TeachersFirst's Understanding Economics and Money: TeachersFirst Editors' Choices
Understanding how world economic systems work can mystify even the experts, but all of us need to understand the basics of how an economy functions, especially as current events challenge us to adjust to tough times. Today's students and teachers must try to translate the language of financial gurus and the news media in a meaningful and personal context.
This collection of resources has been hand-picked by the editors of TeachersFirst from among our many reviewed resources on economics and money. These selections were chosen to help students (and families) grasp basic economic principles, personal financial planning, and banking at an age-appropriate level.
To complement these resources on the "facts" about economics, TeachersFirst's partner site, TeachersAndFamilies, offers this article and activities to help children and teens handle the feelings and stresses of tough economic times and to mitigate the toll these times can take on families. By understanding the feelings of children and teens and by helping them build age-appropriate knowledge, teachers and families can ease the strain of the tough times we all face together.
We hope you will share these resources with your colleagues and school parents by emailing this page or sharing the link.
View our entire collection of resources related to economics.
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Economics - Crash Course
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): financial literacy (89), immigration (66), inequalities (24), stock market (10), supply and demand (5)
In the Classroom
Have students create a marketplace where they simulate buyers and sellers, adjusting prices based on supply and demand changes. Assign students to research and present about historical economic events like the Great Depression or the 2008 financial crisis. Ask students to create a personal or national budget to understand resource allocation. Students graph inflation, unemployment, or GDP trends over time.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Georgia Virtual Learning Shared Resources - Georgia Virtual Learning
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): art history (88), body systems (41), business (51), chinese (44), drawing (60), environment (242), financial literacy (89), french (75), geology (64), japanese (47), latin (22), literature (219), music theory (45), myths and legends (24), narrative (15), novels (32), nutrition (137), oceans (149), OER (43), photography (118), plagiarism (33), poetry (190), psychology (67), robotics (23), romeo & juliet (7), short stories (18), sociology (24), space (216), spanish (106), STEM (276), writers workshop (31)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a supplemental resource for your current lessons, as a resource for students to learn about subjects not covered in their current courses, and to differentiate learning for students. For example, provide remediation to high school students by sharing the 9th or 10th-grade literature and composition courses as a review activity or enhance your British Literature unit by assigning a module that focuses specifically on 17th, 18th, or 19th-century British literature. Consider assigning different activities to groups of students to present to their peers. Ask them to use an infographic creator such as the Canva Infographic Creator, reviewed here, as a tool for sharing important information. As a final learning extension, create a digital class book using Ourboox, reviewed here, to share understanding of the content learned. Include text, images, maps, and more in the student-created books.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Girl Rising Curriculum & Educator Tools - Girl Rising
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (165), cultures (140), financial literacy (89), money (114), politics (114), sustainability (43), women (140)
In the Classroom
Use these free materials to supplement your curriculum and teaching units. When polling students for short-response questions, use a polling tool such as Answer Garden, reviewed here, to engage learners and encourage them to share ideas anonymously. Answer Garden posts short responses in a word cloud format that encourages students to focus on shared ideas and discover different views. Enhance learning by asking students to share their thoughts through writing blogs using Edublogs, reviewed here. Incorporate blogs into the process as a way for students to share ideas, research, and explore their thinking throughout the projects found in this curriculum. Extend learning by asking students to continue exploring and discovering the role of gender, politics, and other factors in the world around them in various ways. For example, some students might enjoy preparing and producing a podcast using Buzzsprout, reviewed here, others might create a video using Powtoon, reviewed here, and another group might prefer to focus on a specific topic using a timeline tool such as Vizzio, reviewed here, to present a visual timeline of world events.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Spent - Urban Ministries of Durham
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): character education (77), difficult conversations (61), empathy (32), financial literacy (89)
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.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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New York Fed's Educational Comic Books - Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): banks (8), comics and cartoons (53), financial literacy (89), money (114)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of these free comic books and lessons when teaching economic and financial lessons as a supplement to your current teaching materials. Instead of printing each comic for individual students, provide a link to students using Padlet, reviewed here. Create a Padlet to share all of your online resources for your unit in one place. Use these comic books as inspiration and modify student learning by asking them to use a comic creation tool like ToonyTool, reviewed here, to create single frame cartoons explaining financial concepts. Find more uses for using comics in the classroom by viewing the archive of our OK2Ask session Engage & Inspire: Comics in the Classroom reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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What is Fiscal Policy? Interactive Teaching Tools - Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): financial literacy (89)
In the Classroom
Engage students and extend their knowledge with the interactive offered on this site during your current finance lessons. Ask students to explain a financial concept using Google Drawings, reviewed here. If you need help this tool, you could watch an archived OK2Ask Google Drawings, here. Use Google Drawings with any appropriate image to add links to websites, videos, and images. Upon completion of your finance unit, ask students to create an interactive book using Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox offers tools for publishing digital books that include images, video, and audio in addition to textAdd 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 (74), 20th century (62), calculators (37), financial literacy (89)
