Social Studies:
Financial Literacy
PowerPoint Slides
to be used in conjunction with the
Facilitator’s Guide
Copyright © 2012, East Carolina University.
Recommended citation:
Ledford, C., & Henderson, K. (2012). Social studies:
Financial literacy – A PowerPoint presentation for
professional development. Modules Addressing Special
Education and Teacher Education (MAST). Greenville,
NC: East Carolina University.
This resource includes contributions from the module
developer and MAST Module Project colleagues (in
alphabetical order) Kelly Henderson (Facilitator Guide
Editor), Tanner Jones (Web Designer), Diane Kester
(Editor), Sue Byrd Steinweg (Project Director), Bradley
Baggett (Graduate Assistant), and Sandra Hopfengardner
Warren (Principal Investigator).
Session Agenda
• Teaching Financial Literacy though
Children’s Literacy: The Problem
• Session Goal and Objectives
• Welcome to Financial Literacy
• Financial Responsibility and Decision
Making
• Planning and Money Management
Session Agenda, continued
•
•
•
•
•
Credit and Debt
Risk Management and Insurance
Saving and Investing
Activity 1- A Gift for Mama
Activity 2- Financial Literacy Education
Requirements
• Activity 3- Tops and Bottoms
Session Agenda, continued
• Financial Literacy Linkages to Children’s
Literature
• Summary
• Evaluation
Teaching Financial Literacy
though Children’s Literacy:
The Problem
• Economics and financial literacy are topics
that many teachers feel uncomfortable
teaching.
• Yet they are important topics for all
people.
• As early as kindergarten, students can
determine the difference between wants
and needs.
The Problem, continued
• We live and work in
an
ever-increasing
interdependent
world, students must also come to
recognize that nations depend on each
other for products and resources.
• Schools must promote an understanding
of academic content at higher levels by
weaving 21st century interdisciplinary
themes into core subjects.
The Problem, continued
• Financial literacy is included as
one
of the interdisciplinary
themes (AACTE, 2010).
• When students are continuously offered
opportunities that allow them application
of classroom knowledge to real-world
problems, the traditional four walls of the
classroom become translucent and the
relevance becomes evident.
The Problem, continued
• Using children's literature, students use
various modes of learning, hands-on
activities, and visuals to meet the needs
of all learners.
• Financial literacy enables students to
address real world problems by
exploring children's books and relating
the topics to their everyday lives.
Session Goal and Objectives
• The goal of this session is to examine
financial literacy and to provide
connections to financial literacy in
children's literature through use of the
Internet to make real world connections.
• Financial literacy is one of the
interdisciplinary themes of the 21st
Century Skills (AACTE, 2010).
Session Objectives, continued
Objectives- Participants will:
1.Define financial literacy.
2.Identify strategies for addressing the
National Financial Literacy Standards
throughout instruction.
3.Identify the connection of financial literacy
using children's literature.
Welcome to Financial Literacy
• Do topics like record debt, skyrocketing
foreclosures, and a large number of
people suffering from financial
stress...sound familiar?
• Many of the problems people face today
could have been avoided if they had
received a practical financial education.
Welcome, continued
• The solution to many of today’s financial
problems (debt; retirement & college fund
shortages; financial stress) comes down to
having practical money skills.
• Skills such as buying a new car, balancing
a checkbook, or investing for retirement rely
on good financial decisions.
• To make good financial choices, one must
be financially literate.
Welcome, continued
• Children's economic ideas follow a
developmental sequence as conceptual
thinking moves from concrete to more
abstract.
• Educators must begin with activities that
are experiential in nature.
• Through children's literature, teachers can
enhance financial literacy by identifying
related themes in the stories that they read
in the early elementary years.
Welcome, continued
• Let’s begin by exploring the National
Standards in K-12 Personal Finance
Education:
– The standards were created and are
maintained by the Jump$tart Coalition® for
Personal Financial Literacy.
– They are organized into six major categories.
Welcome, continued
– Standards are available at
http://www.jumpstart.org/nationalstandards.html.
– The document defines financial literacy as
the ability to use knowledge and skills to
manage one's financial resources effectively
for lifetime financial security.
– Standards in each of the six areas are
described in the next sections of slides.
Financial Responsibility and
Decision Making
Apply reliable information and systematic
decision making to personal financial
decisions. Standards:
1. Take responsibility for personal financial
decisions.
2. Find and evaluate financial information
from a variety of sources.
3. Summarize major consumer protection
laws.
- cont.-
Decision Making, continued
Standard ..
