Introduction
A Raisin in the Sun details the hardships faced by the Youngers, an African American family living in the Southside of Chicago. This family contains Ruth, Beneatha, Travis, Walter and Mama, each of whom have different dreams for using the $10,000 insurance check they come into in the beginning of the screenplay. The screenplay is a domestic tragedy that illustrates conflicting goals and and paints a detailed picture of the segregation and culture of the nineteen fifties. The goal of this webquest is to have students delve deep into financial planning for the Younger family in order for them to gain a greater understanding of the power of money at the time.
Task
Students will select a partner to complete this assignment.The students are tasked with creating a budget sheet for the Youngers, and acting as their accountants. This budget sheet will be created in google docs and will cover six months of expenses to include: rent, electrical bills, gas, car payments, income, groceries and one mystery expenditure. Students will be given the opportunity to in a sense, choose their own adventure, by selecting a car, apartment and electrical company on their own. Upon completion of the budget sheet, students will write a two paragraph minimum reflection over what they learned about the power of money in the 1950s, an explanation of their budgeting strategies, and reasoning on why the Youngers are or are not in debt by the end of the six month period. Students will be given two days in the library to finish this assignment.
Process
To begin, each pair will explore this site which details the costs of a variety of items in the 1950s. This will aid the students in accurately displaying prices on their budget sheet. It is good to remember that the Youngers are a family of 5, so students will plan accordingly with grocery expenses. Groceries will be bought once a month and students will need a rationale in their reflection on why they chose the amount that they did.
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1950s.html
Students should also watch this interesting video which gives a brief explanation of the cost of living in the nineteen fifties
Next, students will utilize an inflation calculator to "translate" prices from modern times to the 1950s and visa versa. For the sake of this project, the students will use 1955 as the year, and choose any consecutive six moths.
https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl
Now, the pair must search for an appropriate South Side, Chicago apartment for the Youngers. They will search this modern apartment site to locate a two-bedroom space for the Youngers to inhabit. TIP: be sure to translate prices back to 1955 money!
http://www.apartmentguide.com/neighborhoods/Illinois/Chicago/South-Side/2-beds-1z141y8/
Once the apartment is secure students will scour this chart to find a proper electrical bill for the Youngers. Students may select any company they chose keeping in mind the city in which the Youngers reside and the fact that they have electricity, refrigeration and cooking power.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015084822132;view=1up;seq=24
Finally students can choose an appropriate car by exploring the website below. The car's model year must be before 1955, and students must ensure that the cost is accurate for the time period (the website given below needs no "translation"). Students will then decide how many months it will take for them to pay off their vehicle, and divide the cost of their car into affordable monthly payments. Students will list this information in the conclusion. Students will also note the cost of one gallon of gas and come up with an appropriate monthly gas expense and estimate, this will also be explained in the conclusion.
http://fiftiesweb.com/cars/1950s-cars/
After selecting an apartment, a car, and plotting electrical expenses, the students will create a google doc file to make a six month budget sheet in any layout they think is appropriate. Students will include a monthly income of $117 (which is $1400 a year), an initial deposit of $10,000 to either use or save for purchasing a house, and monthly payments on food, rent, electricity, car, and gas. Here is an example of a monthly budget sheet to use as a guideline. Fixed expenses are monthly set payments like rent, while variable expenses will be the students' mystery payment.
These mystery expenditures will be generated by this spinner, the students will spin once to reveal either a payment or a bonus to add to their sheet. Put the mystery expense in bold type. A certain amount of money is listed with each expense. (The titles do overlap but they will be legible once the spinner is spun)
https://www.classtools.net/random-name-picker/48_UbSM7Z
Once the students have detailed a full 6 month budget planner, they will write a two paragraph minimum reflection on their google doc. The pairs will explain their sheet thoroughly and list the strategies they employed in creating it and coming up with expenses, as well as the name of their apartment and electrical company. Students will also include two legitimately interesting facts they learned about the nineteen fifties. Finally, the students will conclude with whether or not the Youngers had to use their $10,000, if so explain why, and if the family has enough for either medical school, a trip to Africa, or a new home. Students will use outside resources and the inflation calculator to determine the cost of one of these items in the 1950s and list it in their paragraph.
Evaluation
| Category | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Budget Sheet | Contains 6 months of data with less than two calculation errors. | Contains 4 or 5 months of data with a few calculation errors. |
Contains less than 4 months of data and many calculation errors. |
| Expenses | All expenses from task and mystery expense are listed. | Some expenses are missing/ mystery expense omitted. | Significantly less expenses are included. |
| Organization | Chart is easy to follow with defined borders and titled by month. | N/A | Chart is illegible, unorganized and is not titled. |
| Reflection | Reflection is two paragraphs with little to grammatical errors. | Reflection is less than two paragraphs with obvious convention errors. | Reflection is less than one paragraph with unsettling grammatical errors. |
| Content | Reflection is detailed and robust. Student explains all ideas and strategies clearly. | Reflection is adequate in its analysis, some information may be missing. | Reflection is dull and lacks any reasonable content, strategies or information. |
| Timeliness | Project is submitted in class and on time | N/A | Project is late |
Total Score ____/30
Conclusion
In conclusion, this project was to show students the financial troubles endured by a poorer family living in a big city. The mystery expenses were designed to be a curve-ball, because you will never know what life may throw your way. This activity was intended to enlighten students about inflation and illustrate the cost of living in a different time period and give students a greater appreciation for their modern technology. Moreover, the goal of this exercise was to also teach students about budgeting and monthly payments in the hopes of preparing them for future endeavors.