While not much time is spent in K-12 educating students about money, once they graduate, it will become critically important. “Not a day will go by that they're not thinking about money. How to make it, how to spend it, how to save it,” says John Pelletier, director of the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College.

April is Financial Literacy Month, and to that end, we’ve curated financial literacy lessons and activities to help you help your students better understand the importance of how to make, manage, invest, and protect their money.

Financial Literacy Lessons & Activities

Teaching Financial Literacy
In addition to basic financial literacy, Pelletier shares with Tech & Learning how to teach students about cryptocurrency and NFTs, inflation, and other key financial concepts

TeachFinLit.org
Geared toward high school students, this resource features detailed lesson plans, complete with videos and outside sources, on topics such as budgeting and spending and credit and debt. It also offers multiple financial literacy curricula for new teachers.

Next Gen Personal Finance
A wealth of free multimedia financial curriculum resources, in addition to providing online personal development courses in finance geared specifically to teachers. Also features a virtual conference for teachers on April 5.

Understand The Personal Finance Ecosystem
The National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) offers this research-informed framework that describes the factors influencing an individual’s state of financial well-being. It focuses on understanding foundational financial factors, such as basic numeracy and problem-solving skills, plus understanding values, beliefs, socioeconomics, and more.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Financial Literacy Activities
This federal site features more than 130 activities for school-aged students, searchable by grade level, activity duration, and topics, which range from saving and investing to understanding the FAFSA and comparing financial aid offers.

Khan Academy Financial Literacy
Featuring 16 units that help to build 73 life skills, this free course guides students (at their own pace, if wanted) to understand topics such as taxes, credit, investments, car buying, and even scams to avoid.

Uncle Jed’s Barbershop
Designed for grades 3-5, this lesson focuses on the book Uncle Jed's Barbershop, about an African-American barber who, despite significant setbacks, saves enough money to buy his own barbershop. From the story, students learn about saving, savings goals, opportunity cost, and more. Also features a card game.

Next Gen Personal Finance Arcade Games
Eleven personal finance games that use arcade-style graphics, amusing characters and music to engage kids in financial scenarios they are likely to face in the near future. Topics covered include the lure of cryptocurrency, paying for college, career choices, managing credit, and more. Games are accompanied by reflection worksheets. While students don’t need an account to access games, teachers’ resources require a free, verified education account. Available in English and Spanish.

FDIC Money Smart Games
From the Federal Deposit Insurance company comes this extensive collection of financial games covering diverse subjects from credit cards to disaster planning. Presented in the style of a TV game show, each episode is hosted by Isaiah and Kiara, who guide students in playing each round and offer an occasional, fairly lame financial joke. Best for younger students who require a lot of explanation. No account required, but users can create a free account to save progress. Available in English and Spanish.

Visa’s Financial Football
Super fun, action-packed digital football game that incorporates financial literacy questions interspersed between gameplay. Users choose their favorite NFL teams to begin the game, toss the digital coin, and select defensive strategy. Games range from 5-30 minutes, with three levels of difficulty. Teachers' resources include PDF lessons and activities.

Banzai Free Interactive Financial Education
A Tech & Learning Best for Back to School 2024 award winner, Banzai’s comprehensive, easy-to-navigate financial education platform is 100% free for teachers and students. It offers personal finance courses at the elementary, middle, and high school level as well as college-and-career readiness and digital citizenship classes. All courses include games, articles, and worksheets; free printed worksheets will be mailed upon request. Currently available in English and Spanish, Banzai! is fully compliant with COPPA, FERPA, and other student privacy regulations.

Jump$tart Clearinghouse
This extensive database of financial literacy resources is searchable by format, type of resource, grade, price, language, and special-needs category. To find the many free resources, simply enter “0” in the maximum cost box. Included are lesson plans, games, workbooks, curricula, quizzes, and much more. All resources align with the National Standards for Personal Financial Education, are age appropriate, and do not attempt to promote specific financial products or services. No account is required to start using this helpful website.

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Financial literacy is as important as ever. Financial misinformation is now broadcast over social media by unscrupulous would-be wolves of Wall Street who are using new technology to propagate classic “pump and dump” penny stock schemes, says John Pelletier, director of the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College. 

