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Teacher (s)

Stephanie Hauser

Grade Level (s)

7, 8, 9, 10

Course

Keeping your balance, budgeting

Name of Lesson

Keeping your Balance

Learning Domain (s)

Application, comprehension, Applying

 

Unit Goal(s):

1. Students will be able to recognize that a balanced budget is important for all workers                                                                                                                     

2.  Students will be able to define the term income and differentiate between gross and net income.

3. Students will be able to name ways to balance a budget.                                                                                                                   

Michigan or Professional Standard(s):

1.   III. Financial Management: develop critical knowledge and skills necessary for sound consumer decision-making in complex socio-economic environments

2.  Analyze factors in developing a long-term financial management plan.

3. Explain the effects of the economy on personal income, individual and family security, and consumer decisions.                                                                                                         

Learning Objective(s):

1. Students receive Occupation Cards and observe how different jobs provide different monthly salaries. Based on those monthly salaries, students evaluate the opportunity cost when making budget decisions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Resources Needed

Occupation cards,  Budget Choices Ad Posters/Papers, Budget Planner flier, sticky notes, pens/pencil, calculators, definition cards

 

REVIEW:  (3-5 minutes) Where the student is. . . .

The teacher gathers input on what the students know about the skill, feel about the skill, and can do with the skill. The teacher focuses students on what they are about to learn.

Pre-preparation:  sticky notes, pen pencil, definition cards

What is happening:

Teacher Will

Students Will

Hold up one sticky note and say “Do a quick sketch of yourself. A stick figure will be sufficient also.”

Ask “If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be?” Print the name of the place on the second sticky note.”

Ask “How much do think the trip might cost? Write that on your third sticky note.”

Have the students look at their sticky notes  and ask them “How will you (or your parents) pay for your fabulous trip?” Let a small discussion happen.

Let the students know that the goal of good money management is to budget your money for savings, your needs (such as housing and food) and your wants (such as vacation trips). 

 

Ask the students to raise their hands if they keep a budget to help track their savings and expenses or if they know if their parents do?

 

Have each student grab 3 sticky notes and engage in a small discussion to get them starting to think about budgeting. 

Engage in the sticky note activity and discussion and begin to critically think about budgeting.

Transition: Let students know that buying everything we want can make it hard to pay our bills. For both high and low-income workers, a budget is a tool that helps them manage money and track their spending.                                                

OVERVIEW/PRESENTATION: (5-7 minutes) Where the student is going. . . 

The teacher discusses and demonstrates what is going to be learned and links the lesson to the lesson objective(s). The teacher previews important concepts, procedures, and points of emphasis.

Pre-preparation:  Definition cards with key terms

What is happening:

Teacher Will

Students Will

Explain that there are some key terms we will explore during this class session, have a student read aloud the key term and its definition. Hang it in front of the room.

 

Budget-a careful plan for spending or saving within a certain period of time

 

After defining, emphasize that a balanced budget means spending LESS than you EARN and spending appropriate amounts in certain categories such as housing, food, clothing, transportation, entertainment, charity, and savings.

 

Explain that good money managers carefully examine income and expenses. Have a student(s) read aloud the definitions and put at the front of the room.

 

Income- the amount earned from wages or other sources

 

Expenses- the amount spent to make purchases and pay bills

 

Explain that because people earn a certain amount of income in a month, budgets involve choices and opportunity costs.

 

Opportunity costs- the next best alternative that is given up when a choice is made

 

For example, heating a home in the winter may mean less money in the budget for entertainment during that time,

Another example is if you chose to buy new clothes, the money you spend on clothes is gone and cannot be spent on a second choice, such as eating out. 

 

Ask for comprehension of the terms and if there are any questions.

Introduce and explain key terms, checking for comprehension from the students. Answering any questions if need to.

Listen to the lecture and be involved in defining key terms, asking questions when need more explanation, and understanding where the key terms fit into everyday life. 

Transition: Now I am going to pass out the budget planner and we are going to do an activity.                                                        

                                           

EXERCISE (25  minutes) How to make sure the student gets there. . . . . 

The student practices the skill. The teacher checks for understanding and reteaches as needed.

