Financial Literacy Word Wall (2024)

Financial Literacy Word Wall (1)


I love teaching teens how to build their financial literacy. There's something so empowering about knowing how to work with percentages, how to budget and what all that fancy-sounding financial language means.


Teaching teens about personal finance was even empowering to me. It made me feel I was giving my students the tools they needed to avoid being taken advantage of financially, which can happen to any of us.

In this post I want to show the parts of a new financial literacy word wallI made to support your curriculum,and talk a bit about the misconceptions and questions that can arise in class.

Financial Literacy Word Wall (2)
digital version

So much of consumer math is working with percents. Sales tax, gratuity, and finding sale prices are so important to students so I made sure to have these references in the word wall. Teens want to know that shirt on sale will actually ring up 40% off and the tip to leave on their first date.

One of my proudest teacher moments came from a story my student Janiece told me about her job.

A customer was getting upset at Janiece's register because she thought the final sale price was wrong for the item she bought. Janiece proudly recounted the story of how she was not only able to defuse the situation but also teach the customer the right way to find a sale price.

Super proud teacher moment.

At the beginning of the school year when I gave my students a survey, I learned that many of my students wanted to know about credit scores. Maybe it's the public school focus on standardized testing or the constant credit score commercials on TV.

Kids are wondering about their credit score, what a credit score is and how they can have a good score.

Another student of mine really wanted a job. We heard about it every day in class. Finally when we - the whole class at this point - pressed him on why he didn't have a job, he replied, "I'm afraid I'll mess up the register."

He was a junior and didn't have a job because he was worried about his ability to make change.
Students have a lot of anxiety around personal finance and money. We chatted about how getting fired isn't the end of the world and that getting that first job would be the hardest. He could take what he learned at this first job and apply it to the next one. He could learn the register at this first job.

So I made sure to add images into this word wall about paychecks and budgets, pay stubs, paycheck schedules and monthly expenses.

Long story short, my student faced his fears and got a job. He then quit that job, got another, quit that one and got another. In the span of a couple months he overcame his fear of getting a job, had a few jobs and got himself some fancy new clothes.

And speaking of clothes, students should only be spending 5% of their net monthly income on clothes. And 10% should be going to savings...

OK, so we all know this isn't happening with teenagers! Butbeing aware of these numbers is important, even if most of their money is currently going towards new clothes and food. It's important for them to see what the goal is.

"What's the difference between a debit card and a credit card?" was another question I got a lot. They look the same and we use them the same at the register.

Another question that arose was the difference between "debit" and "debit card", "credit" and "credit card". Debit and credit are used in different contexts within finances. We debit and credit a checking account. A credit is an increase of money in this case. With a credit card, we are taking credit that we need to pay back. This can get confusing.

Students also may see a credit card as income or free money. They don't always know it's money that needs to be paid back.

Exponential growth and compound interest is maybe the most important topic in financial literacy for students to learn, and these topics are covered in the word wall. A student who had been in one of my first ever classrooms got locked into a 28% interest rate on a used car as an adult. 28%! Things like this can happen so easily to young people if they do not know what these numbers mean. This was a story I told my Consumer Math students every year as a cautionary tale.

So many of the questions my students would ask would feel like common knowledge questions, except that they weren't. If we never teach kids about money, they may end up learning about it the hard way. It's funny how we all deal with money every day but we all also have so many questions.

When we made vision boards in Consumer Math, a lot of my students included photos of fancy cars. So we talked a lot about this.

Unlike a house, owning a car is a liability. A car's value drops significantly each year, which is great for assessing excise tax but not so great if we're going into a car loan with the idea the car is an asset. Instead of a fancy car, what else could we spend that money on?

Another topic my students wanted to know more about was the stock market.

"How do I buy stocks?" "How do I make money in the stock market?" In this part of the word wall I added cards for profit and loss so that students are aware of the up and downsides of investing this way.

Students often do not get a tax return when they are owed one. I helped a few students get their tax returns and could go on and on about how I feel about this.

Filing a tax return is intimidating, especially the first time. But kids who work should be getting their money back.

And of course, mortgages -- where a 0.5% difference in interest rate makes a HUGE difference over the course of paying a 30 year loan. I love running numbers on an amortization calculator to estimate the difference in overall cost by paying more each month, increasing a down payment or decreasing interest percentage.

All of the word wall references in this post can be found in this Financial Literacy Word Wall.

Financial Literacy Word Wall

The activities in this Consumer Math activities bundle were ones we'd use in class. One of these days I will compile everything we used into a curriculum. Can I get a few more days in the week? Hours in the day maybe?

