Practical Financial Literacy in Secondary Schools: Activities, Curriculum and Resources

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High school students may not be ready to work full-time or pay income taxes, but it’s never too early to review important personal finance concepts. Some appropriate courses in financial literacy in middle school can familiarize students with budgeting, income, taxes, and credit, preparing them to make informed and balanced financial decisions as they enter the economic realm.

Find inspiration for your upcoming financial literacy unit with a selection of middle school personal finance lessons and activities. These resources are so informative that even parents can learn some key facts by looking at their children’s homework!

How to teach financial literacy in middle schools

The secondary school financial literacy curriculum builds on themes from the primary school financial literacy curriculum. They introduce students to more complex economic concepts, deepening the basics of money into more complex personal finance principles.

Important financial literacy topics in middle school include:

• Budgeting
• Savings and Spending
• income and expenses
• needs and wants
• Salary potential and expectations
• Student loans and taking on debt
• compound interest
• loan
• Credit Cards and Credit Cards
• financial security
• Potential financial risks and pitfalls

Middle school students also need practical ways to apply and understand these topics. By the time they are old enough to invest and manage their finances, they will understand the basics.

Middle School Budgeting and Savings Activities

Provide children with lessons in financial literacy through activities centered around budgeting and saving. Middle school students can apply the concepts of saving and spending to practice budgeting and use CCSS math skills to calculate how different items will reach their budget.

• Practice making a budget: Work with students to create a list of common budget items, both in their current lives and in fictional adult lives, and have them budget with a partner based on designated income levels.
• Let teams “save” the most: Give the team $500 in fictitious funds and ask them to create a budget that saves the most money for the class.
• Open a practice grocery store: Let students go on a shopping spree in the classroom where they must purchase necessary items without going over budget.
• Calculate savings account value: How does your savings make you money? Have students research and calculate optimal savings account values ​​and interest levels before deciding which one is most beneficial.

Practice paying bills and creating a budget

Paying bills may not be the most glamorous (or fun) part of being an adult, but not paying them can lead to even less ideal situations. Teach students the responsibilities of making money and budgeting with resources focused on middle school financial literacy.

Real World Budgeting and Finance: Personal Financial Literacy Project
By: Courtney Schermerhorn – Mom is a Teacher
Subject: Mathematics

Enhance your financial literacy unit with the resource of a 13-step personal finance program. Featuring 14 posters and instructional videos on finding a job, getting insurance, budgeting bills, and more, this resource is an engaging and accessible way to introduce young learners to the basics of finance.

Planning Your Dream Vacation – Financial Literacy Activities (Print + Digital)
Via STEAM Vault
Subject: Mathematics

How do adults plan vacations? Show students how budgeting can lead to fun things in the future, like a dream vacation, with math resources including budget planning sheets, presentation notes, and activities about proportions and currency exchange rates.

Fun activities about income and expenses

Middle schoolers are old enough to make the connection between work and money—if they haven’t done so yet, now is the time! Demonstrate the relationship between income and expenses through activities that students can do on their own, with a partner, or in a larger group.

• Research the earnings of different occupations: Have students conduct research on entry-level jobs and lifelong careers, including factors that may affect income levels (including education, experience, location, etc.).
• Review needs and wants: Which expenses are necessary and which expenses are expendable? Work with students to make a list of wants (utilities, food, housing) and wants (entertainment, travel, accessories).
• Plan class activities: Given a certain budget for classroom activities, allow students to manage the cost of hosting the event without breaking the bank.
• Assign paid class work: Whether it’s a short-term or long-term project, using fake money to pay for class assignments can be helpful and show students how income can quickly impact their lives.

Show students how to balance and track expenses

While personal finance has changed a lot over the past few decades (remember paying by check?), the concepts and skills behind it have not. Demonstrate the importance of tracking and classifying expenses with resources designed to reinforce fundamental knowledge and challenge students’ thinking.

Balanced Checkbook Interactive Notebook
Edison Education
Subject: Mathematics

While 21st century students may not write many checks, they should still know how to balance a check register to keep track of their money. This financial literacy resource includes a collapsible notes project and a warm-up and exit sheet to help students through the process of adjusting expenses and balancing enrollment.

Financial Literacy – Fee Type – Complete Course Package – Medium or High
Author: “Confidence Classroom” Author: Ashlyn C

This comprehensive financial literacy resource includes everything you need to teach students about the different types of expenses on the balance sheet. They compare needs and priorities through 10 bells, lesson slides, scenario activities, writing extension activities, and a final assessment.

