Economics and Financial Literacy

Try some of these websites highlighting personal financial literacy for your social studies, economics, business or financial literacy classes. Don't miss our Personal Financial Literacy websites: Financial Literacy: TEACH IT! for teachers and Money Moments for parents.

Quick Links:  High School | Middle School | Elementary School

High School

Jumpstart Coalition is where teachers, parents and youth leaders get the materials they need to teach sound financial management skills! Watch this site for information regarding the National Institute of Financial and Economic Literacy held every summer in Wisconsin.

MoneySKILL, is a free, interactive online personal finance curriculum that covers income, expenses, assets, liabilities and risk management. A life simulation module asks students to project their own life expectances regarding jobs, neighborhoods, education plans, and marriage plans.

The Mint.org is designed to help you teach 6th - 12th graders how to manage money more wisely. Students can learn the truth about millionaires, the miracle of compound interest, and the #1 saving trick: pay yourself first!

Practical Money Skills is a great website for enhancing and supporting the Personal Finance Curriculum at your school. This site provides pre-school through college lesson plans, classroom tools, and an opportunity for you to take your students to Financial Football Training Camp!

At Investor Protection Trust you can download seven investor education booklets, including The Basics of Saving and Investing: Investor Education 2020. This teaching tool provides high school students with information that they need to know for sound financial decision making and investing throughout their lives.

The goal of Brass Magazine is to provide direct, intelligent, and entertaining content to young adults about their financial life.

Kevin McKinley’s radio show On Your Money is heard each week on Wisconsin Public Radio. Visit his website for the most up to date finance information, listen to On Your Money radio shows and use the more than 40 financial calculators.

Bring the real world of finance to your classroom. View the What's Up in Finance? show and explore lesson plans for finance, mathematics, economics, social studies, and more. Invite your students to use their financial savvy to play finance games.

Download the Allowance Game from Iowa State University Extension to help your young students learn that spending an allowance means making choices.

Money Smart Week Wisconsin has the goal of helping students, families, and other community members expand their opportunities through financial literacy. Visit this website to learn about workshops, seminars, programs and events aimed at improving financial literacy!

Here’s your copy of the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for Personal Financial Literacy, Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for Personal Financial Literacy. These standards help to build a foundation for learning to assist teachers in developing and implementing curricula that will impact students for life. The standards reflect a broad definition of personal finance and include application of knowledge and skills that address a variety of life and work issues.

Look Who's Footing the Bill is a WebQuest which leads students on an exploration of our democratic system and national debt. Using resources from the Web, students must become informed and then actively communicate their opinions to elected officials.

Understanding Taxes from the IRS explains the history and working of the US tax system. The site includes a glossary of tax terms, tips for teens on taxes, and a teacher guide.

Affluenza was a PBS program that explored the social and environmental costs of materialism and overconsumption. The website provides a teachers' guide and resources.

Federal Reserve Bank, provides lesson plans on the history and function of the Federal Reserve.

Dollars and Cents gives detailed information about U.S. currency and coins, provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Middle School

MoneyMath: Lessons for Life provides a supplemental middle school math curriculum that teaches the importance of sound personal finance to students in grades 6-9. Lesson topics include income, saving, taxes, and budgeting. The curriculum was developed by the Treasury Department, working with the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco presents the American Currency Exhibit, highlighting the evolution of our monetary system in a historical context. The exhibit presents images of historical bills and coins and discusses the symbolism of the images on our currency. The bank also presents other facts about the history of money.

The Mint, from the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE), is designed to help teach 6th-12th graders to manage money with games, illustrations, and information about sound money management.

Secrets of Making Money provides a timeline on the history of money, a visual guide to the new $100 bill and more. The site from the PBS series NOVA also includes a teacher guide.

Use the Foreign Exchange Currency Converter to get the exchange rates for any of the 164 currencies. The drop-down menu of currencies on this site is also a convenient place to find the names of the currencies of many countries.

Elementary School

Jump $tart's Reality Check provides a simple system for students to predict how much money they will need to earn to support their chosen lifestyle. The site also lists jobs and educational levels needed to earn a given salary.

The History in Your Pocket (H.I.P.) Pocket Change site from the U.S. Mint showcases the connection between this country's coins and its people. It provides entertaining activities and games for younger students, and a teacher section with lesson plans and other resources for using coins across the curriculum.

Investing for Kids is a website that middle and high school students created for elementary students. It guides young students through the concepts of investing and setting financial goals and includes a stock market game for kids.

Kids Consumer Corner is a website designed by students to help other kids learn about saving, spending and investing their money.

Fun Facts about Money from the Federal Reserve Bank of san Francisco provides interesting facts about U.S. currency.

Wise Pockets World is designed to teach young children about earning income, saving, spending, and credit. The curriculum was designed by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Our History from the Bureau of the Public Debt provides information about U.S. debt throughout the country's history. A Brief History of the Savings Bonds Program from the U.S. Treasury also features historical video footage promoting the savings bond program.

The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It is provided by the U.S. Treasury.

How Much is that Worth Today? from Economic History Services allows students to compare the purchasing power of money in the United States (or colonies) from 1665 to any other year.


Created 10/2007
Last updated 4/21/2011