Activity 1
As you start to talk about zones with the students, help them to see the importance of why and how cities are organized. Ask, “What would happen if a factory was next to your school, or if a chicken farm was next to an office building?”

You may want to list the different types of city zones on the board along with the student’s responses to the types of buildings found in each zone, before distributing the journals.

Activity 2
Your kit includes materials for 30 buildings. You will want most, if not all, of the buildings put together and included in the city. If your class is large and has almost 30 students, you might want to pull out some of the houses. Those can be kept for students who were absent the first day, so that every student will have a building in the city. If your class is smaller than 15 students, have each student construct two buildings. You can give the teacher any extra buildings.

It may be best to have the map hanging on the wall at the front of the room. Have the students come up, one at a time, to tape their building on the map as they explain why they think their building should go in the appropriate zone. After all of the buildings are on the map, you can place it on the floor for students to see.

If you plan carefully, you will have time to do the floor plan (blueprint) and building activities; however, discuss the floor plan and worksheet first.

Activity 3
Students learn best by doing. After introducing new vocabulary and concepts, consider dividing the class into groups of consumers and producers. You can simulate the daily workings of a restaurant as students perform the jobs of chefs, waiters, hosts, patrons, etc. This option, of course, will take considerable planning. Before bringing in foodstuffs for your restaurant, check with the teacher.

Activity 4
Write the 5 W’s on the board as you discuss the information reporters include in a newspaper article.

Help the students get started by giving them individual suggestions drawing from their personal experiences. Allow plenty of time to do so. Be careful to convey what the students attempted to write, without criticizing spelling and grammatical errors.

If time permits, bring in blank sheets of paper and have the students write out their newspaper articles. The written article can be as simple as writing complete sentences from their answers to the 5 W’s. If students finish quickly, have them draw pictures to correspond to their articles. Collect all the articles and staple them together. The class will now have a “newspaper” they can keep long after you have completed the program.

Activity 5
Be sure students clearly understand the functions of each form on the “You Can Bank On It” worksheet clearly. You may want to demonstrate how each of the forms on the “Deposit Slip Poster” should be used by cutting out each section and displaying them separately while filling out the necessary information. Allow the students to work along with you on their “You Can Bank On It Worksheets.” This will also allow time for Q&A.

This activity involves a great deal of classroom management so be sure to have you classroom teacher assist. There are two ways in which you may want to conduct this activity.

Option 1: If you decide to use the instructions given in the Guide for Volunteers and Teachers, we suggest while arranging the students in groups, be sure to have an individual work station for each of the workers, i.e. If there are 4 bankers, each of them should have their own desk. If there are 4 newspaper owners, each should have their own desk, etc.

Option 2: You may want to have yourself and the teacher serve as workers, design an automatic teller system to serve as the banker and have the students be the customer.

Note: This will only allow the students the opportunity to participate as consumers and not workers.

Each student will fill out their deposit slip and payroll check at their seat before walking up to deposit them in the automatic teller compartment that you design. This station is also where they will pick up their ATM cards. Have the students write the amount of $50.00 on the back of their cards. They can then proceed to the restaurant and newspaper stand. Be sure to indicate the cost of the newspaper prior to starting the activity.

Once the activity is complete, you may want to refer to the “Deposit Slip Poster” pertaining to Check Registry and go over the activity with the entire class.