What are my options?

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title (as applicable): Personal Financial Literacy

  Course Title: Personal Financial Literacy

  Course Number: 8500120

  Career Cluster: Finance

  CIP Number: 09200104PA

  Course Type: Non Career Preparatory

  CTE Standard(s) or benchmarks:

  • 02.01 Discuss the importance of taking responsibility of personal financial decisions.
  • 03.01 Identify sources of income.

  Integrated benchmarks: ELA or Other:

  • MA.912.FL.2.5 Develop budgets that fit within various incomes using spreadsheets and other technology.
    • Instruction includes budgets for a business and for an individual.
    • Instruction incudes taking into account various cash management strategies, such as checking and savings accounts, and how inflation may affect these strategies.
  • SS.912.FL.1.1 Evaluate and reflect on how values affect personal financial decision-making.
    • Clarification 1: Instruction includes how values may vary from person to person.
    • Clarification 2: Instruction includes how societal values impact personal financial decisions.

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “Drowning in Debt: Making Healthy Decisions to Manage Money” See CPALMS resource ID#208604.

• Career Connection

  
  

  Students will use Josh’s scenario to gain a practical understanding of the importance of and relationship between budgeting, personal values, and financial stability. Students can apply their reasoning used to help Josh in their own lives, helping them become more financially aware and responsible.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Discuss how personal values affect a person’s financial attitude
  • Explain the usefulness of a budget in taking responsibility for personal financial decisions
  • Identify sources of income and create a budget to fit within that income
  • Compare the advantages and disadvantages of various budget options
  • Explain their reasoning for maintaining, decreasing, or eliminating discretionary expenses

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with:

  • Details of the case study Drowning in Debt: Making Healthy Decisions to Manage Money
  • Using spreadsheet software and formulas to perform calculations
  • Differentiating between income and expenses within a budget
  • Differentiating between discretionary and non-discretionary expenses
  • The process and terms of refinancing an automobile loan

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How can budgeting support making sound financial decisions?

• Procedure

  
  

  1. To introduce the lesson, display or ask students “Would you rather earn a higher wage at your job or have more free time?”. Allow students time to ponder the question and pick one of the options. Ask student volunteers to share their choice and reasoning behind their choice.

  • If students struggle to provide reasoning, ask “What other information would be important to know?” and/or “What are some tradeoffs in choosing one option over the other?”.
  • Explain that although there is no universally correct answer, individuals prefer one choice over the other due to their own personal values and goals. Remind students of the case study and how Josh’s own personal values led him to purchase a very expensive automobile which later posed a difficulty after unexpected events began to cause a financial strain.

  2. Briefly review the details of the case study Drowning in Debt: Making Healthy Decisions to Manage Money. If students have any follow-up or clarifying questions, be sure to answer them now. If needed, the following questions can be asked to support students’ understanding of the case study and possible options for Josh:

  • What problem is Josh faced with?
  • How might Josh earn additional income to address his problem?
  • How might Josh minimize his expenses to address his problem?
  • How might Josh’s personal values influence how he addresses his problem?
  • What tradeoffs will Josh have to consider?

  3. Pass out the What are my options? Handout to each student. Explain that there are various actions Josh can take to help himself in this situation and that they will look at 3 specific possibilities. Josh can 1) continue working at his current job and minimize his discretionary expenses, 2) reduce his car payment by refinancing or selling his current car for another, or 3) get a 2nd job to sustain living alone.

  • Review the information in the handout with students and answer any questions they may have. Inform students that they aren’t performing any calculations. They are to think about the possible budget changes given each option. If needed, use the What are my options? Sample Answers document to model the thinking and reasoning students should be using.
  • Allow students to work in small groups of 3 – 4 to complete the handout.
  • Have students share out which option they believe is best and why.

  4. Explain to students that they will now “crunch the numbers” to see how each option could affect Josh’s budget. Make sure each student has access to a computer with spreadsheet software.

  • Share the Budget Options spreadsheet with each student. Ensure students are aware that they are only completing the information for the new budget; they will not be able to edit any of the cells containing the given information.
  • Students can confer with their peers while working but each student should complete their own spreadsheet.
  • While students are working, visit students individually or in small groups to monitor progress, answer questions and misconceptions, and ask probing questions, as needed.

  5. To bring the lesson to a close, students can provide a written response to the journal prompt: “How did completing the new budget reinforce or challenge what you initially thought was the best choice for Josh?”.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Each sheet of the Budget Options attachment is locked. The sheets can be unlocked one by one by entering the password “cpalms”.
  • If computers aren't available, the Budget Options attachment can be printed out and given to students to complete by hand with or without a calculator.

• Optional

  
  

  Formative Assessment Ideas:

  • Students’ participation in and contribution to discussions can be used to assess student understanding and reasoning.
  • The closing activity can be collected and assessed for student understanding and reasoning.

  Summative Assessment Ideas:

  • Students’ completed spreadsheets can be assessed for accuracy.

  Accommodation Suggestions:

  • To provide scaffolding and more opportunities for in-depth analysis, each budget option can be the focus of an individual lesson.

  Extension Ideas:

  • Students can swap and compare spreadsheets with a partner and discuss how they decided which expenses to cut or modify, which automobile choice to make, and how to estimate the income from the part-time job.