What is Financial Literacy in the Primary Classroom?
So, what exactly is financial literacy as it relates to our young students? This topic refers to basic money concepts and skills that will help them begin to understand finances. Topics covered include what money is, how it's earned, and how to spend/save it wisely. We also cover economic systems and break down topics such as goods and services, producers, and supply and demand. Understanding how each of these things works together is a key component of financial literacy for young students.
Benefits of Teaching Financial Literacy in the Classroom
For many schools, this is a standard that is covered in first and second grade. But beyond this obvious reason, teaching financial literacy has many more benefits. Over the years, I have found that this topic is directly tied to personal responsibility, behavior management, and deeper thinking.
It's also excellent if you plan to use a classroom economy behavior system in your classroom. As you explore financial literacy with your students, you can put the lessons into practice through a reward/purchase system that teaches real-life skills and allows children to practice buying and saving.
The way you structure this is totally up to you, but in my room, I had students collect classroom dollars for specific things, and then they would have the opportunity to spend those dollars at a specific time. For example, you might be awarded dollars for completed work, classroom jobs, and good deeds. Then, every 2 weeks or so, the classroom store can be "open". Students can purchase rewards or cash them in for a fun activity. This does take a bit of work to put into practice, but I have found it to be SO worth it! The students have so much excitement to collect their classroom dollars, save them, and cash them in for things they've had their eye on.
I think we can all agree that teaching to the standards is great, but how we teach our students to apply what they've learned is where the real magic happens! Allowing students opportunities to practice making wise decisions with money earned in your classroom is such a wonderful way to foster independence, teach cause and effect, and encourage children to think carefully. All in all, teaching financial literacy will pay off over and over again in your room.
How to Get Started Teaching Financial Literacy
So you love this idea of teaching financial literacy in your classroom, but feel overwhelmed by the idea of putting it into action. It's a BIG topic after all! If you're nodding your head in agreement, you're going to love what I'm sharing today!
I found myself in this same dilemma many years ago in my own classroom. In my school, there was limited support for topics like this one, and I was often filling the holes in our curriculum to make more robust lesson plans. Through trial and error in my classroom, I created a whole unit on financial literacy that can be used over a 3-4 week period to cover 5 important key topics. It allows for just one snippet to be taught at a time, ensuring the children don't get overwhelmed.
This unit is designed with the modern teacher in mind and will make it easy to weave financial literacy topics into your day. Each day builds upon the last, and you'll be able to put what the students are learning into practice if you so choose! Let's take a closer look at each topic and chat about why they each matter when it comes to teaching financial literacy.
Money & Bartering
While these topics can be taught in any order, I love to put money and bartering at the beginning of our studies on financial literacy. In my opinion, this lays the foundation and helps the students fully grasp what we're getting into. I typically teach this topic over two days.
Day One
On day one, we begin by reading a small book titled "Why Do We Need Money?". The reader discusses trading and bartering as well as why we use money. Your students will likely light up with excitement when you begin because many of them have likely traded with friends at lunch or out on the playground. This instant connection to the material is a great way to excite them about the unit. After reading, there is a section at the end of the book that lists a few things we can buy with money.
After our introduction book, we do an activity about trading. This activity involves trading colored task cards and then discussing whether the trade was fair. Students are randomly assigned cards and then paired up to trade. I love this activity because it really gets the kids thinking about what's fair and what's not. They also learn that people may have different views of "fairness," and this is why having a set price with money is so valuable.
Day 2
On day two, we begin by re-reading the mini-book and quickly reviewing what we've already learned. This sets the stage for the day's activity, which includes a graphic organizer showing the differences between bartering and using money to purchase something. We do this as a whole group and talk through possible answers. Afterward, the students individually complete a worksheet on ways to get what we need with bartering and money. It's always fun to see their answers on these pages!
Goods and Services
Next in the financial literacy unit are activities related to Goods and Services. This is typically spread out over 3 days in my classroom.
Day 1
We begin with another little book on Goods and Services. I find that these mini readers are a great way to lay the foundation for the mini units and help get everyone on the same page. We read through it together and then take some time to discuss. On the last page of the book, students are able to identify goods vs. services.
After this, we do a sorting game to identify goods and services again. This can be played as a whole group, or you can split your kids up into small groups and have them work together. There are colored task cards for this as well as black and white, depending on how you'd like to use the activity. I've also included a recording sheet where students can write down the items in the correct column.
Day 2
One day two, we re-read the story and review. Then, I pair the students up with a partner, and they get to play a goods and services game. They take turns spinning and then identifying an item on the game board that matches. For example, if they spin good, they can choose to mark off a muffin, a jacket, or any other good. If they spin and land on service, they might mark off a doctor, a mechanic, or a taxi driver. They continue until one player has made 4 in a row!
Day 3
On the last day, we review these topics once more. I like to pull out the sorting game again if the students still seem unsure of the difference between goods and services. We will play as a whole group and cover the definitions for each category once more. After that, we use a couple of practice worksheets to apply what we've learned. One is a cut-and-paste activity, and the other has students draw a picture for each category and write a word.
I love covering this topic because it's one more piece of the puzzle to success with financial literacy. This will play into your classroom economy system if you choose to use both goods and services as a possible item for "purchase". For example, you might have a classroom store where students can buy "goods" like fancy pencils, treats, and books. Examples of services for purchase might include extra technology time, getting to choose a brain break, or having lunch with the teacher on Fun Friday.
