Elementary

The Financial Sense series covers important topics such as saving, balancing spending, how people get paid, and taxes in age-appropriate videos and classroom activities. The series is designed to help elementary students make sense of their dollars and cents.

Facilitator Guide

saving

Financial Sense: Saving

1 minutes, 43 seconds

Whether to spend or save is really more about when to spend money. Saving makes big purchases easier to afford or helps pay for unexpected expenses. Both are key steps on the path to financial success.
Choosing how to spend money or whether to save it at home or in a bank can make it easier to afford big purchases… or prepare for big surprises.
Students are asked what they would do if given $50 and discuss the results together as a class. Then they brainstorm new superheroes with powers relating to what they’ve learned about saving.

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spending

Financial Sense: Spending

1 minute 10 seconds

Time is money. Or, rather, money is like time in that there’s only so much of it. In this video, students discover how financial success depends on making smart decisions about the finite amount of money they have.
Nobody has infinite money. Spending too much on one thing will always make it hard to afford something else. Making decisions on how to prioritize and balance spending is a crucial skill to have.
There are many factors that go into making spending decisions. Students will explore and discuss this decision-making process before writing a short story about someone who has to make a choice about spending.

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earning

Financial Sense: Earning

1 minute 9 seconds

This video introduces various ways to earn money, explains how taxes are involved, and offers tips for increasing income over time, including learning new skills or starting a business, with examples like doing chores or pet sitting.

The first step of navigating the career path is identifying and leveraging one’s skills and interests. How people are paid and the community-building power of taxes are explored in this standards-aligned activity.

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