Financing a Car - Interactive Lesson

Financing a Car - Interactive Lesson

Ohhh My First Car is a great assignment to get your students hooked on your class at the get–go. It’s the kind of lesson that grabs kids’ attention and holds it all the way through.

It is a great lesson for any Personal Finance class, but if you happen to have a class full of rambunctious boys this lesson will keep them engaged.

Ohhh My First Car is a bundle of 4 lessons designed to teach students everything they need to know about purchasing a new or used car. It is loaded with hands-on activities that teach students the ins and outs of selecting a vehicle, finding the best interest rates, and calculating car payments. This unit contains 4 lessons on 64 pages in 13 PDF files all for $12.50

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Lesson 1 – Buying a New Car

In lesson 1 students will research a new car using the Internet.  They will learn how to select car style, color, and options. They will learn how to find information on: customer ratings and reviews, safety and reliability, mileage and warranty.  They will review the vehicle summary and learn the difference between MSRP Price, Invoice Price, and Smart Target Price.

Lesson 2-Buying a Used Car

In Lesson 2 students will use the Internet to research a used car.  They will learn what certified pre-owned means. They will learn how to find information on seller’s notes, as well as consumer ratings and reviews, safety and reliability, mileage and warranty.  They will learn to research the car’s history including, accidents, recalls and service records. To help determine if they are paying a fair price for the vehicle they will learn to use Kelly Blue Book.

Lesson 3 – Finding the Best Interest Rates

In lesson 3 students will use the Internet to research interest rates.  They will learn how to find a loan from a local bank or credit union that offers the lowest interest rate with the least amount of fees and conditions for the car they selected.

Lesson 4 – Calculating Car Payments

In lesson 4 students use the Internet to learn how to calculate monthly car payments based on the price of the car they chose, and the best interest rates they found in lesson 3. They also learn how to gather additional information by reading the amortization table. By completing this lesson students will learn that the price of the car, the interest rate, and the number of years taken to pay off the car loan all come into play in determining their monthly car payment, as well as the amount of interest paid on the loan.  They will quickly see that loans are not free.

*This unit is aligned with National Core standards for Personal Finance. *It offers options to make the lessons within it easier or more challenging. *Discussion questions for each lesson are included in the teacher notes. *Each lesson is packed with great questions, as well as sample answers. *Detailed student directions and teacher notes are included.

PERSONAL FINANCE LESSONS DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR TEENS! Find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/financeunleash Link to my store: Personal Finance for Teens Unleashed

A Fun Lesson to Start your Personal Finance Class

A Fun Lesson to Start your Personal Finance Class

I like to start the first week of school with a lesson designed to get students thinking about their personal and financial goals – “Wonderful Life”.

Wonderful Life is a fun, interactive project that gives students a chance to get to know each other while creating a presentation that reveals their goals regarding career, wages, and lifestyle. It also sharpens their communication and presentation skills. And as a culminating activity each student presents their project to the class. It’s a great first lesson. 

I like starting the class off with this assignment because it eases the students (and the teacher) into the class, and it is a fun way for everyone to get to know each other.  It gives the teacher a chance to spend some one-on-one time with students.  It also sets the stage for the rest of the course.

This is an outstanding lesson, not only for personal finance, but for any class where the objective is for students to introduce themselves to the class and talk about their goals and interests.

Over 2000 teachers have downloaded this lesson from Teachers Pay Teachers.  If you have not already grabbed it, here is the link...”Wonderful Life”.

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PERSONAL FINANCE LESSONS DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR TEENS!

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Blog: http://personalfinanceforteensunleashed.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/financeunleash

A personal finance lesson that fits in anywhere, anytime

You’ll be amazed at what kids have to say about money!

A personal finance lesson that fits in anywhere, anytime!

Here are some lessons that I created to get kids of all ages talking and thinking about money.  These lessons are designed to fit into your curriculum anywhere, anytime.
   

MoneyTalks for Kidz contains 104 conversation starter cards that are designed to help elementary students open up about their feelings regarding money. Written for grades 3, 4 and 5.

