The Lemonade War

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

In English, there is a popular expression about turning “lemons into lemonade.” It means that if you are given something that seems not to be worth very much—or that may even be bitter and unappealing—you can use your own hard work and creativity to turn it into something more appealing or valuable. Can you give an example of a time when you or someone else turned “lemons into lemonade”?

Teaching Suggestion and Helpful Links: Ask students to share what is important about the ability to “turn lemons into lemonade” in the scenarios they generate. Why do we prize people who can do this? Guide them toward an understanding of this as an important life skill before talking about the more specific case of how adding value applies to business practices.

• some inspirational examples of turning lemons into lemonade from Goodnet
• an Investopedia entry that explains the concept of value-added in economics

Short Activity

In the story you are about to read, children compete to see who can sell the most lemonade.