Interesting ideas for credit and debt knowledge

When planning a unit on financial literacy for middle school, it’s easy to overlook the somewhat daunting concepts of credit and debt. After all, middle school students aren’t applying for credit cards or loans anytime soon. But a deeper understanding of how credit and debt work will only improve their financial knowledge and potentially save them from financial trouble in the future.

• Analyze a sample credit card statement: Using an example of a credit card statement with fee and interest levels, students work together to draw conclusions about the spending habits of credit card holders.
• Compare Cash vs. Credit: Practice interest rates and percentages with lessons on buying items with cash versus paying with a credit card.
• Practice getting out of debt: Assign the group a certain amount of debt, both secured and revolving, and have them calculate how long it will take to pay it off.
• Research student loans: Have students compare the return on investment of different types of student loans (federal, private, family) as well as different degrees and careers.

Give students some points with credit card games and activities

You don’t need to give middle school students a credit card to teach them credit! Guide them through the basics of the pros and cons of credit and debt through middle school financial literacy activities and games.

Financial Literacy Games Credit Card Activities Life Skills FCS, Personal Finance
Author: Twins and Professor of Culinary Arts and FACS
Subject: Economics, Household Consumer Science

Demystify credit cards and debt with fun financial literacy games. This printable board game provides students with the knowledge they need, complete with game questions and flashcards and Google Slides for reviewing answers.

Sobering tax lessons

Middle school students may claim that they don’t need to know about taxes yet, but if they’ve ever made a purchase that included sales tax, it’s time to learn about it! Provide financial literacy lessons to high school students through activities that introduce the basics of paying taxes.

• Research tax rates in different countries: Have groups find and calculate the differences between tax rates in countries around the world and what the taxes are used for.
• Resources provided for tracking your taxes: List resources paid for by taxes that students use, including public schools, roads, parks, or other government programs.
• Host a Sales Tax Board Competition: Send two students to the committee and list the item amounts for them to calculate your state’s sales tax (for example, 8% on a $200 shopping bill).
• Practice filling out your income tax: Print sample income tax forms and allocate income levels to different groups, as well as deductions and other theoretical situations.

A review of how taxes work in personal finance

Taxes aren’t just an April thing: they affect everyone year-round. Present tax facts and basics through middle school financial literacy resources and review how taxes work in students’ daily lives.

Personal Finance TEKS Unit | Budgeting, Taxes and Interest Notes
by manipulating the middle
Subject: Mathematics

This financial literacy resource includes complete units on a variety of concepts, including personal budgeting, sales and income taxes, monetary incentives, and more. Skill-based questions and real-world problems encourage students to practice these math-based skills, and multiple levels of assessment make it easy to check how well students understand each concept.

Discounts and Sales Tax Financial Literacy Task Cards: Digital and Print
Works of two teachers
Subject: Mathematics

How do taxes and compound interest affect discounts and sales? Try an activity with 16 task cards based on tax-related word questions and comparisons, perfect as a class assignment or homework assignment for a personal finance and financial literacy unit.

More ways to teach financial literacy

How do you teach financial literacy to middle schools when your curriculum is already full? Find ways to incorporate personal finance into your lesson plans with some planning tips and tricks.

• Listen to teen-focused financial literacy podcasts like NPR’s Teen Money Matters or Gen-Z’s Money Moves Podcast for Financial Literacy.
• Play the personal finance game in class, or assign it to students to play at home with their families.
• The U.S. FDIC offers a free financial literacy curriculum for middle school students that includes 12 standards-aligned courses that you can use to build your own curriculum.
• Add financial word problems to your math assessment or homework assignment.
• National STEM Day (November 8) focuses on math-related financial literacy lessons.
• Add personal finance concepts to your math and social studies lessons this April during Financial Literacy Month.
• Have language arts students write a story about their finances after conducting research on personal finances.
• Students can take field trips to banks and learn from real-life financial experts and professionals.
• Showcasing videos on important personal finance topics. Making Cents is a financial literacy video series from PBS Learning Media that covers a wide range of financial topics, while Next Gen Personal Finance has many videos discussing credit, investing, spending skills, and more.

Introduce financial literacy before high school

Even though preteens aren’t all earning money yet, now is the perfect time to teach financial literacy resources to middle schools. These lessons apply to their upcoming high school and adult lives and are important concepts to clarify before students’ first paycheck hits their accounts. Find more middle school financial literacy resources to practice concepts that apply to their understanding of math, economics, and personal choice.