Business & Finance Resources

Economics, Entrepreneurship, & Financial Literacy

Here are three Web sites for teachers that offer business and finance resources for the classroom.

Teaching Economics As If People Mattered

United for a Fair Economy (UFE) offers 5 learning modules for teaching economics: Defining Economics, The Ten Chairs (distribution of wealth in the United States), Savings Accounts & Stocks, Born on Third Base (acquiring wealth), Signs of the Times (gauging economic success).

Each module includes learning objectives, key concepts and terms, a downloadable lesson, an animated presentation, articles and resources, a mapping to standards, and a place to offer feedback about the lesson.

To learn more, visit the Teaching Economics As If People Mattered Web site.

NFIB Entrepreneur-in-the-Classroom

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Young Entrepreneur Foundation (YEF) developed NFIB Entrepreneur-in-the-Classroom programs to bring real-life stories of entrepreneurs into the classroom, enabling students to learn first-hand about the risks and rewards of operating a small business.

The three-module curriculum helps teachers create classroom laboratories where high school students can learn about operating a small business. All three modules contain teaching notes, overheads, activities, and quizzes. Access to the curriculum materials requires free registration.

To learn more, visit the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation Web site.

JumpStart: Financial Smarts for Students

JumpStart offers some materials that can be downloaded for free -- "12 Principles that every young person should know” provides short lesson plans on teaching students about money. Their Clearinghouse offers materials that you can order by written request and a few that you can download.

Their financial curriculum materials are available for purchase only. They have two "money savvy" curriculums -- one for teaching personal finance to kindergarten through fifth graders and the other for teaching early high school age students. Please note that these materials are totally scripted for the teacher.

For more information, visit the JumpStart Web site.