Shaping Up Your Financial Future, Grades 6-8

Middle school students enjoy personal finance because it involves making decisions about their lives, both in the present and in the future. This teacher's guide and student workouts package consists of 17 economics lessons for students at grades 6-8 that are divided into 5 theme areas: the economic way of thinking; earning an income; saving; spending and using credit; and managing money. Lessons include making better decisions for earning income, spending, borrowing, investing, and managing money. The guide's overall theme is financial fitness and the development of knowledge for use in everyday life. Each lesson includes a description, background, a list of necessary overhead transparencies and other items, economic and personal finance concepts, time required for the lesson, warm up ideas, exercises, cool down ideas, assessments, and other training equipment. A mathematics matrix, an economics matrix, and a personal finance matrix are provided at the beginning of the guide. (BT)