Elementary: 1st Grade Financial Literacy Concepts
EARN, SAVE, SPEND, GROW
Students will learn about needs and wants, saving, earning money, and why it's important to wait before spending. Students will understand how money is used to buy goods and services, the roles of consumers, producers, and distributors, and explore different careers.
BIG IDEAS
- Sometimes we must wait because we need to make sure our needs are met before we take care of our wants.
- Money has quantity and value.
- Money is used to buy things.
- Savings gives us money for things we want, things we need, and for emergencies.
- Jobs and businesses can create items, offer services, or both.
- I can be a consumer, producer, or distributor.
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS
- What is money?
- What is important for me to have right now?
- What things will I need as an adult?
- How are my needs and wants different from adults’ needs and wants?
- What are savings?
- Why would I want to save money?
- What are some examples of goods?
- What are some examples of services?
LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Recognize and choose needs and wants.
- Define savings and give examples where savings are important.
- Identify careers that provide a service, create a product, or both.
- Define the role of consumers and producers in the community.
- Identify the values of coins and use appropriate notation.
Vocabulary
Social Studies Standards
Piggy Bank Primer
Lesson 1 and 3
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard 1.4.1
Financial Literacy Concept: Sometimes we must wait because we need to make sure our needs are met before we take care of our wants.
What is important for me to have right now? What are savings?
Concept Match: Needs and Wants
Description: These lessons focus on basic economic concepts, such as unlimited wants, goods, services, opportunity cost, saving and budgeting. The lessons employ various teaching strategies to introduce the content and integrate the activities from the student activity book.
Piggy Bank Primer
Lesson 2
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard 1.4.1
Financial Literacy Concept: Savings gives us money for things we want, things we need, and for emergencies.
What would I want to save money for? What is important for me to have right now? What things will I need as an adult?
Concept Match: Save and Spend
Description: These lessons focus on basic economic concepts, such as unlimited wants, goods, services, opportunity cost, saving and budgeting. The lessons employ various teaching strategies to introduce the content and integrate the activities from the student activity book.
Jobs in My Town
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard 1.4.2
Financial Literacy Concept: Jobs and businesses can create items, offer services, or both.
Identify careers that provide a service, create a product, or both.
Concept Match: Earn
Description: These lessons focus on basic economic concepts, such as unlimited wants, goods, services, opportunity cost, saving and budgeting. The lessons employ various teaching strategies to introduce the content and integrate the activities from the student activity book.
Goods, Services, and Our Community
Standard: ECONOMICS Standard 1.4.3
Financial Literacy Concept: Define the role of consumers and producers in the community. I can be a consumer, producer, or distributor.
What are some examples of goods and services?
Concept Match: Economics
Description: Students will understand the roles of consumers, producers, and distributors in the community. They will identify how goods and services move from producers to consumers and demonstrate understanding by creating a classroom "mini-market" where they take on different roles
Mathematics Standards
Sheep in a Shop
Standard: MEASUREMENT AND DATA Standard 1.MD.5
Financial Literacy Concept: Money has quantity and value.
Identify the values of coins and use appropriate notation.
Concept Match: Money Values
Description: In this lesson, students listen to a story about sheep that go shopping for a gift. The sheep don’t have quite enough money and must barter wool to obtain the gift they want. The students discuss what barter is and suggest other solutions to the sheep’s problems. Students earn cotton balls and pennies for work that they do. They use the cotton balls to decorate a sheep and use extra cotton balls and pennies to barter for or buy additional decorations for their sheep.
The "Classroom Store" Activity
Standard: MEASUREMENT AND DATA Standard 1.MD.5
Financial Literacy Concept: Money has quantity and value.
Identify the values of coins and use appropriate notation.
Concept Match: Money Values
Description: To teach students the practical application of money, coin identification, counting, and the concepts of spending and saving in a hands-on, engaging environment.
Solving Addition and Subtraction Word Problem
Standard: OPERATIONS AND ALGEBRAIC THINKING Standard 1.OA.1
Financial Literacy Concept: Money is used to buy things.
What is money?
Concept Match: Spend
Description: To teach students the practical application of money, coin identification, counting, and the concepts of spending and saving in a hands-on, engaging environment.
English Language Arts Standards
Needs vs. Wants
Standard: WRITING Standard 1.W.1
Financial Literacy Concept: Recognize and choose needs and wants.
How are my needs and wants different from adults’ needs and wants?
Concept Match: Needs and Wants
Description: Students will be able to distinguish between a need and a want in a financial context and be able to write an opinion piece that clearly states an opinion, provides supporting evidence, and includes an introductory and concluding statement.
What Could You Save For and Why?
Standard: WRITING Standard 1.W.2
Financial Literacy Concept: Define savings and give examples of situations where savings are important. What is savings?
Concept Match: Save
Description: Students will learn how to write a simple opinion piece by stating what they want to save money for, explaining why, and supporting their opinion with reasons. They will practice writing complete sentences and create a short paragraph with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
A Chair for my Mother
Standard: READING Standard 1.R.10
Financial Literacy Concept: Reading stories or informational texts about jobs, money, or economic roles.
Concept Match: Earn, Save, Spend
Description: In this lesson, students learn about income and saving by reading “A Chair for My Mother”, a story about a little girl and her family who save money to buy a chair after their furniture is destroyed in a fire.
Additional Resources:
- Finance In the Classroom Additional 1st Grade Activities
- Junior Achievement K-2 Self-Guided Program Resources
- Take Charge America Money Lesson Plans Grades 1-5
- EconEdLink Education Personal Financial Resources: K-5
- Federal Reserve Teaching Resources K-5
- Smart Path All-Access Learning: Enabling Students with Developmental Disabilities
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