Money Talkz for Middle School contains 164 cards that are designed to get middle school students talking about money matters.  Written for grades 6, 7 and 8.

Personal Finance Conversation Starters forTeens contains 280 cards that are designed to get teens talking about personal finance all year long! 

Students learn from each other...

In responding to the questions, students bring their own unique perspectives and life experiences to the table and learn from each other. You never know where the conversation will lead, and that makes it all the more exciting. There are really no right or wrong answers. All students need to do to be successful is to explain the reasoning behind their answers.

Conversation starters can be used...

* as a warm-up
* for small group discussion
* for whole class discussion
* for journal writing

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PERSONAL FINANCE LESSONS DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR TEENS!

Keep updated at...

Blog: http://personalfinanceforteensunleashed.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/financeunleash

Financial Literacy: Do high school classes make a difference?

April is National Financial Literacy Month: Do high school classes make a difference?

In 2011 President Obama proclaimed April as National Financial Literacy Month.  In his proclamation he stated, “Our Nation's prosperity will ultimately depend on our willingness as individuals to empower ourselves and our families with financial knowledge. “

Fast forward to 2015, one thing that we can all seem to agree on as parents and educators is that an understanding of financial literacy is important to our children.  What we can’t seem to work out, according to Hank Coleman of Daily Finance, is who will teach the courses; how will school districts fund the new courses; and how will these courses fit into already overly crowded curriculums?

In addition to these logistics problems, Professor Julie Heath, director of the Economics Center at the University of Cincinnati, reports that teachers feel unqualified to teach financial literacy.  “Eighty-two percent say they are not prepared to teach these concepts," she says. 

One of the reasons for this uneasiness may be that some school districts rely on math, science, home economics and technology teachers (among others) to incorporate financial literacy lessons into their curriculum instead of offering a separate personal finance course. 

The good news is that financial literacy classes in high school do make a difference.  According to an article in USA Today (by Hadley Malcolm), a study of 65,000 college students showed that – “first-year college students required to take a financial literacy course in high school are significantly more likely than their peers who didn't take a class to be financially responsible.” 

The study revealed that, “students who took a class did better on the survey’s financial knowledge questions, were found to be more averse to debt, more likely to pay credit card bills on time, and less likely to go over their credit limit.”

If you have been asked to incorporate financial literacy into your curriculum, and are at a loss of where to start, try these FREE introductory lessons with your students.

Click here to grab these free lessons.

PERSONAL FINANCE LESSONS DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR TEENS!

Also - Find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/financeunleash

Link to my store: Personal Finance for Teens Unleashed

Answers to College Questions

Answers to College Questions

Need help comparing colleges to find the right fit?

Check out the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center. Search for and compare colleges on all sorts of criteria including costs, majors offered, size of school, campus safety, and graduation rates.  This site also includes a price calculator to help you estimate how much college will cost after scholarships and grants.

Another helpful site is The College Board. Their interactive, on-line guide offers step-by-step help researching colleges.

Wondering how much your dream college will cost?

Find out at CNNMoney.  Enter a school name and begin your research.

Need a little help filling out that college application?

Review this info-graph from College Choice that covers the dos and don’ts of filling out college applications.

Looking for financial aid and scholarships?

Visit College Choice.  They provide information on the top 50 college scholarships including the Gates Millennium scholarship which pays full tuition and room and board.

The College Board also provides information on scholarships, financial aid and internships from more than 2,200 programs, totaling nearly $6 billion.

 

If you need help filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) visit Federal Student Aid for some helpful tips.

College-bound and looking for budgeting apps that help you manage your money?

In this article at ParentsCountdown to College Coach, Suzanne Shaffer reviews 10 budgeting apps that help college-bound students manage their money. 

Is all that college debt really worth it?

Worried about college debt?  Read this article from College Choice that reviews the advantages of a college education.

Visit me on Twitter for more interesting articles - @financeunleash

And at my TPT store for personal finance lessons designed especially for teens.

