Let’s Go Shopping!

by Sarah Hobson

My ABE/GED students really enjoy newspaper-based lessons related to "the real world." Therefore, I developed three "shopping expeditions" for them using the local newspaper. These "expeditions" were a fun way for students to practice cooperative learning, math, and budgeting skills. They also learned about advertising and how to use the newspaper in their daily lives.

The first "expedition" was quite simple: Each student had to use the newspaper ads to write a math problem for another student to solve. Of course, the student initiating the problem had to solve it first so he/she would be able to correct the other student’s work. The problems included math skills such as percentages (for adding the sales tax), adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, averaging, etc. (Example: You have $50.00. You purchase a 5 lb. roast, two cans of juice, return one can, buy a bag of potato chips, etc. How much change will you have? Be sure to include the local sales tax to your purchase before subtracting.) Students found this work to be fun, challenging, and creative. In fact, they requested that this lesson be repeated on numerous occasions.

For the second "shopping expedition," I "gave" each student $1,000 to spend. They had to search through the paper and purchase one gift for all other students in the class. The object of the lesson was to think about their fellow students and make purchases that each individual would really like. They also had to get as close to budget as possible but not go over budget. In order to make their purchases, the students had to carefully consider the personalities of the class members and what type of item each student would really like to have as a gift. Once the "shopping" was completed, the students shared their selections with the class. This lesson not only gave the students practice in reading the newspaper and using math skills, but it also helped build personal relationships within the class and it was a lot of fun.

The third and final "shopping expedition" was to plan family meals and purchase the food for those meals for a four-day period within a budget. The students were divided into small groups and each group was given a different family scenario. The scenarios included information on the number of family members, family income, number and type of family pets, and some reminders about health and eating habits particular to each family group. The assignment was to develop menus for a four-day period for their group’s family. Using their menus, each group then developed a budget and purchased food accordingly. Each group shared the results of their work at the end of the assignment.

These newspaper "shopping expeditions" have been a successful and fun way for my ABE/GED students to learn about the newspaper, advertising, and budgeting. Math and cooperative learning skills were reinforced as well. Most importantly, the students had fun while learning and felt they were learning practical skills they could use in their everyday environments.