Economic & Financial Literacy
TRAINING FOR TEACHERS
Online Financial Literacy Teacher Training Seminars
In November 2007 the Office of the State Treasurer, in conjunction with MPBN, hosted four, hour-long, video-recorded seminars designed to assist Maine social studies teachers in understanding how they can incorporate personal finance education into the classroom. The Economics standard in the 2007 Learning Results includes personal finance content and benchmarks. The seminars are designed to meet each grade-specific standard. They are led by national experts on the topic of personal financial literacy. You may access the seminars at: http://www.maine.gov/treasurer/teachmefinlit/index.html
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
The Boston Fed is committed to economic and personal financial education for students and teachers. It offers some engaging workshops for teachers that include global, economic, and finance education.
http://www.bos.frb.org/education/workshops/index.htm
High School Financial Literacy Program (HiFi)
The Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (OCABR) launched HiFi in the spring of 2005. The goal of HiFi is to make financial education available to all high school students, specifically juniors and seniors. The HiFi program trains teachers in financial literacy content and skills. OCABR offers financial literacy seminars at various locations across Massachusetts in the spring and fall of each year. The workshops are free to teachers. During the seminars we review the NEFE High School Financial Planning Program materials (both the instructor manual and student guide), which are provided free to educators and students.
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocasubtopic&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Consumer&L2=Finance&L3=HiFi+-+High+School+Financial+Literacy&sid=Eoca
CLASSROOM RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS
Economic Literacy
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
The Boston Fed is committed to economic and personal financial education. Through publications, economic competitions, and online learning, the Bank hopes to engage students and adults in learning about the Federal Reserve System, consumer issues, and a wide range of economics topics. This is an excellent resource for programs and materials, classroom materials, economic competitions, and professional development. Be sure to checkout The Ledger, which offers a wealth of information including economic, global, history, and personal finance education.
http://www.bos.frb.org/education/
New England Economic Adventure
This is the virtual site of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's New England Economic Adventure. Inspired by New England's rich history, the Adventure is designed to engage students in understanding the phenomenon of economic growth, how it occurs, and why it is important. The Adventure web site explores the many facets of growth in detail with stories, images, fun facts, a timeline, projects, games, and activities. Everything is drawn from New England's history, which is particularly well suited to illustrate how growth occurs. Understanding the workings of economic growth gives us perspective for making sound personal decisions, not only about saving, spending, and investing, but also about things like education, housing, and jobs.
http://www.economicadventure.org/
Financial Literacy
The ABCs of Credit Card Finance 2009: A Credit Card Literacy Program For High School Juniors & Seniors
The Center for Student Credit Card Education, Inc. is offering a free credit card literacy program for high school juniors and seniors. The program teaches students how to wisely choose and responsibly use a credit card before they move on to college or join the workforce. Citibank, for the sixth year, is making the program available through its sponsorship. To stay current with the credit card industry, the curriculum is revised yearly.
The program takes approximately one to one and one half hours of instruction time, not including the optional tests and classroom activities. Materials can be ordered at www.credit-edadministrator.com/materials/highschoolworkshop.php. On the website there is a Trainer’s Guide and PowerPoint Presentation. The Student Primer is included below in PDF format.
Student Primer (PDF)
Working In Support of Education (w!se)
w!se is an educational 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to providing educational support services nationwide, building financial literacy, fostering business and social entrepreneurship, and preparing students for college and the global workplace. w!se’s innovative and exciting programs empower students with the essential skills and experiences they need to participate fully in our increasingly complex global economy.
http://www.wise-ny.org/programs.htm
Financial Fitness for Life
The Financial Fitness for Life Curriculum consists of high quality materials that assist students from kindergarten to grade 12 make better decisions for earning income, and spending, saving, borrowing, investing, and managing their money. The materials at the four levels (grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) focus on a fitness theme.
http://fffl.ncee.net/cur.php
Hands on Banking
Developed by Wells Fargo, this program is innovative and entertaining. It contains no commercial content. Lessons can be used for self-paced, independent learning or with a full class. Lessons are divided into grades 4-5, 6-8, 9-12, and adults.
THRIVE BY FIVE: Teaching Your Preschooler about Spending and Saving
The parent-and-child tested ideas help young children learn how money works, what money can do, and how a family uses money. Among the topics are: having fun does not have to cost money, and when money is spent, it is gone. THRIVE BY FIVE is a series of simple activities and resources for parents and preschool/ kindergarten children.
http://www.creditunion.coop/pre_k/index.html
H.I.P. Pocket Change
Sponsored by the U.S. Mint, H.I.P. (History In your Pocket) Pocket Change believes there is no such thing as small change and that every pocket coin represents a teachable moment. The page features links to K-12 lesson plans and unit plans based on coins, especially on the new state quarters and the new “Westward Journey” commemorative nickels. The downloadable plans include reproducible graphics plus interactive games, objectives, and suggestions for evaluation. Offers K-12 lessons and units but best for K-8 students.
http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/lessonPlans/
Take Charge America
These lesson plans incorporate personal finance skills with children's books to provide a fun, well-rounded learning experience. Each grade level has ten (10) lesson plans for a complete unit of study. Each lesson is an individually downloadable .pdf document set which includes objectives, materials lists, worksheets and content standards. Lesson plans for teachers to use with students from grades one to five.
http://www.takechargeamerica.org/financial-education/Educator-Resources/Pages/Lesson-Plans.aspx
LOCAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
National Council on Economic Education (NCEE)
The National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) is a nationwide network that leads in promoting economic literacy with students and their teachers. NCEE's mission is to help students develop the real-life skills they need to succeed: to be able to think and choose responsibly as consumers, savers, investors, citizens, members of the workforce, and effective participants in a global economy.
http://www.ncee.net/
Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy
The Jump$tart Coalition is a national coalition of organizations dedicated to improving the financial literacy of kindergarten through college-age youth by providing advocacy, research, standards and educational resources.
www.jumpstart.org.
The Jump$tart online clearinghouse of personal financial education materials can be searched at www.jumpstartclearinghouse.org.
Maine’s Jump$tart president is William T. Olsen, Jr. and can be contacted at william.olsen@bangor.com
Office of the Maine State Treasurer
The TeachME Financial Literacy page includes tools, resources and contacts for educators. Topics include financial literacy, savings and investment, and budget and debt management.
http://www.maine.gov/treasurer/teachmefinlit/index.html