Tips on Buying and Financing a Car

Tips on Buying and Financing a Car

Rob Infantino (Credit.com) has some great tips for anyone looking to buy a new car in his article, 8 Things You Need to Know Before Buying a New Car.

Some of his key points include: Doing your homework can save you money; there is wiggle room built into every vehicles’ price; buying a car should never be an impulse buy and don’t wait until you are desperate to start shopping for a car. Read more...

The Federal Trade Commission – Consumer Information site also offers some great information on buying a new car.

Some of their key tips include: Do your research to avoid being pressured into making a hasty decision; financing your car with the dealer may not be the best deal you can get; discuss the possibility of a trade-in only after you’ve negotiated the best possible price for your new car and after you’ve researched the value of your old car and know the vocabulary when negotiating the cost of a car. Read more...

Follow my BLOG and visit me on TWITTER for more interesting articles.

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN THIS NO PREP LESSON ON BUYING AND FINANCING A CAR...

Micro Investing - A Question for Teens

 Here is an interesting micro investing concept that you might like to discuss with your students, it is called ACORNS.

Acorns co-founders Walter and Jeff Cruttenden have created a smart phone app which allows people to round up purchases and automatically invest spare change into a diversified portfolio. This app might change the way many of us invest.

A question for students to discuss might be: In light of all the stores that have been hacked into recently, how safe is this app? And would they consider using it as a way to invest – what are the pros and what are the cons?

Click on the links below for videos and news stories on ACORNS...

Spare Change Drive you Nuts? Trythe “Acorn”App
Source: Trish Regan and Matt Miller (Bloomberg Television’s “Street Smart”)

Turn Spare Change into Big Bucks
Source: Hadley Malcolm (USA Today Young Money)

Acorns app gives you a way to finally invest your spare change
Source: Seth Fiegerman (Mashable)

Acorns smartphone app brings investing to the masses
Source: Stu Robarts (GizMag)

 

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Investing Terms

 

 

This Investing Terms lesson is part of a dynamite unit on Investing. The complete unit is a great hands-on way to teach students the ins and outs of researching, selecting, and tracking stock and mutual funds. The unit is loaded with fun, hands-on assignments, informative presentations, crosswords, and on-line flashcards, games and quizzes. And it all begins with and builds from the Investing Terms assignment.

The Investing Terms lesson is a three-part lesson that covers basic investing terms used on the New York Stock Exchange, and is designed to aid students in analyzing stock summaries, charts and graphs in later assignments.  It is packed full of reinforcing activities, like crosswords, on-line flashcards, games and quizzes.

The basic terms introduced in the Investing Terms assignment lay the foundation for what is to come as the unit progresses.

Companion assignments to review, reinforce and assess include ...
 

InvestingTerms Task Cards

These 60 task cards are a fun way to reinforce the terms that were introduced to students in the Investing Terms assignment. Questions include multiple choice, short answer and true and false. The cards can be used individually, in small groups or as a whole class challenge type of game. Eleven wildcards are included to Rev Up the excitement!

Investing Terms Test

This test is a companion to the Investing Terms assignment. The 59-question test is a good mix of matching, multiple choice and true/false questions.



2 Great Personal Finance Lessons

If you are teaching personal finance and need a starting point I hope you had the chance to download my popular Wonderful Life assignment. It has been downloaded over 2000 times at Teachers Pay Teachers and is a great way to get students thinking about their personal goals and their future. Click here to read more...

Personal Finance Conversation Starters for Teens is another popular lesson with students.  

These 275 conversation starters will keep your students engaged all year long!

The conversation starters are a fun way to get kids talking about the money issues that we all face in our daily lives.  There are really no right or wrong answers and you never know where the conversation will lead.  That makes it all the more fun. In answering these questions students bring their unique perspective and life experiences to the table and learn from each other.

Just imagine them discussing topics like...

”Some adults have a lot of trouble saving money.  If you were asked to give them advice about saving what would you say?”

Or

“What is your worst fear about money?”

