Financial Literacy

This has been a very exciting week in the ASPIRE math class.  Because of the new math curriculum in Texas, every grade level will be teaching Financial Literacy.  For many math teachers such as myself, this is a dream scenario because few things keep a student's attention like money!  For gifted classrooms, Financial Literacy provides a golden opportunity to integrate rich problem solving activities and high-level discussions.  The highlight of the week had to be our Gator Candy Sales lesson.  After an overview of net and gross income, students were given 4 Gator Bucks and a bag with a particular flavor of candy.  After initial excitement, they learned that they could not keep either of the items.  What a letdown!  However, spirits lifted again when they were told to buy any 4 pieces of candy in the room with their Gator Bucks, and that they were able to keep all of the Gator Bucks that other students gave to them for candy sales.

When everyone was done buying and selling candy, the students moved on to their calculations.  They were excited to learn that each Gator Buck they received represented $250.  After finding their gross income, they had to calculate their sales and income tax, which they used to find their net income.  Many higher-level TEKS were integrated in this lesson, as proportions, percents, and multiplication and subtraction of decimals were all required to solve the problem correctly.  In addition, the students learned lessons about supply and demand when they assessed which groups made the most and least profit from their candy sales.

The students had many opportunities to write and speak about their opinions on Financial Literacy this week.  They shared their views on which method of payment is the best, wrote analogies for financial concepts, discussed why taxes are fair or unfair, and compared taxes to pictures of sharks, cake, presents, and a waterfall.  I enjoyed reading and listening to all of their ideas about money, and I know that you would too.  If you get a chance sometime this weekend, ask your child a few questions about personal finance.  I guarantee you won't be disappointed!