In this story, Alexander's grandparents give him a dollar. He starts to spend his money right away, seven cents here, twelve cents there, and before you know it, Alexander who used to be rich, is out of money.
Alexander, from the Alexander series written by Judith Viorst has got to be one of my all time favorite child characters in literature. I actually added two books about him to my blog because I think there are so much you can do with them. I actually did a character education lesson with Alexander Who Is Not (Do you Hear Me? I Mean it!) Going to Move, during my student teaching also at the beginning of the year when we had three students who had just moved into the area. That book and lesson was also a big hit with students.
Alexander is always a big hit because he is your average kid, he has two brothers, an eye for mischief, and there is always something going on with him. In these stories there is always a good lesson, and in this particular story, Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday, I would use it as a way to show kids how fast you can spend money, and as a math lesson. I used this while student teaching in second grade while we were working on money. I gave students a money mat, and plastic coins that added up to a dollar. As Alexander spent seven cents, the kids would remove a nickel and two pennies from there mat. By the end of the story, they had no money left... Just like Alexander. This story is a lot of fun, and it was such a great tool for a hands on math lesson. Kids were really into it.
About the Author: Judith Viorst was born in 1931 and brought up in New Jersey. She has lived in Washington D.C. since 1960 since she married her husband, Milton Viorst. She has three sons, and I was surprised and excited to learn that their names are Anthony, Nick and Alexander, because those are the names of the brothers in the Alexander series. She writes science books, children's picture books, adult fiction and non fiction, poetry for children and adults and she has also written three musicals.
Genre: Learning about money, fiction
Age Level: 4-8
Theme/ Skill: Students will have a dollar, and subtract different amounts while following along with the story, until they, like Alexander have spent all of their money.
Pre-reading activity: (2nd grade) Before reading students will be given plastic coins to practice making different dollar amounts. They learned coin values in first grade, and they will have a review of the coin values before this lesson. They will practice adding coins together, and subtracting different amounts.
During reading: Students will use plastic coins while they read along with the story. Students have a dollar worth of plastic coins on their money mat. They will subtract coins when Alexander spends a certain amount. They will record how much he spent, and how much he has left. When the story is over, the students be out of coins on their money mats, and Alexander will have spent his dollar.
Post-reading activity: There will be a mock store in the classroom. Students will have a certain amount of coins, and they will be able to spend their coins on different items in the store. Students will try to spend all their money on objects in the store without having any change left.
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