TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Oct 25, 2020

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 return to the Featured Sites Archive

 

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Economic Games - Nicolas Gruyer and Nicolas Toublanc

Grades
8 to 12
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Economic Games offers over 45 multiplayer games and 14 simulations to learn economic concepts. Game topics vary from impacts of patents on research and development to an introduction...more
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Economic Games offers over 45 multiplayer games and 14 simulations to learn economic concepts. Game topics vary from impacts of patents on research and development to an introduction to the stock market. All games include complete details and an introductory demo. To create multiplayer games the instructor selects the number of players and chooses the Get Logins link. Student logins and passwords display in a popup; players use this information to access and begin play. Be sure to view the How to Play link for full information on starting and sharing games. The site was created in France, so some of the pronunciations and spellings may differ from those in American English. Currency is in Euros, not dollars.

tag(s): business (46), financial literacy (90), game based learning (244), simulations (41), stock market (13)

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.

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Cha-Ching Money Smart Kids - Discovery Education and Jackson Charitable Foundation

Grades
K to 6
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Cha-Ching Money Adventures takes children on interactive adventures to learn about money smart skills together with the Cha-Ching band members. The interactive game allows for children...more
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Cha-Ching Money Adventures takes children on interactive adventures to learn about money smart skills together with the Cha-Ching band members. The interactive game allows for children to pick a character and then go on an adventure to earn money. Through four modules students are introduced to key money management concepts: earn, save, spend and donate to help them improve their money decision-making skills. Cha-Ching Money is available in multiple languages: English, French, Bahasa Indonesian, Bahasa Malaysian, Thai, and Vietnamese.

tag(s): financial literacy (90), money (107)

In the Classroom

Students can post questions and comments using Padlet, reviewed here while playing the game. Students can use MyLens, reviewed here to map out their money earning adventure. Finally, students can use Seesaw, reviewed here to list the ways that students can earn, save, spend, and donate their money.

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Investing for Beginners - Fidelity Investments

Grades
8 to 12
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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...more
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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.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): financial literacy (90), investing (6), stock market (13)

In the Classroom

Share videos with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector. You may be interested in continuing the investment study by having students set up their own practice portfolio for a no-risk option to dabble in stock trading and buying. Use a program like Wall Street Survivor, reviewed here, to do this. Extend student learning by having cooperative learning groups research other aspects of economics or business, then challenge the groups to create videos using FlexClip, reviewed here, and share them on a site such as SchoolTube, reviewed here.

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WeTheEconomy - 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss - Vulcan Productions/Cinelan

Grades
9 to 12
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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...more
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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. We can all gain a better understanding of how our economy works by 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 (125), financial literacy (90), money (107), supply and demand (6)

In the Classroom

Sign up to download the support materials and plan one or several lessons to demystify the economy as part of a civics/government class or an economics course. Transform the technology use in your class by assigning students to watch films in small groups and create digital booklets explaining the key concepts to the class using a multimedia tool such as Calameo, reviewed here. As economic issues come up in current events or during an election cycle, use these films to explain the underlying issues.

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Wall Street Survivor - Greg Isenberg and Rory Olson

Grades
8 to 12
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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....more
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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.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): business (46), financial literacy (90), money (107)

In the Classroom

Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share articles on personal finance, investing, and more. Challenge students (or groups) to create their own Stock Market Leagues to learn about investing and trading. Use Wall Street Survivor as an after-school program for students to learn about finances and investing. Share this link on your class website for students to explore on their own. Your math-savvy gifted students and finance aficionados will love this one.

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My Next Move - US Department of Labor

Grades
9 to 12
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"What do you want to do for a living?" is the springboard for this career and guidance site from the US Department of Labor. Choose from three options depending on ...more
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"What do you want to do for a living?" is the springboard for this career and guidance site from the US Department of Labor. Choose from three options depending on how sharply focused your career goals are. Consider job titles, explore general career groups, or take an interest inventory to help guide you. Each job title links to a fuller description: the skills, abilities, and knowledge needed for the job, the education required, the job prospects in that career and the personality traits that are linked to success in the career. Click on the icon to the left of the job titles to see what sort of knowledge and skills you need to whether the long term prospects for growth in that category are strong, whether the career is part of the "green economy" and whether there are internships or job training programs associated with that career.

tag(s): careers (195)

In the Classroom

Ask students to complete the interest inventory independently to get insight and ideas about possible careers. Then use the examples from students' results to explore representative industries or job titles. Help students appreciate that career planning is an ongoing process that includes education, aptitudes, and personality in order to find a "good fit." My Next Move 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.