4. Make financial decisions by
systematically considering alternatives
and consequences.
5. Develop communication strategies for
discussing financial issues.
6. Control personal information.
Income and Careers
Use a career plan to develop personal
income potential. Standards:
1. Explore career options.
2. Identify sources of personal income.
3. Describe factors affecting take-home
pay.
Planning and Money
Management
Organize personal finances and use a
budget to manage cash flow. Standards:
1. Develop a plan for spending and saving.
2. Develop a system for keeping and using
financial records.
3. Describe how to use different payment
methods.
-cont.-
Planning and Money
Management, continued
Standard …
4. Apply consumer skills to purchase
decisions.
5. Consider charitable giving.
6. Develop a personal financial plan.
7. Examine the purpose and importance of
a will.
Credit and Debt
Maintain creditworthiness, borrow at
favorable terms, and manage debt.
Standards:
1. Identify the costs and benefits of various
types of credit.
2. Explain the purpose of a credit record
and identify borrowers' credit report
rights.
-cont.-
Credit and Debt, continued
Standard …
3. Describe ways to avoid or correct debt
problems.
4. Summarize major consumer credit laws.
Risk Management and Insurance
Use appropriate and cost-effective risk
management strategies. Standards:
1. Identify common types of risks and basic
risk management methods.
2. Explain the purpose and importance of
property and liability insurance protection.
3. Explain the purpose and importance of
health, disability, and life insurance
protection.
Saving and Investing
Implement a diversified investment strategy
that is compatible with personal goals.
Standards:
1. Discuss how saving contributes to
financial well-being.
2. Explain how investing builds wealth and
helps meet financial goals.
3. Evaluate investment alternatives.
-cont.-
Saving and Investing, continued
Standard …
4. Describe how to buy and sell investments.
5. Explain how taxes affect the rate of return
on investments.
6. Investigate how agencies that regulate
financial markets protect investors.
– Source: http://www.jumpstart.org/nationalstandards.html
Saving and Investing, continued
• The National Standards in K-12 Personal
Finance Education align with the
standards created by the National
Business Education Association, Council
for Economic Education, National Council
for Teachers of Mathematics, and the
National Council for the Social Studies.
Saving and Investing, continued
• Visit the United States Mint and explore
the lesson plans and activities available
at
http://www.usmint.gov/kids/teachers/finan
cialliteracy/ to become acquainted with
the resources there.
Activity 1- A Gift for Mama
• Access the Money Management
International website at
http://www.moneymanagement.org/Budg
eting-Tools/Credit-Lesson-Plans.aspx
• Go to the lesson plans that utilize
children's literature to teach financial
literacy concepts. (You may want to
bookmark this address for future use.)
Activity 1, continued
• Select the lesson plan to use with the
book, A Gift for Mama at
http://www.moneymanagement.org/Budge
ting-Tools/Credit-Lesson-Plans/A-Gift-forMama.aspx
• The topics of income, savings, as well as
short-term goals are addressed.
Activity 1, continued
• Examine the lesson plan, and spot the
financial literacy concepts implicit in the
story. A copy of Activity 1 is available at
http://www.moneymanagement.org/Budgeti
ng-Tools/Credit-Lesson-Plans/A-Gift-forMama/Activity-1.aspx.
Activity 2- Financial Literacy
Education Requirements
• Access the website at
http://www.jumpstart.org/state-financialeducation-requirements.html.
• Determine the financial literacy education
requirements for your state. The topics
vary by state and include such topics as
basic economics, taxing and spending,
money management, savings and
investment, insurance, and banking.
Activity 3- Tops and Bottoms
View the demonstration at
http://mast.ecu.edu/modules/ss_fl/lib/media/
tops_bottoms.html.
Activity 3, continued
• The video highlights the connection to
financial literacy using children’s
literature.
• Beth Eckstein of East Carolina University
uses the book, Tops and Bottoms by
Janet Stevens, to spot financial literacy
concepts and to teach the concepts in
early elementary classrooms.
Financial Literacy Linkages to
Children’s Literature
• Look the table Linking Children’s Literature
with Financial Literacy available on the
following pages. (Also at
http://mast.ecu.edu/modules/ss_fl/concept/#7
under Activities).
• It lists a variety of children's literature
selections with the economic and financial
literacy concepts that could be addressed.
Like Tops and Bottoms, the content is implicit
and can be addressed in similar ways.
Linking Children's Literature with Financial Literacy
The theme of each book notes the financial literacy concepts that are included in each text. Consider
ways to extend the meaning using real world items like local store flyers, menus from restaurants, and
grocery store advertisements.
