Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Learn about and understand complex financial policies through this interactive teaching option. Learn about the federal budget with The Fiscal Ship, a game that challenges players to keep their financial ship upright through policy and debt choices. Use the search bar to encourage students to think about a variety of different types of financial concerns facing individuals and the government.

tag(s): financial literacy (91)

Think of everyone in the world living on one street; the poorest people are on the left and the rich on the right. Everyone else falls somewhere in the middle. That is the setup of Dollar Street, a searchable, visual database sharing income features from 264 families from around 50 countries and including over 30,000 photos. Take a quick tour to learn how to use the interactive and understand financial guidelines used based on income per month. Use the drop-down boxes to select specific criteria including the number of beds, homes, or family snapshots. An additional dropbox allows you to select specific countries to view.

tag(s): cross cultural understanding (156), cultures (132), family (53), financial literacy (91), globe (12), homes (4)

Cha-Ching is a financial literacy program developed for use with students in grades K-6. Animated videos provide lessons on saving and earning money, entrepreneurship, and charity. Each lesson includes classroom activity guides and several also include family activity guides. Educator guides provide complete details for teaching with the videos and correlation to financial literacy and social studies standards.

tag(s): financial literacy (91), money (119)

FutureSmart is an interactive personal finance course designed for students in grades 6-8. The three and a half hour course correlates to National Standards and covers a variety of topics including budgeting, goal-setting, and planning for the future. Enroll using your school email address to register students and access your dashboard that includes student reports and supplemental materials. Be sure to download the information sheet that includes additional details about all available features.

tag(s): financial literacy (91), game based learning (171), money (119)

Investing for Beginners is a YouTube playlist created by Fidelity Investments. The playlist includes 17 videos covering topics such as Investing for Beginners and How to Define Your Investing Personality. Videos all run less than five minutes in length, making them perfect for quick introductions to financial topics. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
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tag(s): financial literacy (91), investing (5), stock market (9)

Build your understanding of the U.S. economy through a creative, well-organized collection of short films (5-8 min) designed to explain 20 key concepts that any informed citizen needs to understand. Unlike many informational films, these are quite engaging. The collection is divided into five chapters on Economy, Money, The Role of Government, Globalization, and Inequality. All of us can better understand how our economy works from watching these films and exploring some of the follow-up discussion suggestions, even among adults. Teachers can obtain a link to free, downloadable lesson materials, activities, and extensions by filling out a form with their email address. (The email comes within a few minutes, but watch your SPAM filter. Requesting the link via a home email may be better to avoid school filtering!) The teacher materials include correlations to CCSS standards in ELA, Math, and Writing. The content of the films and lessons supports many major concepts of economics and government included in state and other standards. App versions are available for both iOS and Android.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (143), financial literacy (91), money (119), supply and demand (4)

Learn about the Stock Market and the world of finances without spending a cent with Wall Street Survivor. Create a free account to access free courses and stock market simulations. Once registered, join stock market leagues. Set up your own practice portfolio for a no-risk option to dabble in stock trading and buying. Play against friends using your own settings and options for trading and selling. In addition to investing options, be sure to check out the large library of articles and tutorials teaching how the stock market works. Not all courses are free, but several basic introductory finance courses offer free lessons in an easy to understand format. If your district blocks YouTube, videos may not be viewable.
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tag(s): business (47), financial literacy (91), money (119)

Learn to manage money while having fun living on a 20 "bean" salary using this printable game. Use the directions and discussion questions to play two rounds of the game. Although it is possible to play with individual players, the site recommends groups of between 2 and 5 players for optimal results. Even though this game is "low tech," it is a great teaching tool!

tag(s): financial literacy (91), game based learning (171)