Monday 7 May 2012

Another challenge...

Division 5 Students,

Mrs. Robson and I spoke this weekend about how much we enjoyed your responses to the pizza question.  We decided to combine some math, poetry, and reading and writing power to give you another challenge.

For the past month or so we have read many books and used the words in the text or pictures to try to infer things that the author has purposely not said.   Sometimes it is a moral, sometimes it what the character might be thinking, sometimes it is a hint about what might happen next and so on.

We would like you to read the poem below and see if you can figure out what the author might be trying to infer.

Please remember blog commenting etiquette.   You may disagree with someone but please do it in a kind and respectful manner.   As well, be sure to support your opinion with reasons.

Thank you,
Mrs. Robson and Mrs. Barker


Smart

My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes - I guess he don't know
that three is more than two!

Just them, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
and the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!

And then I went and showed my dad,
and he go red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head-
Too proud of me to speak!
Shel Silverstein

20 comments:

  1. Hello Mrs Robson I think the answer to this question
    Is one dollar and five cents

    By Boris

    ReplyDelete
  2. Although the title of the poem is "Smart", the child in the poem is not really that smart because ,in reality, he has got less and less money but he "thinks" that he gets more money.So sometimes what one thinks might not be always right.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amos-------------------___________________------------------------8 May 2012 at 16:26

    yeah i agree with jonathan that person isn't really smart i kinda think hes dumb and i dont get how is this a qusetion it is like an answer i don't think i can answer this at all so sorry boris i think it is impossble to answer this there is no question in this poem they don't tell you the detaills if it is a question or not

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remember to capitalize your letters Amos
      INCLUDING MY NAME

      Delete
  4. Rachellyne :)8 May 2012 at 17:26

    I agree with Jonathan because close at the end he got five pennies but, he didnt trade the four nickels for the five pennies. During this poem, this guy thought the more coins he got, it was better, but he didn't count them. So, at the end. he ended up getting 5 pennies.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i kind of agree with amos and jonathan because how i see this poem is the kid is too stupid to know math,you see he got tricked by his friends and a clerk for less money he had alot then got to five the way i see it this is a complete take away question you take away ,
    my answer is:15 cents the kid has left because, 100cents - 50 =50 -30cents=20-5 pennies = 15 cents the kid basically has 15 cents left . his dad is red because he used his dollar bill and wasted it for less money so the kid ended up with 15 cents his dad is too mad to talk . He got less money than he started with. He had 1 dollar and he lost 105 cents which is 1.05$ he lost a dollar bill and five cents

    Sincerly ,

    Vincent =3

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with everyone that he lost the money and got less.

    Sincerly,
    Chelsea

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think the moral of the poem is look before you do.

    Sincerely,
    Chelsea

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree with Rachellyne and Jonathan.Because the boy had more at the
    begining and it got smaller and smaller,and at the end he only have
    5$ left.


    sincerely
    Lucy

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree with you guys he is just getting less and less money how old is that kid 5

    ReplyDelete
  10. I agree with Jonathan and Amos, the question doesn't have enough details and i have no clue what the question is.Also the guy is just wasting his money for less money

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remember Melissa at school the teacher said there won't be much details

      Delete
    2. I agree with Rachellyne.The boy can not just look at how many coins he has.The boy should count the value of the coins. At last, the boy lost 95 cents. Thanks.

      Jenny

      Delete
    3. thanks for agreeing with me melissa

      Delete
    4. your welcome

      Delete
  11. no this is not right, the right answer is 1 dollar is more then 2 quarters, 2 quarters is more then 3 dimes, 3 dimes is more then 4 nickels, 4 nickels is more then 5 pennies. because 1 dollar is 1dollar, 2 quarters is 50 cents 3, 3 dimes is 30 cents, 4 nickels is 20 cents, and 5 pennies is 5 cents.

    by: Emma

    ReplyDelete
  12. He thought that if he had the most number of coins,he had more money
    .

    ReplyDelete
  13. Allan
    if you give one dollar bill to trade two quarters .two is bigger than
    one but one dollars is bigger than two quarters because two quarters are only equal to fifty cents .but you gave one dollar.he seems to be so smart .but it is not coins you get is how much money that is worth in the coins.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I guess the boy is not too smart after all. Every time he counts the number of coins in his hand and ignore the actual value of the money. One dollar = 100 cents, two quarters = 50 cents, three dimes = 30 cents, four nickels = 20 cents, five pennies = 5 cents. Therefore, every time he loses money after each exchange.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I agree with Jonathan,and I also think that the boy is kind of dumb because he think that the more coins
    You have the more money you have got.First he got a 1$ then he changed it for 2 quarters
    Which means 50 cents and dollar is more then cent,then he change the 2 quarters for
    3 dimes which is even lesser money,then he changed the 3 dime for 4 nickels,
    Then he trade it for 5 penny which is missing 95 cent from the 1$.

    Lisa

    ReplyDelete