Pre-preparation:  Budget planner fliers, pens/pencil, career cards, Budget Choices ad posters, calculator

What is happening:

Teacher Will

Students Will

Each student will choose a job from the “job-o-buckets” and ask them to review their cards and fliers. Let it be known that no one can switch. Explain that for this activity they should think of themselves as salaried employees who do the job depicted on their cards.

 

Point out the salaries shown on the occupation cards. Each represents an average national salary for the job. Actual salaries may be higher or lower depending on the job’s location and an employee’s work experience, education, and training. 

 

Explain that the Occupation cards also show gross income and net income. Ask a student(s) to read aloud the definitions and place them at the front of the room. 

Explain to the students that workers don’t keep all the money that they earn. Taxes are automatically deducted from their earnings. Tax deductions include social security, Medicare, Federal income taxes, and state taxes if applicable. The money left after the deductions is the actual amount that a worker can spend. Ask if everyone understands or if there are any other questions. If need to, ask a student to explain it in their own words. 

 

Have the students write their occupation and their monthly net income on their fliers. 

Go over the budget sheet on the flier explaining the suggested percentage is a portion of the worker’s income that experts recommend being spent on different expenses in a budget such as housing and transportation. 

 

Ask students to get out their calculators and fill in the suggested percentages according to their salaries.

Share that students may want to pay themselves first by putting the percentage amount into their savings which can be helpful if there is an emergency or an expensive item may need to buy such as a tablet or phone. 

Charitable giving is a way to give money to worthy causes. Help students that need help to fill out the flier. If need to, go through the first few columns together as a class.

 

When the students are finished filling out the suggested percentage area of the budget flier, direct them to the Budget Ad Choices posters around the room. Explain that they will move around the room and use the information on the posters to make spending decisions on Housing, Clothing, Food, Transportation, and Entertainment.  They should make their own decisions about how much to budget in the savings and charitable giving areas. 

Students will record their choices in the last column (My Budget Amount). 

For this activity, you are creating a budget for a single person. If you had a partner or children they would have additional costs and categories. 

Remember that when you fill in column 3, those are merely suggested amounts. When you fill in the last column, you choose what percentage you would like to spend on each category depending on your salaries.

 

Remind them that the goal of money management is to spend less than they earn. That means their spending should be less than- and in all cases cannot exceed-their net income. Students will get 10 minutes to move around the room to make and record their budget choices. 

Introduce key terms that will be helpful to the lesson and their budget fliers. Guide the students on understanding their occupation card and the income on their occupation card. Give directions for the activity, answer questions when they come up. Guide them through understanding the activity, giving examples as we go. Walk around the room making sure students are staying on task, following directions, or have any questions.

Listen to the short lecture that explains the exercise, understand the key terms, choose an occupation and understand the salary for that occupation, follow directions and calculate the percentages on the budget planner flier, follow directions for the activity and fill in the budget planner flier accordingly asking questions along the way when needed. 

 

Transition: Now that you all have had a chance to move around the room and make your choices, let’s see what you all ended up with.

 

SUMMARY:  (7-10  minutes) Checking to see if the student got there. . . . .

Students perform a summary/assessment activity. The teacher gets a final check of what students learned.

Pre-preparation:  budget fliers, whiteboard

What is happening:

Teacher Will

Students Will

Have the student sit at their desks and talk in small groups answering the questions:

-How did income affect your budget choices? (this question reinforces the idea that all workers, even high-income workers, must make wise budget decisions so their expenses do not exceed their budget)

-Today you created a budget for a single person. How would adding family members affect your budget?

-What additional costs or categories would you need for a family?

-What additional budget categories might you or your family add to a personal budget? (possible answers would be credit card bills, club memberships, pet expenses, holiday travel, extracurricular activities)

 

Once they have answered/shared among their groups, ask if anyone would like to share any insights?

 

Let students know they can take their fliers and occupation cards home and share them with their parents. 

Walk around making sure students are answering questions. Guide them through the questions if necessary.

Engage and apply the knowledge of the lesson/activity they just took part in with a group of peers. I will ask questions when needed and share amongst the class about what they learned.