April is Not Just Tax Season, It's Also Financial Literacy Month

As the big tax day approaches, financial literacy, the economy and personal finance is certainly on all of our minds. So, what great timing for a teachable moment! I guess whomever makes up random holidays agrees because April has been named Financial Literacy month.

Of course innovative educators will want some ideas of how to make this learning engaging to their students. I've found a couple ways to do so.

Remix America has launched their “Coping with the Economy” challenge. This initiative is designed to provide a forum for all Americans – young and old – to tell their stories of the economic crisis. Inspired by the “Is Anybody Listening?” video by a high-school class in Pomona, Remix America created the “Coping with the Economy” initiative as a forum for young Americans to come together and discuss the issues that are most important to them.

Remix America is definitely an organization that cares about what innovative educators think. For this challenge, they’ve also included (on my suggestion!) an oral history lesson plan for teachers who wish to do a “Coping with the Economy” oral history assignment of their own.

Another resource is Thinkfinity. They are sharing free lesson plans, videos, photos and student activities.

Included in the collection are the following materials:
1) http://edsitement.neh.gov/Spotlights/spotlight-hardtimes.asp lets students see, via several video clips of FDR’s speeches, how America dealt with hard financial times during the Depression.
2) URL=http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=172 displays compound interest calculator suitable for students as young as in the third grade.
3) And by playing this fun you’re going to college game, players get information about different ways of funding college.