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Economis Mini-Lesson: All About
Banking (Grades 1-4)
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Suggested Target
Age: Grades 1-4
Source:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/upromise/3_6lessonplan/
Topics Covered: savings accounts, deposits and withdrawals, interest rates
What Will the Students Learn?
- What interest is
- What deposits and withdrawals are
State Content Standards Key
California: English/LA 2.0
Florida:SS.D.2.2 (subpoint 3); Math MA.A.3.2
Indiana: Social Studies (Economics) 3.4.6, 4.4.10
Virginia: Economics: 1.8, 1.9, 3.9; Math: 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.10; 3.8, 3.10; 5.2 5.3, 5.4; Financial Literacy Objectives (VA Board of Education, 2006): 1, 5, 6, 14
NOTE: This lesson can be done with or without computers/Internet access. For the non-computer version, you will need to print out the PDF entitled The Adventures of Dollar Bill and Interest Ray.
Lesson Plan:
Introduction if Instructor has computer, power point and LCD: If possible, begin the lesson in a room where the instructor has a computer, Internet access, and an LCD projector. The instructor should have projected onto the screen his/her Economis account. Click on “Online Finances” to bring up that screen. Remind the students that they each have their own Economis account, which looks similar to one on the screen. Remind the students that they each have a checking account, linked to their Economis card, and a savings account.
Explain that today you are going to be learning about banking and especially all about savings accounts. Ask if any of the kids has a savings account at a “real” bank or credit union. Now they all have a savings account with Economis. One of the really important things about savings accounts is that when you have your money in a savings account, you earn interest. Write the word INTEREST up on the board and ask if anyone knows what that word means. It’s OK if no one does – you can say that in today’s lesson you will be learning about interest.
Introduction if Instructor does NOT have a computer, power point & LCD: If you cannot begin the lesson by showing the Economis screens to the students, then start by simply asking the group if they know what a savings account is. Also ask whether any of the kids has a real savings account at a bank or credit union. Remind the group that they all now have virtual savings account through Economis. Tell them that one of the really important things about savings accounts is that the bank pays you interest on the money that is in your savings account. Write the word INTEREST up on the board and ask if anyone knows what that word means. It’s OK if no one does – you can say that in today’s lesson you will be learning about interest.
1. If you’re working with kids in a computer lab,
have them log into the Sovereign Bank’s “KidsBank.com site.”
(URL is http://www.kidsbank.com/index_3.asp).
Have them click on the Dollar Bill character to get to this screen,
http://www.kidsbank.com/the_story/dollar_bill/
titled The Adventures of Dollar Bill.
2. If your kids are not online, then pass out photocopies of the story, The
Adventures of Dollar Bill and Interest Ray (click here for the PDF).
3. The students should read the story, either on-line or in hard copy version.
Monitor their progress and have everyone stop when they get to the end of the Dollar Bill section (before the section on Interest Ray).
4. Tell the kids that what they have just read applies to money in real savings accounts at real banks. Ask them if they can name some of the banks in your city (e.g., Bank of America, Regions Bank, National City Bank). Review concepts discussed in the story:
- Ask them what a deposit is
- How do you make a deposit into your savings account?
- Ask them what a withdrawal is
5. Now explain that through Economis, they all have a savings account – but they
are doing “online banking” instead of traditional banking (explain that “traditional” banking
involves walking into an actual bank building with a deposit slip). With Economis, deposits will be made
automatically into their bank accounts each week at payday. Remind the kids of the salary they are making by
participating in the Economis program. (You might even say something like, “Right now during this lesson you are earning some [name of your currency]!”) However, their paychecks get “direct deposited” into their checking accounts in
Economis. If they want that money, or some of it, to go into their savings accounts, then they will have to transfer it on the computer.
(At this point, if you have an instructor computer online, you can perform a transfer of currency from your checking account into your savings account so that they see it. Or, if you are doing the lesson with kids in a computer lab, have them log into their own Economis accounts and go to the Online Finances sections. Show them how they would transfer money. It is simple: They go to “online finances,” then click on the “transfer [name of your currency] link. This brings up a screen with drop downs allowing them to select “transfer FROM” and “transfer TO.” If you are doing this lesson off-line, simply tell the students that they can transfer money between their checking and savings accounts in Economis and that they will be learning how to do that in the near future.)
6. When you are pretty sure everyone understands the basics of what a savings account is,
and what deposits and withdrawls are, you can continue. Ask them: “Why would people put money into
their savings accounts, instead of just keeping all their money in their checking account?”
[because if it’s in their savings account, they will be less likely to spend it; because they will earn
interest on the money in their savings account and probably won’t earn interest in their checking account]
If no one says anything about getting interest, then you should remind them of interest – point to the word INTEREST on the board—and remind them that savings accounts pay interest.
7. Now have them read the rest of the story (either on-line or in hard copy) where they will learn more about interest from Interest Ray.
8. Monitor the students’ progress in finishing the story.
When everyone is done, lead a group discussion to review the concepts learned.
- What is interest?
- How much interest does the bank pay you? (this will be a hard question; the answer you are looking for is “it depends on the interest rate”)
- What is an interest rate?
9. Concluding Activity
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