Teaching students about this financial misinformation is vital, Pelletier says. As is giving students the tools to understand cryptocurrency, NFTs, intense inflation, and student debt, along with more traditional lessons in financial literacy. 

Financial Literacy: Teaching and Engagement Resources 

There are free online resources with ready-to-go financial lesson plans, videos, and classroom exercises. 

TeachFinLit.org is geared toward high school students and offers detailed lesson plans, complete with videos and outside sources, on topics such as budgeting and spending and credit and debt. For middle school and high school students, Pelletier recommends Next Gen Personal Finance, which also offers a wealth of free multimedia financial curriculum resources, in addition to providing online personal development courses in finance geared specifically to teachers. 

“What you want is fun, engaging classroom activities, and videos or things of that nature,” Pelletier says. He adds that making your lesson as real-world based as possible helps build student interest. 

Expanded Curriculum  

As with many subjects, much about the way financial literacy is taught in schools goes beyond what is done in individual classrooms. 

Currently, 25 states require personal finance be taught to all students, a number that has nearly quintupled in recent years. “In June of 2019, only five states required personal finance,” Pelletier says.  

Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Oregon are the most recent to mandate it, and the concept has bipartisan support, Pelletier says. “There's a couple other states that seem to have a decent probability of passing a bill,” he adds. 

When financial literacy isn't mandated, students who attend school in wealthy districts are more likely to receive financial literacy education than those who attend school in poor districts, according to a report by Nex Gen Personal Finance.  Schools in which financial literacy is not taught are more likely to have large minority student populations. 

“I personally think it's a social justice issue,” Pelletier says. “It's least likely to be brought to the students who need it the most. I know a lot of people hate mandates, but if you don't require it, what we do see is it's hard to get taught.” 

Cryptocurrency and NFTs  

Many young people are drawn to cryptocurrencies, decentralized digital currencies, and NFTs (non-fungible tokens that are basically one-of-a-kind digital items that can be traded and sold). 

While Pelletier has his concerns about the risk of crypto and NFT investments, he says educators shouldn’t dismiss students who are interested. “You can't denigrate this,” he says. Instead he advises using your students’ passion for these topics to engage them in a conversation around financial literacy. “I focus on having a discussion with young people about facts,” he says. “It is a fact that since Bitcoin was introduced in 2009, its value has dropped by more than 50%, eight times.” 

While enthusiasts may point out it has risen in value many times as well, Pelletier says that this intense volatility makes it risky. “The risk of owning Bitcoin is probably three to four times greater than the risk of owning a stock,” he says. However, he also suspects that that volatility is part of what makes students so interested in these types of investments. The get-rich-quick appeal to Bitcoin and Dogecoin is similar to what helped fuel young people’s interest in AMC and Gamestop back in early 2021, says Pelletier. 

Inflation

The rate of inflation currently also provides a good opportunity to engage with students about financial literacy. Since 2008 inflation had been very minimal, which makes the current spike particularly jarring. “We're dealing with the highest inflation rates in 40 years, and so I think it's very hard for us as individuals to deal with that,” says Pelletier. 

The concept of inflation might seem abstract to some students. “Kids have to understand that inflation is like a tax,” Pelletier says. “I think the problem that adults and young people have with inflation is they don't understand basic math.” 

For example, if you got a 3 percent raise at the beginning of 2024, the inflation rate for the year is projected to be 3.3 percent, which would mean you effectively are earning less than last year. 

In addition, Pelletier says it’s important that students understand that inflation does not impact all aspects of the economy in the same way, and that soaring gas and grocery prices hurt certain populations more than others. “For example, if you've got two people with the same commute and one makes $200,000 a year and one makes $50,000, how much are they paying for gas as a percent of their income right now, when it's five bucks a gallon?” he says.

Important Financial Concepts 

Pelletier stresses long-term investing. “My view of investing is slow and steady wins the race,” he says. 

He often tries to illustrate this when he talks with students by explaining compounding interest. For example, Pelletier tells students what will happen if an 18-year-old invests $10,000 in the S&P 500 Vanguard Index Fund and leaves it alone for 50 years. Assuming the index fund averages a 7.2 percent annual return on investment, which is conservative, that person will double their money every decade. Ultimately they will end up with $320,000 by the time they retire at 68. But Pelletier says many students, and those older than them, have trouble understanding compound interest.

