April is Financial Literacy Month

Citizens must be familiar with financial terms, systems and models in order to be competent voters and engaged citizens. As taxpayers, members of political parties, voters and donators to civic and social causes, Americans need to understand the systems that are in play within our democratic society. We have compiled a few resources to help teachers observe Financial Literacy Month in the classroom. Many of these topics are cross-curricular and most of the links below can be adapted to any grade level.

iCivics
http://www.icivics.org/subject/budgeting
Budgeting means keeping track of how money is earned and spent. The federal government is responsible for keeping our nation's finances. Here, you'll learn about the choices involved in maintaining the federal budget. Also, you'll find out what happens when the U.S. government has to borrow money to keep things running.

New York News Publishers Newspaper in Education
http://www.nynpa.com/nie/niematerials.html
By the Numbers: Mathematical Connections in Newspapers for middle-grade students focused on Financial Literacy. Download free teaching guide that uses the everyday activities of cooking, travel, working, shopping and moving from place to place. (49 pages - including many student worksheets NAA Foundation, 2006)

Representative Democracy in America/Center on Congress
http://www.centeroncongress.org/sites/default/files/modules/budget/budget.htm
Developed for students as well as the general public, these interactive learning activities are designed to give you a fresh perspective on how the United States Congress works, citizens' role in the process, and peoples' perceptions about Congress. One of Congress' major responsibilities is providing funds for federal programs. This activity allows students to try allocating the federal budget. How much money is allocated to categories such as defense, welfare, and the environment. Decide how the budget should be allocated, and then compare spending priorities.

w!se Financial Literacy Certification Program
www.wise-ny.org 
Young adults under 25 are now the fastest-growing age group filing bankruptcies, but less than 10 percent of high school students take any courses on money management or wealth creation before they graduate. w!se’s Financial Literacy Certification Program addresses this problem. The program provides instructional support to high school teachers of personal finance and the opportunity, through the national standardized w!se Financial Literacy Certification Test for students to become Certified Financially Literate™ (CFL). Registration is underway for the spring 2012 Certification Test; please contact Andrea Campbell acampbell@wise-ny.org for more information.

Learning to Give
http://learningtogive.org/teachers/financialliteracy/
Learning to Give educates youth about the importance of philanthropy, the civil society sector, and civic engagement. Site offers over 1,600 K-12 lessons and educational resources for teachers, parents, youth workers, faith groups and community leaders free of charge.

The Federal Trade Commission 
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/youarehere/
The site is intended for students in 5th through 8th grade and can be used to complement lessons in critical thinking, writing, language arts, media literacy, business, civics, and social studies.
Students can play games, design ads, chat with customers and store owners, and more. Learn key consumer concepts, such as how advertising affects consumers, how consumers benefit when businesses compete, how (and why) to protect personal information and how to spot scams.

U.S. Treasury/Education Departments
http://www.Challenge.Treas.gov
The U.S. Department of the Treasury, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education, has developed an Educator Toolkit. From saving for college to managing expenses like cell phones, the site helps students learn about a wide array of topics that together constitute a basic understanding of personal finance.

United States Mint
http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/
The United States Mint H.I.P. Pocket Change™ website and its educators pages help enrich students' education through coins.  Since 1999, these sections of usmint.gov have been dedicated to finding ways to use coins to connect students with history and culture. By combining government, technology, and education, this online cross-curricular resource helps teach about coins. Find information and teaching tools, including teacher-created lesson plans, classroom ideas, and projects.

PBS
http://www.pbs.org/your-life-your-money/educators_families.php
Find resources, activities and lesson plans to help young adults overcome financial challenges and learn money basics. Facilitator's Guide provides activities and the Young Money Magazine: Special Edition Guide for Your Life, Your Money features stories and helpful tips written for young adults.

PBS Now Classroom - Campaign Financing
http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/campaignfinance.html#background
The money that finances a political campaign has tremendous influence on who runs for office, how that person campaigns, and if elected, on how that person prioritizes constituent interests. This site offers a lesson plan, resources, materials and discussion points for the classroom.

PBS News Hour
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/us/jan-june12/pacs_01-26.html
Super PACs are controversial new political organizations that are able to use an unlimited amount of money to back a certain candidate without officially being linked to the campaign. PBS has posted lesson plan with supporting materials.

USA Today
http://usatodayeducate.com/wordpress/index.php/money-matters-101/
Great American Financial Resources, Inc. has partnered with USA TODAY to create Money Matters 101, a series of free lesson plans for educators to use in the classroom. Each of these lessons online for unlimited use and discussion in the classroom.

Federal Reserve
http://federalreserveeducation.org/
Federal Reserve introduces students and educators to the wide variety of instructional resources available through the Federal Reserve Education website and the new FED 101 website. The website provides links to instructional materials and tools that can increase student understanding of the Federal Reserve, economics and financial education. All of the Fed websites, curriculum, newsletters, booklets and other resources are free.

Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/financial-literacy-resources
Whether you teach fourth-grade social studies or high school economics, here you can find resources to plan a money-management class. From downloadable lesson plans that take up one class period to online games that teach key concepts, Edutopia has resources broken down by grade level.

BrainPOP
http://www.brainpop.com/spotlight/financialliteracy/
Founded in 1999, BrainPOP creates animated, curriculum-based content that engages students, supports educators, and bolsters achievement. Special section on financial literacy. Some resources free, others by subscription.

Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity
http://www.thinkfinity.org/?q=Financial-Literacy-Resources
Thinkfinity.org’s special collection of finance-related lesson plans, interactives, primary sources, podcasts and activities.