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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Schwab MoneyWise - Charles Schwab

Grades
6 to 12
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This is a nice informational site for students, teachers, and parents. Learn about budgeting, saving, and investing. Use the calculators to determine interest, savings, and more. This...more
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This is a nice informational site for students, teachers, and parents. Learn about budgeting, saving, and investing. Use the calculators to determine interest, savings, and more. This site has polls, tips, articles of interest, and a link for teachers. Clicking the Teaching Kids link, then the Activities and Resources, you will find lesson ideas, true stories of teachers "in the trenches," and other links. There are also downloadable PDF files of teaching guides and student activities.

tag(s): financial literacy (91), money (119)

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.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Kid's Finance - kidsfinance.com

Grades
1 to 6
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This simple site offers a basic introduction to money and financing for younger students. The site has two main "characters" Penny and Bill. There is biographical information...more
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This simple site offers a basic introduction to money and financing for younger students. The site has two main "characters" Penny and Bill. There is biographical information about various "bills" of money, a matching game, and puzzles. There are printable pages, reference information, and other useful tools. There is a link to purchase a coinciding book; the site is FREE and usable without the book.

tag(s): financial literacy (91), money (119)

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.

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Bank Rate - bankrate.com

Grades
6 to 12
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This simple site provides a calculator to figure out how long it will take for you to pay off credit card debt. They ask a few simple questions (how much ...more
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This simple site provides a calculator to figure out how long it will take for you to pay off credit card debt. They ask a few simple questions (how much you owe, what percentage rate your card has, current monthly payments, etc). Then they present you with WHEN your debt will be paid in full and how much interest will cost you during that time.

tag(s): financial literacy (91)

In the Classroom

If your students are starting to use credit cards, share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector.

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Practical Money Skills - Visa

Grades
4 to 12
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This site offers lots of information on money management for students of all ages, including college students. Click on the Teach tab at the top and select your grade level ...more
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This site offers lots of information on money management for students of all ages, including college students. Click on the Teach tab at the top and select your grade level to find lesson plans, curriculum ideas, classroom resources, and more. The lesson plans include a slide presentation for the lesson (also in PDF format) and student activities. Though some look gray as if they aren't accessible, they are, so just click or double click on them and they will be downloaded to your computer. Help high school students succeed financially after high school with the 22 free, standards-aligned lessons that this site has revamped for grades 9-12. This section includes student-centered activities, research projects, discussion points, and resources. Clicking on the Play tab will display many games at different grade levels. Especially interesting for high school and college students will be the Financial Football, reviewed here.

tag(s): financial literacy (91), money (119)

In the Classroom

There are countless options and ideas about how to use this site in your classroom. Share the interactives on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Take advantage of the FREE lesson plans to teach your students about money and the economy. Use the free, standards-aligned lessons in sequence or on an individual basis. If financial literacy is not part of your Common Core Standards for math, think about making the activities and/or games a weekly center or activity on the computers in your classroom or the school computer lab. Also, look through the videos listed to see if there are any that are age appropriate for your students.
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Economic Education Web - University of Omaha

Grades
K to 12
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Although this site is "plain vanilla," and is for 6-8 lessons, click Teacher Resources on the top menu. We seldom see anything as useful as this one. The site contains ...more
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Although this site is "plain vanilla," and is for 6-8 lessons, click Teacher Resources on the top menu. We seldom see anything as useful as this one. The site contains an extensive collection of standards-correlated lesson plans for teaching principles of economics at all K-12 levels. The content is drawn from a variety of sources, and some of the presentations are in the form of printable PDF files. While a number of the lessons and resources are centered on standards in Nebraska, there are correlations to national standards, and most of the material could be used elsewhere, sometimes with minor adaptations. This is one that every social studies or economics teacher should see.

Examples of topics for the K-5 students include Shortages and Surpluses, Consumers/Consumption, Functions of Money, and countless others. Grade 6-8 topics include Role of the Government, Unemployment, Economic Growth, and many others. Some of the higher level topics for grades 9-12 include Circular Flow, Market Failures, Federal Reserve, and much more! Many of the topics include more than one lesson plan or classroom activity. A few of the topics are "under construction" as new material is constantly added.

tag(s): financial literacy (91), money (119)

In the Classroom

Take advantage of these ready to go lesson plans at all grade levels. Anyone who teachers social studies or economics can easily find an appropriate lesson plan (linked to standards). Use these lessons to help students understand the economy, learn new vocabulary words, and deepen their understanding on money.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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