Another common mistake is that few students realize how the decisions of where to attend college and what to study have huge financial implications.

“I would argue probably one of the top three most important financial decisions you'll make in your life is made when you're like 18,” Pelletier says. Thinking around these decisions are often too short term. “I can get this degree in two ways: One is a cheap way. One is not a cheap way, but I really like the school with the lazy river.” Student loan debt is often not part of the thought process.

Focus on Behavior Not Just Concepts  

Pelletier notes that finance is one of those topics in which knowledge isn’t always enough. “You can have somebody who aces a class on financial literacy that fails in life in their behavioral choices,” he says. 

He likens it to teaching students topics such as safe sex, nutrition, and substance abuse prevention in which even the best classes will not elimate all risky behavior. However, by prioritizing financial lessons, Pelletier believes educators can make a difference.  

While not much time is spent in K-12 educating students about money, once they graduate, it will be an important topic for them. “Not a day will go by that they're not thinking about money. How to make it, how to spend it, how to save it,” Pelletier says. “And yet it's like the least thing you're taught in school.” 

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Teaching with Taylor Swift can be a great way to create lessons and help build connections to material that students won’t ever want to, you know, shake off, says Misty L. Heggeness, an economics professor and scientist at the University of Kansas.

Heggeness recently created Swiftynomics 101, a free online course. The short course is designed to be used by teachers with their students in various subjects and examines Swift’s success and her relationship with recent Super Bowl champion NFL star Travis Kelce through an economic lens that seemingly does the impossible — makes economic theory relatable to everyone. Heggeness is also writing a book called SWIFTYNOMICS, which will explore similar topics. 

Heggeness shares tips and suggestions for how teachers can incorporate this course and why they should consider using Swift’s popularity as a jumping-off point for other subjects. If you take this advice, you can be a hero in your classroom, which is a good thing because we all know how exhausting it is always rooting for the antihero. 

Ready for it?

1. Teaching With Taylor Swift: It Can Transform Seemingly Dry Concepts Into A Love Story

As much as Heggeness loves economics she understands students don’t inherently share that fascination. “The history of economics, and economic theory, at least the way that it's taught in schools, is all about the number of widgets and supply and demand curves, and those things can be very abstract and not interesting,” she says. 

But showing students how the interplay between the NFL and Swift is an example of the theory of the firm, and looking at Swift’s career and success as a means of understanding gender economic discrimination, can make these concepts more meaningful to students. 

“For me, it's really sad if we don't take advantage of this moment to really help students find a connection between things that they care about and economic theory” Heggeness says. 

Of course, students’ passion — obsession? — with Swift can be good fodder for a wide range of topics, and the perfect way to fill any blank spaces in your curriculum.  

2. Encourage Diversity  

Using Swift to make connections with topics as varied as tech and finance for students can have a long-term impact as well. 

“One of the biggest selling points linking economic theory to pop culture moments is that you make the economics more meaningful and relatable for students," Heggeness says. "In doing that, you probably encourage a wider range of students to be interested in the field and in studying economics." 

And you don't need to calm down. "We know that economics as a field has always struggled to increase diversity within the career pipeline," she says. "One of the ways in which we can try to make some effort toward increasing diversity within the field is to teach economics in a way that feels meaningful and relatable to a wider swath of the community.”

3. It’s Easy Since Materials Already Exist 

Heggeness’ Swiftynomics 101 is available online and can be used as a whole or teachers can grab specific videos or lessons. 

“The basic version focuses on the theory of the firm, at its core level,” she says. 

The course offers more advanced lessons in the economics of discrimination through a lens of gender discrimination. “I call it 'a choose-your-own-adventure curriculum' that teachers can really just adapt to the needs of their kids and their preferences,” Heggeness says. 

The class is geared toward students from high school and up, and is an obvious fit for economics teachers, but can be used in classes covering other topics.

“The material is put together in a really relatable way that is accessible, even if people haven't studied economics,” Heggeness says. “I would encourage teachers of civics classes, or social studies classes, business classes, whatever it might be, just to explore the material.”

4. Share Your Expertise Like It's Karma 

Heggeness believes teachers are leaders in their fields that can do more to share their expertise with the world. Making pop culture connections can be a perfect, fearless way to do that, especially for teachers who are also engaged in research. 

