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First recognized in April 2004, National Financial Literacy Month isn’t just a reminder to help students finish their graduation requirements. It’s also the perfect time for people of all ages to get proactive about understanding how to manage their money. You can add financial literacy activities to your social studies and ELA classes this April to help your students get savvy about spending, saving, and everything in between.
[Build background knowledge of financial topics in ELA](id-ela)
How much do your students know about the role of money in business, government, and the economy? Financial Literacy Month is a great opportunity to build background knowledge on how organizations manage money and how currency flows worldwide.
How to create a business budget using business math.
What types of currency people have used to pay for goods and services throughout the years and around the world, from flowers to bitcoin.
What investments are and the risks that come with investing money in different ways.
Teach students all about money
People say money makes the world go ‘round. Students can learn more about why money is so important to our daily lives and the people and institutions that safeguard it by exploring articles on topics like:
How banks work and why we use them to guard our money.
How taxes work in the United States and what that money supports.
Why it’s so difficult to talk about money with family and friends.
Uncover the benefits and downsides of earning money
Whether students earn an allowance for chores, have their own part-time jobs, or see family members working hard for a living, they know part of growing up means earning an income. Show students the exciting and less exciting sides of earning money with articles on topics like:
An explainer of what income is and how you can earn it.
Tips to save money as a young person.
What happens when people like NFL players make a lot of money but don’t know how to manage it.
[Dig into how finances affect our daily lives in social studies](id-ss)
Help students explore the role of finance in economics and their personal lives with these social studies Financial Literacy Month activities:
Explore economics and financial literacy
How do economics and finance go together? Understanding how money works in our economy is critical for understanding why personal finance is so important. With Newsela Social Studies, you can use a financial literacy unit designed specifically for eighth graders to clarify these connections. Or, take the ideas in the unit and make them your own!
Explain short-term financial literacy
Help students understand the importance of taking care of their finances on a daily basis with topics that touch on their personal finances, like:
Help students prepare to track their personal finances
Businesses and the government aren’t the only organizations that care about finances. Anyone who earns, inherits, or uses money has to find ways to manage it. Help students discover the types of financial situations they may encounter in their lives and how they can spend and save smart:
Teach about how personal property taxes work and what they mean for home and land owners.
Discover what counterfeiting is and why technology has made it easier for criminals to do.
Debate whether businesses, and even entire cities, going cashless in favor of plastic, digital pay, or bitcoin is a good move for the economy.
Read about finance in the news
Financial topics make the news every day. Share financial stories your students may find interesting, like:
How Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour Book” became the fastest-selling release of 2024.
What Giving Tuesday is and what people do to mark the occasion.
How a teenage-run organization called Altadena Girls is helping other teenagers recover from the Los Angeles fires.
Pair content with the Next Gen Personal Finance curriculum
Does your school use the Next Gen Personal Finance curriculum to teach students about money management? Get additional articles, videos, and other resources to drive these concepts home for units like:
[Teach financial literacy activities by grade band](id-sel)
No student is too young (or too old!) to learn financial literacy skills. With Newsela’s SEL Collection, an add-on to our other subject products, you can develop age-appropriate activities to get students thinking about ways to handle the money they receive or earn and what it can mean for their futures.
Financial literacy for elementary students
Elementary students can build financial literacy by learning about money and how responsible spending and saving habits can help prepare them to achieve their dreams, like traveling, starting a business, or buying the things they want and need. For this grade band, try activities like:
Middle school students may better understand how money and the economy work than their elementary school counterparts. But do they know what to do with it? For this grade band, explore activities like:
High school students may care the most about money out of any grade band. Whether they get an allowance, babysit on weekends, or work their first part-time jobs, many of them have financial responsibilities. For the grade band, introduce activities like:
For teachers, we know one of your greatest investments is in your students’ growth and learning. With Newsela’s daily instruction and assessment products, you can feel confident that you’re preparing them for a bright future during Financial Literacy Month and beyond.
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