You'll have to decide the amount of classroom dollars each item is worth and talk to students about making the tough decision to continue saving for a special experience or cashing in their dollars for a smaller reward. This is financial literacy in action!
Needs and Wants
This topic is another important one to help your students understand how to use their money and teach them discipline to use it wisely. I think we can all agree that this is a valuable life lesson that will serve our kids well! I like to spread this topic out over 3 days in my room.
Day 1
To begin this mini-unit within our financial literacy lessons, we start with another great mini reader. This one explores needs and wants, and helps students understand basic needs such as food, shelter, and water. I also like to chat with the kids about how we all have different needs depending on our circumstances. I find this to be especially important to consider as we explore this topic to help children understand that needs are not black and white.
After reading, the kids sort needs and wants on a worksheet at the back of their book. If we have time, we will also complete a worksheet about shopping for needs and wants to practice sorting these items once more.
Days 2 - 3
On days 2-3, we focus on reviewing the differences between needs and wants and discussing these in depth, and using some practice activities to support learning. I find that this topic often needs a bit more time to chat through since it's not completely the same for everyone. For example, we use a worksheet that talks about specific needs for certain types of workers and families.
We also have a few more sorting pages, a partner game, and a page where students can consider their own wants and needs. Depending on how quickly my students grasp these concepts, we spread these activities over a few days and revisit the reader if needed.
Earning and Using Money
This next lesson in our financial literacy unit is so much fun! Once students begin to understand money and why it's needed, they will likely want to know how to earn it! If you are going to implement a classroom economy system in your room, this will be an especially helpful topic to cover. We complete these activities over 2-3 days.
Day 1
First, we read a small book about earning and using money. This one also has a page for students to complete at the end. After reading, we make an anchor chart with headings for earning, spending, and saving money. The children and I work together to list things that can go in each category. I love this activity because it allows me to informally assess how well my kids are understanding this topic based on their answers. After this, I let the students work independently on a worksheet that covers the same topic.
Days 2-3
I love sorting games for teaching financial literacy, so I included another one for day two of this topic. Students will sort picture word cards into categories for earning and spending. This activity can be done as a whole group or in small groups. I have included both color cards and black and white cards so that you can choose the option that works best for you.
The color cards work great if you plan to laminate them and reuse them as a center game. If you use the black and white cards, they are great for small groups. The students can even work together to cut the cards apart, color them, and then sort them if you have time to extend this activity and squeeze in some fine motor work too.
Lastly, there is a cut-and-paste sorting page that can be used whenever you have time over the final days working on this topic. This page (and any of the no-prep worksheets in this unit) would also be a great review activity for later in the year, or as a homework assignment if you ever want to revisit it.
From Tree to Table
This last mini-unit in our financial literacy lessons is one of my favorites! It's always fun to talk about where common goods come from, how they are grown, and how they are produced into things we see in the grocery store. This unit can be spread over 2 days.
Day 1
On day one, we read a mini book titled "Apples From Tree to Applesauce". This book gives an inside look at how delicious apples become applesauce! This topic allows me to introduce words such as producer and consumer. After reading, the children complete a sequencing activity and write about 3 steps in the process of turning apples into applesauce.
Day 2
One day 2, we reread this book and then make a chart together. On the chart, we list all of the products that can be made from apples. We expand on this by talking about other items that can be produced to make goods that are for sale. This is a really fun topic and gets the kids thinking about the supply system and how it works.
After this activity, we have a practice page that helps further illustrate some of the goods that can be used to make products to sell.
Bonus Activities for Teaching Financial Literacy
Beyond these 5 mini units, I have included some bonus activities too! Inside my Financial Literacy Unit, you will find task cards and recording sheets for assessing understanding on this topic, vocabulary definition posters, and bonus activities for both Supply and Demand as well as Scarcity. These activities can be used after the first 5 units to round out learning.
In addition to these bonus activities, I also included a super fun lapbook activity that I think recaps and reviews everything you've learned along the way beautifully. Students will complete activities, cut, color, and glue them to the lapbook to make an in-depth visual record of each topic covered. You can do these little by little and add them as you cover each section, or spend some time at the end of the unit to use the lapbook as a way to review.
Either way, this is always a student favorite! The kids love showing the lapbooks to their parents and walking them through each mini-topic we covered.
Putting it All Together to Teach Financial Literacy
As you can see, there is a lot to cover in this Financial Literacy Unit! That's why I love working through each topic over the course of about a month. It gives us plenty of time to work through each topic inside my Financial Literacy Unit and ensure my students understand the terms. This also allows us plenty of time to begin implementing a classroom economy system. If you decide to do this in your room, I suggest starting gradually and introducing a new component of the system each week as you cover these topics. I think you'll find that they tie in beautifully and allow you to effectively teach financial responsibility with real-life practice easily in your room!
I hope this post helped you to see why teaching financial literacy is so important! From learning the basics of how money works to learning how to earn, spend, and save, there is SO much benefit in these lessons. If you want to take the guesswork out of planning your own financial literacy activities, I hope that you'll check out this resource. I think you'll find that it has everything, and more, that you need to help students fully grasp these important concepts! Have fun teaching this topic in your room and watching your students grow in financial responsibility over time.
Looking for More Social Studies Lessons?
I love teaching social studies in the primary classroom! If you're looking for more great ideas like these, be sure to read My Favorite First Grade Social Studies Topics next!
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