“To the extent that we observe these types of examples in pop culture and in modern culture, and we easily see an interpretation through our own academic or theoretical lens, it feels like we owe it to the larger society to impart that knowledge,” she says. 

As a bonus, teaching in this way may not completely fulfill your wildest dreams, but can also serve as a recruitment tool for your subject area. "That's probably one of the best ways that we can get students interested in our own research, and it's definitely a good way to grow a field," Heggeness says. 

5. Have Fun

Using Swift as inspiration for teaching different subjects can simply provide happiness for both teachers and students, and you can never forget the benefit of making class more enjoyable, engaging, and dare we say, enchanted. 

“Sometimes when we're thinking about education and thinking about how we impart knowledge, we can have a tendency to get a little bit lofty with it,” Heggeness says. “I think we need to give ourselves grace and be willing to incorporate fun and novelty into the way that we teach, because at the end of the day, that not only makes us better teachers, but it makes students better learners.”  

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Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) is a website that consists of many free resources designed to help educators and students in the area of teaching anything about money and its management.

This can range from the basics, such as budgeting, right up to more complex skills, such as stock trading, or even a career in the financial sector. In all cases, there are plenty of training resources for educators to help build financial understanding and mastery that can be passed along to students.

The website offers teaching tools as well as engaging games that students can enjoy to learn more about finances. Thanks to excellent integration with tools such as Google Docs, its very easy to use and gain access to. 

This guide aims to clarify all you need to know about Next Gen Personal Finance and how it can be a help in your class.

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What is Next Gen Personal Finance?

Next Gen Personal Finance offers a range of resources for teachers and students to help with learning around finance and math skills. The idea being to better equip young people for their financial future.

Next Gen Personal Finance is comprised of a collection of its own resources as well as others from third parties -- all being respected platforms. It offers plenty of Google Docs-based resources that teachers can download, edit, and use as needed.

This is an especially great resource for math teachers, with plenty of math-based learning options. But it can also be a useful way to teach economics, and even self-care in terms of thinking about personal security from a financial perspective.

A selection of courses is also available that aim to enhance educator knowledge and teaching approaches to help get financial knowledge across to kids in the best way possible. Great when you consider most of this is free.

How does Next Gen Personal Finance work?

Next Gen Personal Finance is ready and available to use right away for anyone via a web browser -- for free. But if you want the full experience, it's worth signing up for a free account.

NGPF offers free teacher accounts that provide access to a range of teaching and assessment materials. These include Google Docs for download, videos, and units with multiweek pathways all laid out.

The games sections offer math and arcade-style games, both of which aim to help improve student number skills and financial thinking. Since these are all browser-based, it makes for a great way to get kids accessing these skills even outside of the class, using their own devices.

A regular selection of useful materials is put out on certain days that can be helpful for teaching. These include Math Mondays, Question of the Day, and FinCap Fridays.

What are the best Next Gen Personal Finance features?

Next Gen Personal Finance is laid out in a simple way with teaching-focused pathways. It's easy for students to get playing the learning games, and also simple for educators to have multi-week courses developed and ready right away.

This website is very up to date so students will not only learn about taxes and classical finance such budgeting or paying for college, but also about current concerns. From Bitcoin to fraud, there's plenty of great resources to help students understand how money works in the world now.

Crucially, in addition to personal finance, this site will help teach critical thinking skills, which should set students in good stead to make smart decisions in later life. Case studies and life-like simulations all help to make the real-world learning more applicable for kids. The fact that this comes in videos, slides, and games all help to make that material even more digestible.

How much does Next Gen Personal Finance cost?

Next Gen Personal Finance offers its many resources, including courses for teachers, for free. You simply need to sign-up with personal details, and proof you're a teacher, and you have access to all the resources right away.

Next Gen Personal Finance best tips and tricks

Gamify from go
Begin teaching by using the games to get students involved in an exciting way before breaking into more study-based learning.

Edit yourself
Download the resources and don't be afraid to give a personal touch by editing and adding in anything that may make it more engaging for your class.

Develop yourself
Take advantage of the many personal development courses for teachers to better your own understanding and to learn better ways to teach that.

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Celebrate Mayflower Day on the 16th of September with this interactive in which students are given a limit and must decide what to bring on the Mayflower.

Courtesy of Knovation

[Amelia Earhart Day]