• Lesson Ideas and Resources for Teaching Financial Literacy

    NetGen Personal Finance 

    • Check out NetGen's Curriculum area with NGPF Units on checking, saving, types of credit cards, managing credit, paying for college, budgeting, inventing, behavioral economics, career, taxes, insurance and consumer skills. Each unit has lessons, interactive resources, answer keys, and assessments. There are also NGPF Mini-Units to add supplemental lessons and resources to any course.
    • NetGen's Teacher PD area includes virtual and on demand PD, certification courses, and a community to engage with NGPF through podcasts, blogs, and newsletters.
    • NetGen's ARCADE is filled with free online games to engage students in financial decision making.  New is NGPF Math - NGPF Math provides FREE curriculum and resources that weave real-world personal finance applications with rigorous math instruction. 

    Banzai!

    • Interactive award-winning interactive content platform that teaches real-world finance. 
    • Courses are categorized by age level and are available in both English and Spanish. 
    • Interactive courses teach skills like budgeting, saving, understanding debt, using the internet safely, and more with experience-based online games. Virtual badges keep students motivated as they master diverse financial topics.
    • Free printed workbooks complement each financial literacy course and challenge students to use critical thinking, math, and vocabulary to work through real-life scenarios. Booklets are shipped directly to your school.
    • The comprehensive digital library allows students to dive even further into vital financial topics. Students can read all about health insurance, discover what the 50/30/20 rule means for them, calculate what it takes to pay off a credit card, and much more. 

    Take Charge Today Center for the Philosophy of Freedom at The University of Arizona

    • Take Charge Today - A program and curriculum with a decision-based approach to personal finance. Formerly Family Economics & Financial Education, Take Charge Today provides a consistent framework for thinking through financial choices in order to improve well-being.
    • Free program with ready to teach activity based lesson plans. 
    • Lessons are broken into grade spans and start at an introductory level. Grades 7-9 Introductory, Grades 10-12 Advanced Level and Grades 7-12 Active Learning Tools.

    Hands on Banking - Wells Fargo

    • The Hands on Banking® program offers free, non-commercial financial education tools and resources for all stages of life, in English and Spanish. Adults can learn at their own pace about banking, budgeting, saving, credit, homebuying, and more. The youth website has online courses for students, educator resources, and family activities at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Resources for organizations and volunteers to offer financial education in communities and classrooms are also provided.

    Money Smart for Young People FDIC

    • The FDIC's Money Smart for Young People series consists of four free curriculum products (PreK-2, Grade 3-5, Grade 6-8, Grade 9-12). Each age-appropriate curriculum includes lesson plans for educators along with guides for parents and caregivers. The materials are available for immediate download (catalog.fdic.gov).

    Jump$tart! Financial Smarts for Students

    • J$FFE is a comprehensive, content-based professional development program for teachers, designed to improve their own financial knowledge and confidence – and help them make smart consumer decisions of their own – before taking that knowledge into classrooms at all grade levels.

    EVERFI from Blackbaud

    • Get access to financial literacy lessons to help students establish better spending habits, instill confidence, and equip the next generation with the skills to pursue big financial goals with minimal risk.

    MyMoney.gov

    • Curricula, lesson plans, tip sheets, guidance and helpful tools for teaching financial capability.
    • Federal Reserve System’s Resources for Educators -- A comprehensive collection of curricula, guides, publications, classroom activities and adult learning materials covering such topics as credit, consumer resources, money, and banking.
    • In the Classroom Materials -- Information from the Securities and Exchange Commission including classroom resources, information on special professional development opportunities and workshops for teachers, and a “Just for Teachers” section to help teachers better plan their own financial futures.
    • Teacher Online Resource Center -- This site offers teachers resources from the FDIC and CFPB to help teach children from pre-K through age 20 about money or other financial topics. It includes the FDIC's Money Smart for Young People series that consists of four free curriculums available for immediate download.
    • Money Smart Train-the-Trainer Videos -- On-line video-based training for educators on using the Money Smart curriculum. The videos are available in English and Spanish.
    • Understanding Taxes for Teachers -- Special website from the IRS for teachers. This site presents detailed lesson plans, downloadable activities, simulations, and resources for teachers and students.
    • High School Fed Challenge -- A national academic competition that provides students grades 9–12 the opportunity to study the U.S. economy through the lens of the U.S. central bank. The program encourages students to learn more about economics and about the Federal Reserve System’s Federal Open Market Committee, which is the policymaking group that makes interest rate decisions to foster economic strength and stability. From credit card interest rates to the price of a loaf of bread, the effects of monetary policy, set by the Federal Reserve System, are felt in many aspects of our daily lives. This site includes information for students as well as Teacher’s guide.

    Building Wealth - Dallas Federal Reserve

    • Building Wealth is a personal finance education resource that presents an overview of wealth-building strategies for consumers, community leaders, teachers and students.
    • Available in English and Spanish.
    • Free copies can be ordered of the printed guide.

    Everyday Economics - Dallas Federal Reserve

    • A series of publications and interactive whiteboard lessons designed for high school students. Each one explains a fundamental economic concept.
    • The Federal Reserve - Through engaging infographics and approachable text, readers are introduced to the structure of the modern Federal Reserve and its important work serving the American people as it works to support a growing and stable economy.
    • Entrepreneurs - Introduces the critical role entrepreneurs play in the economy and highlights the accomplishments of well-known entrepreneurs. Intellectual property protection and business structures are sidebar topics.
    • Globalization - Discusses the integration of economies through the flow of goods and services, money and people across national borders. The center spread examines exchange rates and currency markets.
    • International Trade  - Examines the benefits of specialization and trade, using the economic principles of absolute and comparative advantage. It also discusses protectionism and worldwide efforts to open trade.
    • Money - Describes the growth of money from a barter system and explains the functions and characteristics of money. Discusses inflation and traces the history of American currency.