# Lesson 1.15: Shopping Lists and Store Circulars

**Unit:** Unit 1, Kitchen Skills and Smart Eating (Nutrition and Wellness)
**Topic:** 1.4 Plan, Shop, Cook: Meals on a Budget
**Grade:** 6 to 8 (written at grade 7; see Differentiation for the grade 6 support and grade 8 stretch)
**Days:** 1 class period of 40 minutes
**Room:** Either (classroom or FACS lab; no cooking today)

## Standards

- NYS module line: NYS N&W 3. Consumer Resources and Finance a) Create and organize a shopping list
- NYS module line: NYS N&W 3. Consumer Resources and Finance b) Describe and demonstrate food purchasing strategies that maximize the benefits of the food budget
- CTE theme line: CTE FCL 4. Buying Goods and Services f) Apply a decision-making model to maximize consumer satisfaction when purchasing goods and services
- CTE theme line: CTE FCL 4. Buying Goods and Services i) Demonstrate personal development of consumer skills through practice of these skills in a variety of classroom applications
- NYS FACS Learning Standard 3 (Intermediate), Key Idea: Students will understand and be able to manage personal resources of talent, time, energy, and money and make effective decisions in order to balance their obligations to work, family, and self.; Performance Indicator: Students are able to budget their time and money.
- CDOS Standard 3a Universal Foundation Skills: Managing Resources
- National FCS 3.0: 2.6.2 Use sound money management principles in personal and family finances.
- National FCS 3.0: 2.1.3 Examine the decisions behind providing food that is safe and nourishing for individuals and families.

(Note on the theme lines: the FCL module has no line that says "comparison shopping" or "plan purchases" in those words. Lines f) and i) are the closest verbatim lines and are what this lesson practices.)

## Enduring understanding and essential question

**Big idea:** A shopping list is a plan written down. It keeps you from buying what you already have, forgetting what you need, and paying full price for something that is on sale two aisles over.
**Essential question:** How does a piece of paper save a family money?

## Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1. (Low) Given a store circular, identify the sale price, the unit or size, the limit, the sale dates, and the loyalty card price on any item.
2. (Mid) Given a recipe and a pantry list, write a shopping list organized by store section that leaves out anything the pantry already has.
3. (High) Given a circular and a partial list, decide which two items on the list should wait for a better week and defend the choice with the price and the dates.

## Vocabulary

Tier 2 (general academic): organize, section, limit, expire
Tier 3 (FACS): circular (flyer), sale price, unit, loyalty price, pantry check, store section (produce, dairy, meat and deli, frozen, dry goods, household). See the unit vocabulary list for Turkish, Portuguese, and Spanish.

## Materials and setup

- This week's circular from a local supermarket, one per pair, paper or printed from the store website [Sal: King Kullen, Stop and Shop, or whichever store your students' families use; a mix is better]
- Handout, one per student: `Handout 01.15 - Circular Scavenger Hunt and Shopping List Template.md`
- One recipe card per team (use the Sheet Pan Nachos recipe from Lesson 1.13, which every student has already cooked, or the pasta and vegetables fallback from Lesson 1.20)
- A "what is in the pantry" list on the board (see Setup notes)
- Slides: `Slides 01.15 - Shopping Lists and Store Circulars` (outline in 05 Materials; the site renders it as a deck)
- Highlighters, one per pair
- Setup notes: Print or pull up the circular the day before and find five items to use in the scavenger hunt slide (one with a limit, one with a loyalty price, one sold by the pound, one buy-one-get-one, one with a sale ending this week). Write the pantry list on the board before class: olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, a half bag of shredded cheese, one can of black beans. Allergy check: no food is handled today.

## Pre-assessment

The do now asks students to write a shopping list from memory with no structure. How many write a random list, and how many group by section or write quantities, tells you how much of Step 1 is new.

## Do now and hook (Time: 5 min)

On the board: "You are sent to the store to buy everything for spaghetti and meatballs for four people. Write the list. You have 90 seconds."

Debrief: ask for a show of hands. Who wrote a quantity for anything? Who wrote the sauce next to the pasta? Who wrote parmesan? Who forgot it? Then the hook: hold up a circular. "Everything on your list is in here. Some of it is half price this week. Some of it is not. The store is counting on you not to know which is which."

## Procedure

| Step | Teacher will | Students will | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Direct instruction: reading a circular | Put one circular page on the screen. Point to the five parts of any sale listing: the price, the unit or size it applies to (per pound, per 24 oz jar, each), the limit ("limit 2 with card"), the dates the sale runs, and the loyalty card price versus the regular price. Show one buy-one-get-one and do the math aloud: two for the price of one is half price only if you need two. | Label the five parts on the practice listing at the top of the handout. | 6 min |
| 2. Learning activity: Circular Scavenger Hunt | Start a six-minute timer. Pairs hunt their circular for the ten items on the handout (a price per pound, a limit, a loyalty price, a sale that ends this week, the cheapest protein on the page, and so on). Circulate. Give two more minutes after the timer to finish writing and do the buy-one-get-one math on the handout, then run the whiteboard check. | Find each item, write the product, the price, and the page. Highlight it in the circular. Do the buy-one-get-one math. | 9 min |
| 3. Direct instruction: recipe to list, pantry check, store sections | Show the recipe card. Model turning it into a list: read every ingredient, cross off anything on the pantry list on the board, write the rest under the store section where it lives (produce, dairy, meat and deli, frozen, dry goods, household). Say why sections matter: one pass through the store, nothing forgotten, no going back for the cheese. | Follow along on the shopping list template with the same recipe. Cross off the pantry items. | 6 min |
| 4. Practice: the team list and the wait decision | Teams finish the list for their recipe, then use the circular to write the sale price next to any item that is on sale this week. Last task: circle two items that should wait for a better week (not on sale, not needed until later, or the sale starts next week) and write one sentence each. | Complete the list by section, price what is on sale, circle two items to wait on and explain. | 10 min |

## Questions to ask

Monitor understanding:
- The circular says "$2.99 per lb." You want a 3 pound bag. What will it cost?
- "Limit 2 with card." What happens on the third one?
- Which store section is shredded cheese in? Tortillas? Frozen corn?

