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April 1, 2017

Infuse Financial Literacy Into Your Classroom with Tax Day

Tax Day is quickly approaching, and while many of us may dread it, it’s the perfect opportunity to infuse financial literacy into your classroom. From teaching what a tax is and what tax dollars are used for to helping students set up a personal budget, we’ve got plenty of ideas to make Tax Day a little less painful and a lot more educational!

Elementary School

  • It’s in Your Pocket â€“ The Constitution Center has a lot of great resources for teaching about the Constitution including a lesson on the coining of money. Work with your students to discover why the US began to coin money as well as the significance of the symbols on different coins and dollars.
  • Classroom Economy â€“ Help your students develop a deep understanding of and appreciation for the US economy by setting up your own classroom economy. This unit from Scholastic includes tips for setting up a class store to teach economic principles.

Middle and High School

  • Why Pay Taxes? â€“ Many students don’t understand why we pay taxes, so use Tax Day as an opportunity to talk about why taxes are important to the economy and function of the US Government and where they go today. Both The IRS and The Constitution Center have a variety of teacher tools, lesson plans, handouts, and more for you to use with your class.
  • Financial Literacy – Understanding how money works is important for students to grasp in order to build their financial literacy. Use the sample lessons at mint.com to begin discussions about important topics like budgeting, credit, and the stock market.
  • Personal Budget – Learning how to budget is an essential 21st century skill that will not only help students save money in the short term, but will also prepare them for future financial success. Mint.com has many free budget templates that you can use with your students to setup a personal budget.

Finally, with Tax Day coming up, make sure you’re aware of the write-offs available to educators!

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