Lunch Money

"This hits the jackpot." -- Kirkus Reviews

Clements, A. (2005). Lunch money. New Yourk: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Greg Kenton has always been good at making money, and his money-making competition with Maura only inspires him to make even more money. He soon realizes that kids come to school with extra money everyday, making school seem like a land full of money just for him. If he can come up with a product to sell, he can definitely make more money than Maura. Greg decides to sell small comic books that he writes and illustrates himself. His product starts off as a hit, until Maura begins to sell her own small books. Not only that, but the principle bans the sale of comic books on school grounds. How will Greg earn money and beat Maura in their money-making competition?

Reading Level: 840L
Suggested Delivery: 5th Grade Read Aloud

Electronic Resources:

Questions: This reading guide lists several questions that students can answer before, during, and after they read Lunch Money. Several of the questions have multiple parts which force students to think both literally and inferentially. These questions can be answered in a class discussion during reading. Several of the questions give students the opportunity to make text-to-self connections, as they are asked to compare the actions and feelings of certain characters to those of themselves. This guide also lists activities and research that students can complete. Because the book deals with money, several of the activities relate to math. Therefore, this book can be used in multiple content areas.

Cross Content Areas: This reading guide provides examples of how Lunch Money can be used in multiple content areas--language arts, math, and social studies. Teachers can use this book to address several content areas in their curriculum. This will help keep students motivated to keep up with the reading because if they do not, they will be behind in multiple areas. This also enables students to transfer their knowledge from one content area to another, an important skill to possess. Students will be able to take what they have learned from the reading and apply it to all aspects of their day.

Vocabulary:  percent, consumer, finance, expense, interest, monopoly, producer, economics, investment, supply and demand, goods, savings account

Reading Strategies:

• Before Reading:  Students create vocabulary cards based on the key terms found in Lunch Money. These cards can contain the word, definition, example, and picture to represent the word. This will help build students' background knowledge about economics, a prominent topic throughout the book.
• During Reading: Students complete a character grid about Greg and Maura. They fill in information about their physical appearance, their thoughts and actions, what they think about the other characters, and how others view them.
• After Reading: Using the character grid, write a script from either Greg's or Maura's point of view. Discuss their attitudes towards money and how they plan to make money at school. How do they feel about each other? Use this script to create a voki.

Inferential Comprehension: How have Greg's and Maura's attitudes about money changed from the beginning of the book to the end? Explain.