The conversation starters were written with 8^th – 12^th grade students in mind.  They can be used for small group or whole class discussion.  They can also be assigned as a short journal writing assignment.  

The 274 conversation starters are designed as 3 ¾ x 3 ¼ cards that can be laminated and used throughout the school year.  It is great fun to let students choose a card at random, never knowing what the question will be in advance.

The topics covered include: saving, spending, investing, goals, career choices, college, starting a business, charities, retirement, wills, job loss, the cost of health care and even bankruptcy and a ton more!

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Wonderful Life Presentations

Wonderful Life Presentations - Setting Personal and Financial Goals!

If you and your students have been working on my "Wonderful Life" assignment right about now you are probably putting the finishing touches on the assignment.

A few things I like to do before presentations include...

I ask my students to edit and practice their presentations so they go smoothly.

I give them the option of self-editing or editing with a friend.

Right before presentations I talk about how hard it can be to get up in front of a class and present - just because we don't do it a lot.

I remind them to support each other, and we talk about how they can do that.

I ask students to print 2 copies of presentation handouts - 4 slides on a page.
As each student goes before the class to present they give me a copy of their handouts and keep a copy for themselves.  I use my copy for grading purposes, and they use their handouts as they give their presentation.

I also mention how important it is to speak loudly and clearly so everyone can hear their presentation, and how eye contact helps to hold the audience's attention.

I ask a student from my class, usually the day before presentations, to run the computer that is hooked up to the presentation hardware and software.

I usually project the presentation on the wall behind the student that is presenting. They use their handout notes to set the pace, and the student running the presentation on the computer follows their lead.

Presentations for a class of 32 usually take about three or four days. The first day is usually the slowest, and then the kids pick up speed.

That's about it. Hope you have a great week!

Wonderful Life Assignment

 

A Lesson Designed to get Students Thinking about
Personal and Financial Goals!

I like to start the first week of school with a lesson I designed to get students thinking about their personal and financial goals – “Wonderful Life”.  

This fun, interactive project gives students a chance to get to know each other while creating a presentation that reveals their goals regarding career, wages, and lifestyle.  It also sharpens their communication and presentation skills. As a culminating activity, each student presents their project to the class. It is a great first lesson.

Over 2000 teachers have download this lesson from Teachers Pay Teachers.  If you have not already grabbed it, here is the link... “Wonderful Life”.

Teaching “Wonderful Life”

Now that so many teachers are using this lesson, I thought I would offer a few tips on how I teach “Wonderful Life.”

I like starting the class off with this assignment because it eases the students (and the teacher) into the class, and it is a fun way for everyone to get to know each other.  It gives the teacher a chance to spend some one-on-one time with students.  It also sets the stage for the rest of the course.

Teacher tips

When I begin this lesson I always show students a completed presentation.  My thinking is that students will create something as good or better than the sample I show them.

I review the features of the presentation software students will be using - if needed. 

I stress that students should give plenty of details on each of the topics included the presentation.

Topic: Describe your dream home

Example: My dream home is a log cabin located on a beautiful, blue lake high in the mountains.  Secretly it would be very a high-tech house---but have a rustic look.     

I also spend some time talking about page layout – organizing and designing easy to read headings, subheadings, and text, as well as graphics that drive your point home.  I talk about trapped white space and how to avoid it. I usually steer students away from using clip art - pictures just seem more sophisticated.

I tell students that they will be presenting their project and that it would be to their advantage not to use animations like flash or crawl.  These types of animations are really distracting.  “Crawl” loses the class because it takes too long and “flash” just confuses everyone including the teacher who is attempting to grade the presentation.

Timing

It takes about a week for students to complete this assignment and an additional three days for student presentations. This is my experience with a class of about 32 students.

Every class is different, as is every student. Some will take a little more time to complete the lesson and others will take less time. I ask students who finish early to spend time editing their presentation and adding sound and animation. This gives the rest of the class time to finish up.

Next Week...more on presentation setup for “Wonderful Life”.

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