than others.
  • Some of the things have different options.
Students may wonder:
  • What kinds of storybooks are available?
  • Why are some things much more expensive than others?
  • How much does the whole list cost if we buy everything on it for our class?
  • What board games are available?
Activity Synthesis (Teacher Notes)
  • “If you had to pick one item from this list for our classroom, what would you pick?” (I would choose the box of markers because I like making art. I would choose the aquarium with fish because it would be fun to have a class pet.)
  • “What is one other thing you would like to get for our classroom that is not on this list?” (I would like to get comic books. I would like to get other art supplies, such as paints and brushes.)
Standards
Building Toward
  • 3.NBT.1·Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.
  • 3.NBT.2·Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
  • 3.NBT.A.1·Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.
  • 3.NBT.A.2·Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.

25 min

15 min