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Paying for College - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Grades
10 to 12
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The cost of college continues to rise, and student debt has a significant impact on the US economy. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offers several important resources for those...more
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The cost of college continues to rise, and student debt has a significant impact on the US economy. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offers several important resources for those thinking about how to pay for college. An overview of student loans and how they work provides important consumer information. Also, some brief money management and banking can help those just starting out. The best part of Paying for College, however, is the financial aid offer comparison tool, which allows you to evaluate up to three financial aid offers from colleges using real "apples to apples" data. Finally, there is excellent advice about repaying student debt.

tag(s): banks (7), college (44), financial aid (12), financial literacy (90), money (107)

In the Classroom

The cost of college represents a real life example of the importance of financial literacy to high school students. If you teach money management, career planning, or consumer awareness, the units on student banking and student loans provide practical advice on financial management and planning for young people. Of course, this is also a resource you will want to share in the library/media center and college guidance offices.

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Plan Your Dream Prom - Thinkport

Grades
8 to 12
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Budget and plan for prom with 10 easy questions using this "prom planning" site. It's never too early to start saving! Begin with information on how long there is until ...more
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Budget and plan for prom with 10 easy questions using this "prom planning" site. It's never too early to start saving! Begin with information on how long there is until prom, money you will have, and more. Include projected expenses for a dress, transportation, tickets, food, and more. When complete, the planner will let you know if you are on track to have enough money for your dream prom!

tag(s): financial literacy (90)

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.

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The Bean Game - Jana Darrington Utah State University Extension

Grades
6 to 12
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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. ...more
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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 (90), game based learning (244)

In the Classroom

Use the Bean Game as part of your financial literacy unit as a center activity. When finished, have students create blogs. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Tumblr, reviewed here.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Budgeting Tools - Dave Ramsey

Grades
6 to 12
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Create and explore different budgeting options using this online tool. View proposed options in several categories such as housing, food, and personal expenses. Adjust your budget as...more
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Create and explore different budgeting options using this online tool. View proposed options in several categories such as housing, food, and personal expenses. Adjust your budget as desired to view various proposals and outcomes. Choose the link to print your finished budget.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): careers (195), financial literacy (90), percent (59)

In the Classroom

Use in a math class as a way to use percentages in a real world context. Help students gain better number sense of what percentages look like as the class experiments with different incomes on an interactive whiteboard or projector. For financial literacy, explore different budget options for any income using the budgeting tool. Compare and contrast options with different careers, income levels, or asset allocations. Divide your class up into groups with different starting incomes to create a budget. Have students discuss choices made. Use as part of a career unit. Find out starting salaries for different careers then explore budget options available within each career.

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People's Pie - iCivics.org

Grades
5 to 12
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People's Pie is a simulation where YOU control all of the money of the United States. Start by setting taxes to fund government programs. Set the age for citizens to ...more
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People's Pie is a simulation where YOU control all of the money of the United States. Start by setting taxes to fund government programs. Set the age for citizens to receive entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare. Be careful; set taxes too high or entitlement age too high, and the citizens will be unhappy! Next, make funding decisions for services such as military, finances, and more while viewing citizen satisfaction along the way. Use available options for borrowing money, but beware of high interest rates! The goal is to make it through three budget years; however, the game ends early if citizen dissatisfaction is high. Use the Extension Pack to give your students a deeper understanding while using this gamebased learning activity. Although login and registration are available on the site, they aren't necessary to play the game. Choose "no thanks" at the prompt to begin play.

tag(s): branches of government (63), financial literacy (90), game based learning (244)

In the Classroom

Demonstrate the basic concepts of the challenge on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then allow students to play on their own on the whiteboard or classroom computers, keeping a log of their actions and results. Have students create "talking pictures" to debate funding (or lack of) for a particular budget item using Blabberize, reviewed here. Use this game as a springboard for an economics or government class to debate and discuss the impact of financial decisions on different segments of the community. Have students research current candidates' financial plans and play the game using the politician's strategies. Have students compare and contrast the impact on the economy.

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CurriConnects Book List: Money, Money, Money - TeachersFirst

Grades
2 to 10
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Use this CurriConnects list to find books about entrepreneurs, consumer skills, shop-owners, and real people in the world of economics or consumerism. This is a great match for units...more
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Use this CurriConnects list to find books about entrepreneurs, consumer skills, shop-owners, and real people in the world of economics or consumerism. This is a great match for units on money at any level. CurriConnects thematic book lists include ISBN numbers for ordering or searching, interest grade levels, and Lexiles'® to match with student independent reading levels to challenge, not frustrate. Don't miss other themes being added regularly.

tag(s): business (46), financial literacy (90), money (107)

In the Classroom

Build student literacy skills, reinforce what students are learning about money and economics, and help students build the important reading strategy of connecting what they read to prior (classroom!) knowledge. Share this link on your class web page or wiki so students can select independent reading books to accompany your unit on economics or financial literacy. Don't forget to share the list with the school and local libraries so they can bring in some of the books on interlibrary loan. CurriConnects are a great help for teachers who have lost school library/media specialists due to budget cuts.

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