TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Apr 14, 2024
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to go to the Featured Sites Archive
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Spent - Urban Ministries of Durham
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): character education (76), difficult conversations (58), empathy (26), financial literacy (92)
In the Classroom
Include Spent as a learning resource to use with your lessons on empathy or difficult conversations. Ask students to spend time playing Spent as a way to explore how choices they make affect their living situation. Enhance learning by asking students to take a screen recording of a difficult choice they make while playing Spent and discuss their thinking behind the option chosen. Use ScreenPal (was Screencast-o-matic), reviewed here, to record and share student's recordings. If you teach older high school students, use Spent to introduce a research unit into understanding poverty in your community. Have students share their learning using multimedia presentation tools like Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, or Visme, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Education for the Real World - EVERFI
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (157), financial literacy (92), literacy (107), mental health (34), social and emotional learning (81), STEM (262), Teacher Utilities (146)
In the Classroom
Discover the many free resources on this site to provide individual lessons or complete learning units for your students. As students complete assignments, use the many offerings found at Class Tools, reviewed here, to enhance learning through creating timelines, completing graphic organizers, and more. For activities that include new vocabulary, use a digital game creation site such as Baamboozle, reviewed here, to review and practice new words and terms. Have students show what they know upon completion of any of the activities using Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, to create a collage, poster, flyer, or multimedia presentation sharing their knowledge of the subject.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Inflation Calculator - Morgan Friedman
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1900s (73), 20th century (59), calculators (37), financial literacy (92)
In the Classroom
Although this calculator seems relatively simple, use it for many purposes in your classroom. When reading stories set in different times throughout the 1900's use the calculator to compare costs in the story to 21st-century costs. Use the calculator for student writing projects set in the past to add authenticity to information included. Take student learning a step further and ask them to create an infographic comparing prices, technology, populations, workforce, or other important indicators of two different eras. Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, will modify student learning and is a very easy to use tool for creating infographics using their many available templates. Challenge math or economics students to enhance learning and create an inflation calculator based on different sets of statistics using Microsoft Excel or Google Forms. Work together with a history teacher to include those statistics on a history timeline with a tool like Time Graphics Timeline Maker, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Budgeting for the Future - Committe for a Responsible Federal Budget
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): financial literacy (92), politics (112)
In the Classroom
Share this interactive with students to increase understanding of different budget options. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast options found in different plans.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Beginner's Guide to Bitcoin & Blockchain Technology - Lisa and bitcoinfy.net
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): financial literacy (92), money (119)
In the Classroom
Share this infographic with students as part of finance and economics lessons. Include this infographic and others using a bookmarking tool like Wakelet, reviewed here. Have students find and share additional websites explaining cryptocurrencies to your Wakelet. Ask students to create explainer videos describing different cryptocurrencies using Clipchamp, reviewed here. As an ongoing project, have groups of students create a weekly or monthly podcast using Podcast Generator, reviewed here, to discuss the latest economic news including cryptocurrencies.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Economic Games - Nicolas Gruyer and Nicolas Toublanc
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): business (47), financial literacy (92), game based learning (171), simulations (8), stock market (9)
In the Classroom
Include games from this site as part of economics and financial literacy lessons. This site is perfect for use with gifted students for independent study with peers. After completing games, ask students to use a digital storytelling tool like Book Creator, reviewed here, to explain complex financial concepts in an easy to understand manner.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dollar Street - Gapminder
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (157), cultures (132), family (53), financial literacy (92), globe (12), homes (4)
In the Classroom
Most teachers will want to bookmark this site to use in many different situations. Share Dollar Street on your interactive whiteboard to compare and contrast your community and living situation to those around the world. When reading books mentioning other countries, look up financial information using this site to help students understand typical living situations. Use Dollar Street as a starting point for research projects. Ask students to create a virtual field trip to their chosen location using Google My Maps, reviewed here. Google My Maps includes tools for labeling stops on a map as participants follow locations created.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cha-Ching Money Smart Kids - Discovery Education and Jackson Charitable Foundation
Grades
K to 6tag(s): financial literacy (92), money (119)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of these free lessons and videos to teach financial literacy in your classroom. Collect student ideas on how to save and earn money onto an online bulletin board like lino, reviewed here. lino offers the ability to include images, videos, and comments. Have students take pictures of different ways financial situations were faced over the course of a month then create a collage for your class using an image editor like Photo Joiner Collage Maker, reviewed here. Extend learning by challenging students to use their imagination to create a financial adventure game using Scratch, reviewed here. Scratch is an easy to use program that brings adventures to life through interactive stories, animations, and games.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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FutureSmart - EverFi and MassMutual Foundation
Grades
6 to 9tag(s): financial literacy (92), game based learning (171), money (119)
In the Classroom
Incorporate FutureSmart into your flipped classroom, assign different modules as homework. If integrating technology use in your classroom, try using an online bulletin board tool like Dotstorming, reviewed here, to have students post important decisions they made as mayor while advising citizens about their finances. Then discuss their decisions together in class. Allow students to make comments on the bulletin board during this discussion time, so all students will have a chance to express their opinions. Have students create a personal budget (or work in pairs to create an annual classroom budget) at the end of the course. Enhance learning by challenging students to create a presentation sharing what they learned using an interactive infographic like Infogram, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Banzai! - Banzai.com
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): financial literacy (92), game based learning (171)
In the Classroom
Banzai is an excellent resource for any financial literacy course, or for those who don't have financial literacy classes as an option for your school. Create your classroom account, and then provide students with a class code to sign in to their account. Create as many classes as you like then have students follow the curriculum including pre-tests, simulations of life scenarios, interactives, and post-tests. The Banzai tool grades it all. Set up student accounts and assign activities based on your state standards. Be sure to share Banzai on your class website for students to explore at home. Enhance student learning goals by having students reflect on their learning using a blogging tool such as Penzu, reviewed here. Banzai would work well for blended or remote learning since it works on any internet connected device, including tablets and smartphones at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Financial Literacy Resources - KQED Education
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): financial literacy (92)
In the Classroom
Discover the many ready-to-go, free resources that go with these free lesson plans for use with all students, not just English language learners. Include this site on your class web page for students and parents to access as a reference when discussing financial issues at home. Use the calculators found on the site as part of any financial unit or as a math problem solving lesson. Oh, and by-the-way, students will also practice listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Money Basics Tutorial - Goodwill Community Foundation
Grades
6 to 11tag(s): banks (8), financial literacy (92)
In the Classroom
Use these lessons when teaching financial literacy or consumer education courses. Include lessons as part of applied math activities such as balancing a budget, managing savings, or understanding debt. Have students explore on their own. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs to describe ways to become a good consumer using edublogs, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Life Skills - Barclays
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): careers (139), financial literacy (92)
In the Classroom
Help students appreciate that career planning is an ongoing process that includes education, aptitudes, and personality in order to find a "good fit." Life Skills is a great resource for helping students get more concrete information and insight into the sometimes vexing question of "what I want to do when I grow up." Use it in guidance classes or as part of a budgeting and life planning section in Family and Consumer Science or business classes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Plan Your Dream Prom - Thinkport
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): financial literacy (92)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a fun way to explore budgets and financial planning with teens. Allow students to create different scenarios to find a practical approach to budget planning. Use as part of a debate for students to discuss their opinions on the amount to spend on prom expenses. This is a great lesson to do around prom season as part of a math class or consumerism unit. You could also use it with younger students planning for prom a year or more from now! Even though middle schoolers don't have prom, some of them would LOVE dreaming about it.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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