Resources and Downloads for Financial Literacy

• What Is Financial Literacy?: Learn what it takes to become financially literate, why this set of knowledge and skills is so critical, and what this means for schools. (Edutopia, 2015)
• The Value of Financial Literacy: Take a look at this infographic for more information about what the research tell us about teaching finance to students. (Edutopia, 2012)
• Entrepreneurship Education Stresses Learning by Doing: Discover how entrepreneurship education can engage students’ critical thinking skills and deepen their financial literacy. You may also want to check out some of Edutopia’s resources and downloads related to entrepreneurship education. (Edutopia, 2011)
• Survey of the States: Explore takeaways of a biennial survey conducted by the Council for Economic Education that looks at the state of K–12 economic and financial education in the United States; an interactive companion to the survey dissects the costs of financial illiteracy and benefits and challenges of implementing financial and economic education. (Council for Economic Education)
• Why Teaching Financial Literacy Matters: Listen to a podcast from Vicki Davis’s Every Classroom Matters to learn why financial literacy is so important, and hear teacher Beth Werker describe a program called Enterprise City. (BAM Radio Network, 2014)

Discover Lessons, Simulations, Videos, and Apps

• 40-Plus Resources for National Financial Capability Month: Find resources for students of all ages in this compilation of games, lessons, hooks, apps, and more. (SmartBlog on Education, 2013)
• How to Promote Financial Literacy With Students: Discover video collections, online games, and structured curricula to help advance your teaching and learning goals. (KQED’s MindShift, 2013)
• Money as You Grow: Review 20 age-appropriate financial literacy lessons and activities for students in grades K-12. The companion website Money as You Learn includes tools for educators to integrate personal finance into teaching aligned with the Common Core State Standards.
• Online Economic Lessons: Browse or search a database with hundreds of free personal-finance lessons for grades K-12. (EconEdLink)
• National Standards in K–12 Personal Finance Education: View or download standards related to personal finance education across all grades K–12. (Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Finance Literacy)
• #FinEdChat and #FinancialLiteracy: Follow these hashtags on Twitter to keep up to date on the latest trends and resources for financial-literacy education.

Explore Activities for Grades K–8

• Creativity, Candy, and Commerce: Discover how middle school students brought curiosity and passion to learning through the design, manufacture, and marketing of their own signature chocolate bars. (Edutopia, 2015)
• Make the Money “Real”: Read about a counting-change simulation that gives students experience handling money in the lead-up to handling real transactions. (Edutopia, 2015)
• Teaching Toward an Affordable Future: Learn about a program that helps elementary school students learn about personal finance while saving money every week. (Edutopia, 2015)
• Elementary Financial Literacy: Lesson Ideas and Resources: Discover how financial literacy can be integrated into elementary English and mathematics, and find a few resources to get started. “Financial Literacy for Elementary Students” is another great list of resources. (Edutopia, 2014)
• Teaching Financial Literacy to Middle Schoolers: Explore strategies for integrating financial literacy into middle school curricula and age-appropriate resource suggestions. “Financial Literacy for Middle School Students” is another good source of guidance, information, and resources. (Edutopia, 2014)

Explore Activities for Grades 9–12

• Addressing Student, Family, and Community Needs: Find out how one school uses a personal finance class to impart lessons about fiscal responsibility and financial literacy to teens and connect this knowledge to their lives. (Edutopia, 2015)
• When Financial Education Hits Close to Home: Read about the Home Ownership project, a real-world project that helped students at Maplewood High School in Nashville, Tennessee, learn about homeownership and the power of personal finance. (Edutopia, 2015)
• 5-Minute Film Festival: We the Economy: Watch and share 20 short films that explain concepts like debt, money, and supply and demand. (Edutopia, 2015)
• Financial Literacy in High School: Necessary and Relevant: Learn how to make financial literacy relevant to students’ lives, and find resources for teaching financial literacy skills to high school students. For more guidance, information, and resources, also see “Financial Literacy for High School Students.” (Edutopia, 2014)
• 3 Ways to Enagage High Schoolers in Personal Finance: Discover a few technology-based ways to engage high schoolers in discussions about personal finance. (U.S. News and World Report, 2014)
• A Mobile App Lesson on Financial Capability: Check out a lesson on financial capability that makes use of mobile apps, courtesy of Brian Page, a high school personal finance and AP economics teacher. (Edutopia, 2013)
• Games to Teach Financial Literacy: Explore some friendly, engaging options to promote financial literacy among secondary students. (Edutopia, 2013)

Downloads and Examples From Schools That Work

Edutopia's flagship series highlights practices and case studies from K–12 schools and districts that are improving the way students learn. Below, find downloads used by practitioners at featured schools, and dive into real-world examples of teaching and learning financial literacy.

Piggy-Bank Friday: Life Skills Through Financial Literacy: Through the Piggy-Bank Friday program, K–5 students at Walter Bracken STEAM Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, have saved over $30,000 in one year. Watch the video, read about their practice, and take a look at this featured download:

• School "Piggy-Bank" Deposit Slip: Print out these example deposit slips for your school's Piggy-Bank program.

Financial Literacy Makes School Relevant: The Ariel Community Academy, a public K–8 school on the South Side of Chicago, has been achieving remarkable success thanks to a number of effective strategies, particularly a financial-literacy program. Watch a video, and learn about the components of their K–8 curriculum to see how they do it. Then explore some of this school’s resources and downloads; a few highlights from their Goods and Services Unit, organized according to Bloom’s Taxonomy, are linked below.

• Remembering: Review a lesson suggested for fourth grade that asks students to define and give examples of goods as objects that satisfy people's wants and services.
• Understanding: Review a lesson suggested for fifth grade that asks students to explain that economic wants are desires that can be satisfied by consuming a good or service or leisure activity and why not all wants can be satisfied.
• Applying: Review a lesson suggested for sixth grade that asks students to diagram the relationship among a final good or service, the way it’s produced, and who consumes and produces it.
• Analyzing: Review a lesson suggested for seventh grade that asks students to compare different ways resources are used to buy and consume goods and services.
• Creating: Review a lesson suggested for eighth grade that asks students to explain scarcity and how not all wants for goods and services can be satisfied.