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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FutureSmart - EverFi and MassMutual Foundation
Grades
6 to 9tag(s): financial literacy (89), game based learning (181), money (114)
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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Financial Literacy Resources - KQED Education
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): financial literacy (89)
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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Investing for Beginners - Fidelity Investments
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): financial literacy (89), investing (8), stock market (10)
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.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 (89), game based learning (181)
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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WeTheEconomy - 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss - Vulcan Productions/Cinelan
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), financial literacy (89), money (114), supply and demand (5)
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.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Hands On Banking - Wells Fargo
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): financial literacy (89), money (114)
In the Classroom
Create a link to the course for your students on classroom computers or view together on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Enhance classroom technology use and have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. Older students could benefit from creating an infographic about information learned and transform technology use at the same time. Use Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Hands on Learning is a great tool to share with families (for both student or parent use). Share this site on your class wiki, blog, or website.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Financial Football - Visa, Inc.
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): financial literacy (89), money (114), sports (81)
In the Classroom
Plan your financial unit to coincide with the SuperBowl or the opening of NFL football, then use these ready-made activities to train better consumers and money managers. As students engage in the activities and learn, enhance technology use in class and challenge your sports-minded groups to write up an illustrated financial game plan on Canva, reviewed here. Imagine all the X's and O's! Transform classroom technology use and allow the less grid-oriented to opt for creating an illustrated interactive financial planbook using Book Creator, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Frontline: Breaking the Bank - PBS
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): banks (8), financial literacy (89), money (114), recession (2)
In the Classroom
Although this site deals with the 2008-2009 banking crisis at a level that is probably more in-depth than most teachers have the opportunity to deal with, it would be useful for an economics class or a recent American history class. You might consider some portions of it during a discussion of the Great Depression in the 1930s, to help students connect that economic time with the present. Finally, this might be a good resource site for students who are interested or who are working on more comprehensive projects. Transform classroom technology use and have students create a multimedia presentation of demonstrating their understanding of the connection between the bank failures and the economic downturn. To show what they have learned from this site, enhance learning by challenging students to substitute paper posters with an online graphic to share using Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Enhance learning and transform technology use by using a multimedia poster maker such as Genially, reviewed here, where students can choose the type of interactive presentation they would like to share. Have students create (and respond) on class wikis. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Video: Borrowing Money in Plain English - Common Craft
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): business (51), financial literacy (89), money (114)
In the Classroom
Share this video with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector or embed it in your class web page or wiki during your unit on credit or percent. Have cooperative learning groups research other aspects of savings, borrowing, or economics and create their own videos. Transform technology use by using (click on the tool name to access the review): Animatron, Renderforest, Powtoon, or MoocNote. Share the videos on Teachertube, explained here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Video: Saving Money - Compound Interest in Plain English - Common Craft
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): financial literacy (89), money (114)
In the Classroom
Share this video with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have cooperative learning groups research other aspects of economics and create their own videos. Include this video as you teach about interest in math class, then have students create a video advertisement for a savings program. Transform technology use by using (click on the tool name to access the review): Animatron, Renderforest, Powtoon, or MoocNote. Share the videos on Teachertube, explained here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Stock Market - Finance - Myvocabulary.com
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): financial literacy (89), money (114), stock market (10)
In the Classroom
Have students work in cooperative learning groups, divide up the vocabulary words, and have each group find the definitions for their assigned vocabulary words. Have the groups share their words and definitions in an online book, using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. Have the groups share the online books on your interactive whiteboard or projector. If you don't have the time to complete online books, have students share the definitions using a class wiki. Be sure to also check out the interactive word puzzles!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Schwab MoneyWise - Charles Schwab
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): financial literacy (89), money (114)
In the Classroom
Use the lesson ideas at this site to help your students understand economics. Take advantage of the free teaching guides and student worksheets.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kid's Finance - kidsfinance.com
Grades
1 to 6tag(s): financial literacy (89), money (114)
In the Classroom
Get some basic ideas at this site. Everything here is quick and simple. You will want to supplement with other information about the economy and money.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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