How Much is a Million?

Explicit Instruction/Teacher Modeling

• Read How Much is a Million? by David M. Schwartz.
• Have students brainstorm ideas of things they could have one million of.
• Ask students to think about what they would do with these items.
• Have students pair and share their ideas.

Guided Practice/Interactive Modeling

• Pass out the If I Had a Million worksheet.
• Go over the worksheet with the class, explaining how to fill it in.
• Give an example of what you might like one million of. Example: If I had a million cats I would teach them how to fetch and dance. And then, I would open a cat circus, the first in the world, for all my friends to see. I would give Sasha 15 cats and she would open a cat cafe so people who didn't have cats could come and play.
• Let the kids know that this can be fun and silly, and that you want them to imagine how much one million is while doing this activity.

Independent Working Time

• Allow students to collaborate to get their creative juices flowing. Tell students that, though they can help each other brainstorm, their topics for the worksheets need to be different.
• Walk around the room to keep students on task and to answer any questions students may have.

• Enrichment: Students who need more of a challenge can create more than one story, or extend their story beyond the worksheet.
• Support: Those who need extra help may buddy up with another student to help them talk through ideas.

• Read through students' stories to assess their understanding of how much one million is.

• Allow students to share their stories with the class.
• Ask students whether or not they understand how much one million is. Take questions or comments from students.