The Crocodiles showed off the fruits of their labor when Cleveland Elementary 3rd graders hosted a market day to sell their very own creations.

The activity was the culmination of the 3rd grade Mini-Society lesson where students learn about goods, services, producers, consumers, bartering, income, profits, scarcity, opportunity cost, and the benefits of being business owners. Students were tasked with thinking of a good or service and the items needed to produce it.

Leading up to market day, they were able to earn “money” for completing their daily jobs. They then got with their “business partner” and bought items needed to complete their goods/services. They also made advertisements and commercials to get their product seen by all. Along the way, they maintained a bank ledger on their Google drive to put in what they earned and what they spent so they could see how much money they had to left to spend.

“We are hoping that all students learned the value of hard work and being compensated appropriately,” said 3rd-grade teacher Leah Marquez. “We hope that they learned that what they spend on each item, plus the work they put in, should be reflected in the price point of their items. We hope they learned how to work with a business partner and the give and take of that relationship.”