This spring, Charles Schwab Foundation teamed up with DonorsChoose.org to inspire and uncover teachers’ best-in-class ideas for helping their students strengthen their financial literacy skills. We called on teachers across the country to submit their best ideas for introducing key financial concepts to students, and a panel of financial literacy champions chose the most innovative projects.
Now, they’re calling on you to vote for your favorite project, and the winning teacher will receive $1,000 in DonorsChoose.org credit for their classroom! Check out the finalists' projects to learn how these teachers are bringing financial literacy into the classroom. Once you’ve reviewed the projects, vote for your favorite.
Top 6 Projects — Vote for one!
Financial Literacy: A Virtual Reality Bank Part 3
Mr. Gumpert | Grades PreK–2 | Los Angeles, CA
"What if we could teach our kids about the way a bank works by creating a bank inside our classroom and using Virtual Reality to become immersed inside the bank? Using two Samsung S7 phones as VR headsets and a microphone, we can create a bank where the money is stored and classroom bankers act as tellers!"
This project is a part of a series. See the other parts here: Part 1 and Part 2.
Financial Literacy Disguised With Dinosaurs!
Ms. Rigney | Grades PreK–2 | Wauchula, FL
“I can't think of a better way to engage my students than DINOSAURS! Students will have to complete a dinosaur-themed money and number activity in order to find the missing keys to the crates and save the classroom money and numbers from the dinosaurs.”
Invest in Us, So We Can Learn to Invest
Ms. Estes | Grades PreK–2 | Franklin, TN
“Financial wisdom begins with knowing that spending is all about choices and knowing you can't have it all. I want my students to not only be able to recognize and understand coins, but also understand spending and saving.”
Show Me The Money! A Financial Literacy Video Project
Mrs. Muhammed | Grades 9–12 | Saint Louis, MO
“The students will create a "Show Me the Money" video series. Their videos will demonstrate how to comparison shop for a car, how to identify the best deal when applying for credit, and/or how to fill out an apartment rental application.”
Budgeting Our Virtual Field Trips Part 2
Mrs. Galang | Grades 3–5 | Lanham, MD
“With the VR standalone headset, the students will experience a virtual field trip by visiting historical landmarks at a different time period around the world using the Google Expedition app. But before they can experience it, the students need to make a budget plan on how much money they will need to get to that place including the transportation fare, hotel accommodation, and food.”
This project is a part of a series. See the other parts here: Part 1, Part 3, and Part 4.
Spending and Saving to Learn Financial Literacy
Mrs. Walker | Grades PreK–2 | Pittsburgh, PA
“My goal with this project is to teach my students an introduction to financial literacy. My students need the Spend and Save activities kit to help them understand how you can earn, spend, and save money.”
Help the teacher who created your favorite project do even more for their classroom by submitting your vote now. Voting will be open from July 15 to July 31 at 11:59 pm EST. You may only vote once.