Deepen learning:
- Why do stores put the sale ending date in small print?
- If the pantry already has half a bag of cheese, do you still buy cheese? What decides it?
- Buy-one-get-one on something your family does not eat: is that a deal?

## Check for understanding

Thumbs at the end of Step 1 on "I can find the five parts." Then a whiteboard check before Step 4: hold up one item from the circular; every pair writes the unit and the limit on a whiteboard and holds it up. A "got it" answer names both. Pairs that miss the unit get pointed at the fine print during Step 4.

## Closure (Time: 4 min)

3-2-1 exit card: 3 parts of a sale listing, 2 store sections your list used, 1 item you would wait on and why. Three students read one line aloud. Sort into "got it" and "needs more"; the "needs more" pile decides whether Lesson 1.16 opens with the five parts again before unit price.

## Differentiation and supports

- ELL: the five parts of a sale listing are on a slide with arrows; the store sections on the template have a picture each; sentence starter for the wait decision: "We should wait on ___ because the sale ___"; the words sale, limit, unit, section, and circular are on the unit vocabulary card in Turkish, Portuguese, and Spanish. A circular in the family's language is a good option if the store prints one [Sal: some Long Island stores print Spanish circulars; check].
- IEP and 504 (general): the scavenger hunt asks for six items instead of ten; the recipe used is one the student already cooked, so nothing on it is new; the list template has the sections printed so nothing has to be drawn; extended time on the wait decision.
- Grade 6 support: the pantry check is done as a class, and the list has only two sections filled by the team (dry goods and dairy) with the rest filled together.
- Grade 8 stretch: teams compare the same three items across two different store circulars and write which store wins and by how much (this previews CTE FCL 4. g) and Sal's lunch-menu comparison idea in Unit 6).
- UDL checkpoint used: multiple means of action and expression (highlight in the circular, write on the template, or say the answer to the whiteboard check) and multiple means of engagement (a timed hunt with real prices from a store the family uses).
- No-kitchen or no-machine alternative: not needed; paper only. If circulars cannot be printed, use the store's weekly ad page on classroom devices.

## Assessment

| Objective | Standards met | Learning task | Assessment (formative or summative; tool) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Identify the five parts of a sale listing | N&W 3. b); FCL 4. i) | Labeling, Step 1; scavenger hunt, Step 2 | Formative; handout checked against the teacher key, eight of ten items found is "got it" |
| 2. Write a shopping list by section with a pantry check | N&W 3. a); Std 3 PI C; National FCS 2.1.3; CDOS 3a Managing Resources | List template, Steps 3 and 4 | Formative; template collected as daily work, scored complete (sections, quantities, pantry items crossed off), partial, or missing |
| 3. Decide which items should wait and defend it | N&W 3. b); FCL 4. f); National FCS 2.6.2 | Wait decision, Step 4 | Formative; two sentences checked for a price or a date as the reason |

Objective 2 is assessed summatively on the project plan (Rubric 01, criterion 1) and on the Unit 1 test.

## Homework

None. Optional: bring in a circular from a store your family uses. Extra circulars make Lesson 1.16 better.

## Connections

Math: the buy-one-get-one and per-pound math is ratio work; the math teacher can use the same circular the same week. Community: the store's weekly ad is free and public; a store manager may donate a stack of circulars if asked. [Sal: your King Kullen relationship from the Brentwood labs is the obvious ask.]

## Sources

- NYS Middle Level CTE FACS Content Module 05, Nutrition and Wellness (nyctecenter.org, June 2018), lines 3. a) and 3. b). Copy in `02 Standards/NYS Module PDFs/`.
- NYS Middle Level CTE Theme Module 03, Financial and Consumer Literacy, lines 4. f) and 4. i). Same folder.
- NYS Learning Standards for Health, Physical Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences (1996), Standard 3, Intermediate. Wording per `02 Standards/STANDARDS CROSSWALK.md`, Part A.6.
- CDOS Intermediate Standard 3a, per `02 Standards/STANDARDS CROSSWALK.md`, Part A.7.
- National Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences Education 3.0 (LEAD FCS Education, 2018), competencies 2.6.2 and 2.1.3, per `02 Standards/STANDARDS SOURCES - web research.md`.
- Sal's own materials: the King Kullen shopping list and store-brand swap sheet (`Education/TeachingWork/LessonPlans/education_teaching_facs_kingkullen_shoppinglist_2026_03.pdf`) and the "create and organize a shopping list" day in his FNES 563 draft unit calendar.

## Teacher notes

- If time runs short, cut the scavenger hunt to six items and skip the wait decision; do the wait decision as the do now in Lesson 1.16.
- Common mistake: students write the sale price without the unit, then get the total wrong in Lesson 1.18. Say "price and unit" together every time, like first and last name.
- The "limit" concept confuses grade 6. The plain version: the store lets you have two at the low price; the third one costs the regular price.
- Some students' families shop at bodegas, wholesale clubs, or ethnic markets without circulars. Say that out loud; the list and the pantry check still work everywhere, and the price question is answered by the shelf tag, which is Lesson 1.16.
- [Sal: your Brentwood shopping list doc used Food Club store-brand swaps to bring a $170 list under $150. Tell that story here in one minute; it is the wait-or-swap decision at classroom scale.]