Lesson 4- Economics

In this week's lesson, we learned about economics and how goods, services, and natural resource plan a role in economics. In this lesson, we started with a slightly different community-building activity. For this activty we did a " Would You Rather " slideshow by having the students move from side to side for the option they chose. After we completed the community building, we moved on to our interactive word wall and went over some important words about economics. For the next activity, the students participated in filling out the "I see, I think, and I wonder". worksheet while looking at the first and second primary sources. After they finished filling out their sheet and shared their thoughts and ideas with the rest of the group, my partner and I talked about the gold rush through discussions and reading two books that were about the gold rush. After teaching about the gold rush, we moved on to talking about goods, services, and natural resources. I went over our anchor chart about what goods, services, consumers, and producers are. We moved on to showing the students a video that talks about different resources. After the video, we went into a more detailed conversation with examples. Next, we did a quick knowledge check with a presentation with different examples of human, natural, and capital resources. After our knowledge check, we moved on to our interactive chart about goods, services, and natural resources by having the students place pictures in the correct category. When the students finished, we moved on to setting up our classroom store! This is where thenstudents were given $30 each and got to pick from fidgets, different playdough, and activity books with their money to see how they would use it wisely and make purchases. After the store, I started to complete the graphic organizer for the writing. I had decided that it would be best if we completed the graphic organizer together due to the very limited time frame we had left in this session. We were only able to complete the opinion section of the writing prompt. The part of the lesson that I feel went very well was the interactive chart of sorting pictures into the correct category. I feel that this went as well as it did was due to the knowledge check we had completed before, which helped clear up some confusion on certain items and what category they belong in. With each lesson, we've seen that it's been difficult to complete the entire lesson that we have planned. Time does go very fast, and it is hard to time every single activity to fit them all into the timeframe provided. And if we were to time very activity and move on to the next when the students are not fully grasping the content, then we would not be making any progress with expanding their knowledge. 

These are the student learning outcomes that were being followed throughout the lesson:

SLO 1: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to differentiate between human, natural, and capital resources, and concepts of surplus, subsistence, and scarcity through whole group discussion and by categorizing examples of human, natural, and capital resources on an interactive chart. 

SLO 2: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify how governments provide goods and services in a market economy by taxing and borrowing through discussion and by playing a role-playing game.

SLO 3: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to evaluate and assess how supply, demand, incentives, and innovations impact consumer and producer decision making through a monopoly game of California. 

SLO 4: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to compare and contrast the goods and services available in California and in the past by using the primary source from the Library of Congress.

The objectives that were met were one and two. The evidence that was shown to demonstrate they met the objectives was the knowledge check and the interactive chart were students had to categorize pictures of goods, services, and natural resources. All the students met these objectives. While students engaged in a classroom store activity that allowed them to make consumer decisions, SLO 3 was not fully met. Our lesson did not explicitly address supply, demand, incentives, or innovations. We also were not about to complete the planned Monopoly style game. As a result, students were not able to fully evaluate how these economic factors influence decision making. And SLO 4 was also not met due to limited time. 

From this experience, I learned that while engaging and interactive activities are important, they must be clearly aligned with the intended learning outcomes in order to be effective. Although my lesson included a variety of hands on and engaging components, such as the classroom store, interactive chart, and primary source analysis, I realized that not all activities fully supported the deeper objectives, especially SLO 3. This experience showed me that it is not enough for students to participate in activities; they also need structured opportunities to think critically, make connections, and reflect on their learning. 

This lesson helped shape my professional identity as a teacher who values both student engagement and meaningful learning. I am beginning to see myself as someone who prioritizes understanding over simply completing activities. I recognize the importance of being flexible and responsive to students' needs, especially when they require more time to grasp concepts. At the same time, I understand that I need to be more intentional in ensuring that my lessons are focused and aligned so that all objectives can be realistically addressed. 

In the future, this experience will influence how I plan, teach, and assess in several ways. When planning, I will be more mindful of time management and will prioritize the most important learning goals rather than trying to fit too many activities into one lesson. I will incorporate more explicit discussions and questioning that push students to explain their reasoning and make connections. Finally, in terms of assessment, I will include more opportunities for students to demonstrate deeper understanding through reflection, discussion, or written responses, rather than relying only on participation or completion of tasks.