Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday

Reader’s Response: Before I begin talking about this book, let me admit, with no shame, something I used to be embarrassed to tell people. It was at the age of twelve when I, finally, understood what money meant, how change worked and that all things (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollars and dollar bills) were considered to be equal and acceptable forms of money. Fast-forward fifteen years and I am a Math teacher! If there is one way to get students invested in Math content, it is through money. Students love to talk about money. What they like to spend their money on, how they typically make and save their money and, most popular of them all, if they had all the money in the world what they would buy and why.  Judith Viorist’s Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday, is a great story to get students, and adults, to think about money and to solve mathematical problems in a unique way.  This book shows how math is needed to keep a budget and that opportunity costs exist whenever you are making a decision. The title itself makes the reader wonder, “What happened to Alexander? Where did all of his money go?” The story begins with a set of quick math problems on the first and second page which pulls the reader in and jump-starts the brain.

Evaluator Response: Judith Viorist put Alexander’s spending habits in a chronological order which forces the reader to pay close attention to each of his outings and their financial cost. Because there are illustrations, by Ray Cruz, on every page which depict how much money Alexander has lost and why he lost that money, it allows readers of all levels to stay engaged. The plot is simple, yet entertaining, and math is the key to keeping up with the story. Students will be doing math, not because they have to do addition/subtraction/multiplication practice, but because they want to know exactly how much money Anthony and Nicholas have, Alexander’s two elder brothers, and how much money Alexander has lost.

Teacher Response: If a student, or multiple students, are interested in saving money but do not have much practice saving money, I would recommend Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday. This is also a great book to practice, as a class, mathematical fluency. Each page has different clues/hints hidden in the text to help the reader or listener solve for Alexander’s current balance. Addition, subtraction and multiplication are covered on almost every page. Personally, I will use this story with my 7^th grade classes because they are itching for a new fluency activity. They are not content with just Mad Minutes.

Literacy Coach Response: Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday pushes the reader to practice computational math skills (addition, subtraction and multiplication) while they read or listen to the story. In addition (pun) to building a student’s fluency, the book teaches an important life lesson: each decision you make has a financial cost, or, an opportunity cost.  The book is an interactive book that can be accessed by learners across different reading and math levels. It brings in familial relationships and lessons in how to and how to not treat other people. The teacher can use this book to practice fluency, work with visual or auditory learners and put math in terms of real-world scenarios. In addition to this, this book could be used to introduce different objectives, such as inequalities (i.e. “How much money does Alexander need if he wants a $20 walkie-talkie?”). Because this book goes in chronological order, it could also be used to work on building comprehension skills in literacy for all levels of readers. Children could do extension activities where they create their own storyline using money and then switch with a partner to solve for their partner’s current balance.

https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/Files/PDFs/Education/Lessons/Alexander-Who-Used-to-Be-Rich.pdf has lesson plans for Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich including numerous extension activities for students after they finish reading. http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Judith-Viorst/707395 gives more children’s books by Judith Viorst , who primarily focus on young student’s social and emotional developmental growth.