Title
Author
Theme
Summary
A Kid's Guide to Managing
Money
Joy Wilt
Managing Money
This book teaches children how
to manage money once they have
earned it. (Discuss reasons to
save and/or spend.)
Alexander Who Used to be
Rich Last Sunday*
Judith Viorst Opportunity cost
"Helping" and "Bang-Klang" Shel
in Where the Sidewalk Ends** Silverstein
Interdependence,
workers/producers
Alexander is forced to deal with
the consequences of his actions.
(Each time that Alexander has to
make decisions, you can
determine the opportunity cost.)
These two poems explore
different situations in which
people must help/rely on others.
(Label the workers/producers in
each poem.)
Pigs Will Be Pigs*
Amy Axelrod
Money
A family of pigs needs to eat,
but they do not have enough
money. The pigs look for
money, figure out what it will
buy, and go to a restaurant.
(Restaurant menus)
Round and Round the
Money Goes
Melvin and Gilda Money
Berger
This book explains the
development of money from
its origins to modern usage as
cash, checks, and credit
cards.
(Examine interest rates on
credit cards and the cost of
items from local store
advertisements.)
The Hundred Penny
Box**
Sharon Bell
Mathis
Michael's relative uses her
collection of pennies to teach
him about life during the
Depression.
(Discuss ways to save money
today and label items in store
flyers that would require the
students to save.)
Value of money
The Money Tree
Sarah Stewart
Value of money
A woman grows a money tree in
her yard and must deal with the
people who want to pick the
money tree's leaves. (Using store
advertisements, create a T Chart
labeling items to spend and save,
less expensive items, and more
expensive.)
Tops and Bottoms
Janet Stevens
Entrepreneurship,
venture capitalism,
investment,
competition
This book is a sequel to Aesop's
"Hare and the Tortoise". The
economic lessons in the story are
based upon Hare being down on
his luck and finding a way to
support his family.
Understanding
Money
Carol and James Spending, saving,
Barkin
value of money
The author compares the
purchasing power of money
throughout the world and looks at
how savings accounts work.
(Create a list of ways students can
save money.)
A Gift for Mama*
Esther Hautzig
All the Money in the Bill Brittain
World*
Savings, income
Sara has always made
presents for her family, but
for mother's day she decides
to buy her mother a present.
Sara works hard for her
grandmother, eventually
saving and earning enough
money to buy a gift for her
mother.
Inflation
Quentin helps a leprechaun
out of a hole, so the
leprechaun grants him three
wishes. Quentin's third wish
is to have all the money in
the world. This turns out to
cause far more grief than
Quentin expects. The book
gives a comic insight in to
how money works.
Children of the Fire Harriette Gillem
Robinet
Savings, income,
human capital,
exchange and
entrepreneurship
Stone Fox*
Income, capital,
This is a story about a boy
savings, taxes, credit who spends all of his savings
entering a dog sled race. He
needs to win first prize in
order to save his potato farm
and his grandfather from tax
creditors.
John Reynolds
Gardiner
This is a story about a young
girl, Hallelujah, who lives
with a foster family during
the Great Fire of Chicago.
After the Fire, Hallelujah is
neighborhood children start
their own business selling
melted glass as souvenirs
from the fire. Economic
aspects of the Fire and
rebuilding Chicago are
mentioned throughout the
story.
Summary
• This session was designed to acquaint
teachers with
1) financial literacy standards and
2) children's literature that can be used
throughout financial literacy instruction.
• Enjoy your experiences helping children of
all ages and abilities prepare for their
financial futures!
Focus and Reflection Questions
1. In your experiences, what has been the
most difficult aspect of financial literacy
that you have tried to teach? Why?
Focus and Reflection Questions
– cont.
1. What activities have you found
successful when addressing financial
literacy in your class? Identify the
grade level and composition of your
classroom.
2. What are your concerns that haven’t
been addressed in this session?
Application and Extension Activities
1. Return to Activities previously presented, if
time did not allow for completion.
2. Allow teams of participants to select one
of the Web resources to visit and created
a chart with Name, URL, and ways to use
in the classroom.
http://mast.ecu.edu/modules/ss_fl/summar
y/#4
Self-Assessment
• A self-assessment with response
feedback is available at
http://mast.ecu.edu/modules/ss_fl/quiz/.
Participants may take this assessment
online to evaluate their learning about
content presented in this module.
Session Evaluation
• A form for participants to evaluate the
session is available in the Facilitator’s
Guide.