Consumer math activities bundle
Consumer math curriculum

Related posts:


Fun activities for teaching teens financial literacy

Consumer math curriculum

Math word walls

Financial Literacy Word Wall (2024)

FAQs

What are the 5 principles of financial literacy? ›

The U.S. FLEC highlights five principles as the building blocks of financial literacy, known as the MyMoney Five.
  • EARN.
  • SPEND.
  • SAVE & INVEST.
  • BORROW.
  • PROTECT.
Apr 17, 2024

What are some of the key vocabulary words for financial literacy? ›

Financial literacy vocabulary words
  • Annual percentage rate. Annual percentage rate, or APR, is the yearly interest rate charged on borrowed money. ...
  • Asset. An asset is any resource (tangible or intangible, owned or controlled) that holds value. ...
  • Bankruptcy. ...
  • Budget. ...
  • Comparison shopping. ...
  • Credit. ...
  • Credit report. ...
  • Credit score.
Jul 27, 2023

What are the 3 keys to financial literacy? ›

Three Key Components of Financial Literacy
  • An Up-to-Date Budget. Some tend to look at the word “budget” as tantamount to the word “diet,” but at its most basic, a budget is just a spending plan. ...
  • Dedicated Savings (and Saving to Spend) ...
  • ID Theft Prevention.

What is the word wall literacy strategy? ›

Word wall activities engage students while they learn key vocabulary, whether it be learning to explain a word, to compare it to other key concepts, or to spell it. A word wall is a group of words that are displayed on a wall, bulletin board, chalkboard, or whiteboard in a classroom.

What are the three C's in financial literacy? ›

Students classify those characteristics based on the three C's of credit (capacity, character, and collateral), assess the riskiness of lending to that individual based on these characteristics, and then decide whether or not to approve or deny the loan request.

What is the golden rule of financial literacy? ›

Spend less than you make

This may seem obvious, and boring, but spending less than you make is by far the biggest key to financial success. If you struggle with spending, focus on this one rule until you're at a point where you have positive cash flow at the end of the month.

How do I teach basic financial literacy? ›

Children learn best through practical examples. Involve them in age-appropriate discussions about family finances, like planning a budget for a family vacation or comparing prices while shopping. Real-life scenarios help children understand the value of money and the importance of making wise financial choices.

What are the four concept of financial literacy? ›

Financial literacy is having a basic grasp of money matters and its four fundamental pillars: debt, budgeting, saving, and investing.

What are the basic terms of financial literacy? ›

Liquidity = The ease with which an asset can be converted to cash without serious loss. Loan sharks = Unlicensed lenders who charge illegally high interest rates. Loan Term = The length of time you have to pay off a loan. Money market account = an interest-bearing ac- count that offers limited check-writing privileges.

What is a famous quote about financial literacy? ›

"The number one problem in today's generation and economy is the lack of financial literacy." -Alan Greenspan. We've said it before and we'll say it again: financial education is key to avoiding debt and getting the most out of your money.

What are the 4 rules of being financially literate? ›

You can build financial literacy by focusing on these financial planning principles:
  • Budgeting. Understanding how money flows in and out of your bank account is the first step toward building your financial literacy. ...
  • Managing Debt. Debt can be a blessing and a curse. ...
  • Saving. ...
  • Investing.
Aug 3, 2020

What is the first rule of financial literacy? ›

1. Budget your money. In general, there are four main uses for money: spending, saving, investing and giving away. Finding the right balance among these four categories is essential, and a budget can be a very useful tool to help you accomplish this.

What are word wall examples? ›

The writing word wall contains both specific and general lists of words that can be used when writing in a specific mode, or for a specific topic. For example, if the class is learning about chronological writing, the word wall can contain words such as 'after,' 'then,' 'finally' and 'next. '

What is the word wall method? ›

A word wall is a visible display in a classroom that features a collection of words students are studying. Word walls can focus on high-frequency words, word study examples, academic language, and words that are introduced in the content areas.

What are the 5 principles of literacy? ›

There are five aspects to the process of reading: phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, reading comprehension and fluency. These five aspects work together to create the reading experience. As children learn to read they must develop skills in all five of these areas in order to become successful readers.

What are the 5 pillars of balanced literacy? ›

The National Reading Panel identified five key concepts at the core of every effective reading instruction program: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension.

What are the five principles of finance? ›

Five Principles of Financial Transactions Management

The five principles are consistency, timeliness, justification, documentation, and certification.

What are the 5 basics of personal finance? ›

There's plenty to learn about personal financial topics, but breaking them down can help simplify things. To start expanding your financial literacy, consider these five areas: budgeting, building and improving credit, saving, borrowing and repaying debt, and investing.

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