So Who Wants to be a Millionaire?             (Level One Edition)    PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY DEFERRED GRATIFICATION FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT © 2003 Finding Business Capital, LLC Rationale

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• Instructional time is precious.
• Class time required is only three 45-60 minute periods.
• Students need time to process and incorporate new ideas/information.
• Lessons are divided into three parts, presented within a one-week time frame.
• Students must be able to understand information presented.
• Most fifth and sixth grade students have the math knowledge for optimal learning.
• We fully support accountability and working towards shared education goals.
• The program integrates specific Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks skills, concepts for Mathematics, and Social Studies and incorporates MCAS example questions in each lesson.
• Finance is not the most exciting subject, but wealth is currently an “in” TV topic
• For motivation the program title is “So Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”
• There are limits as to how much detail students will retain  from less than three hours of classes.
• Focus on attitudes and personal responsibility rather than isolated details/facts.
• For learning to occur, students must be engaged and personally invested in the material
• they need to be able to relate the subject to their own lives.

Technique

Since the inception of this program, multiple communication tools, including handouts, props (such as a large “Wheel of Fortune”), PowerPoint presentations, role modeling, costumes, and an interactive lecture format have been used to convey information to the students.

A second, and more difficult to replicate technique, is excitement and enthusiasm. There are many resources that provide excellent financial information and techniques, but we need to call the students to ACTION. What we call “Inspiration for Engagement” is more than personal empowerment; it is creating excitement and inspiring students to become engaged in the world of the American Enterprise.

An additional key feature of the program is that an individual from outside the normal school environment, a successful financial professional, presents the class, and can help make the connection between the material learned in school and its application in "the real world" outside of the classroom.

This program incorporates skills and concepts from the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Mathematics and Social Studies and the MCAS testing program in three ways. Specific elements of the program address specific topics from the Frameworks, as indicated by footnotes in the following overview and MCAS Example questions are part of each lesson. Perhaps even more important, the connection between the students’ real world lives -- being financially responsible and successful -- will be made more meaningful. The importance of "percents" becomes much more real when you are figuring out how much you will be paying on a loan or making from an investment. A key component of this program is the integration of the real world in to the school setting, and illustrating how what is learned in school can be used to improve one’s life.

Larry Lynch
Larry@KidsFutureUSA.org
508-842-5721

LESSON ONE: PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

• Guarantee: Millionaire by the time you retire if you listen and follow "the plan" Some will…some won’t, the choices are yours, be smart…make good/responsible choices!
• Personal Introduction: (Qualification of Instructor) Wealth gives choices but not happiness. Having money is fun -- making it is even more fun.
• Get a job -- some jobs pay better than others value=income, education and skills = greater contribution and more money
• Define: Work(1), Profit (interest) Credit & Debt Students in the room are labeled as "good credit" or "bad credit" based on actions in the class.
• Financial tools, like cars are wonderful, powerful, dangerous tools
• “If is sounds too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true”
• Discussion of the psychology and mathematics of gambling.
• Reinforcement of the importance of understanding math and taking personal responsibility.

WHEEL OF FORTUNE ACTIVITY (2): Three students picked to be “the house.” All other students write a number and a dollar amount on slips of paper. "The house” collects the slips and spins the Wheel of Fortune. One “winner” is selected, who gets 40% of the collected money… "the house" keeps the rest. Process is repeated 3 times. Note that “the House” does the work and gets the profits.

MCAS Example math question: “Who won?” (worked out with student interaction)

Review key points above.

1) Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework, 8/2003, Page 28, #13

2) Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 58, #6D4

LESSON TWO: DEFERRED GRATIFICATION

• Review: Work, Profit (interest) Credit & Debt, Get a Job, Get a better job
• Discussion on the Value of Money(3)  [Both the value as a part of one’s life and happiness, and the financial value of location and time are addressed]
• Define Savings(4), Budgets, Interest(5) (you can pay interest or collect interest, most of us will do both)
• Spending all of your money will prevent your from having the security of financial independence.
• A job   >>  Savings  >>  Investing  >>  Wealth  

MCAS Example math question: How much interest do you pay the bank? How much do you earn in interest?

The most dangerous form of personal credit is…. CREDIT CARDS

CREDIT CARD ACTIVITY:  a PowerPoint presentation in which a student is given a virtual credit card and, through the game process, becomes bankrupt within a year.  This is a key presentation and has a strong effect on the students.

Review key points above.

3) Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework, 8/2003, Page 28, #14
4) Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework, 8/2003, Page 28, #11
5) Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 20, #6N9

LESSON THREE: IMPORTANCE OF MATH

• Review: Work, Profit (interest) Credit & Debt
• Get a Job, get a better job
• Savings, Budgets, Interest
• Success and Accountability
• Define Investments, Risk and Return
• The Miracle of Compound Interest
• Self-Efficacy and Personal Responsibility

The Time Value of Money
[This is not simple and takes some work as inflation and taxes need to be included]

MCAS Example math question relates to the value of 1000 dollars without interest vs. with interest over time.

ACTIVITY: Bring student to blackboard, walk them through saving $1000 for 50 years at 10% but without compounding. Then, reinforcing the importance of Math in building personal wealth, show the students the effect of compounding for 50 years.(6)(7)(8)

6) Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 20, #6N13
7) Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 26, #6P4
8) Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 26, #6N7

Frameworks References

1. Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework, 8/2003, Page 28, #13 13.Define profit and describe how profit is an incentive for entrepreneurs. (E)

2. Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 58, #6D4 6.D.4 Predict the probability of outcomes of simple experiments (e.g., tossing a coin, rolling a die) and test the predictions. Use appropriate ratios between 0 and 1
to represent the probability of the outcome and associate the probability with the likelihood of the event.

3. Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework, 8/2003, Page 28, #11 11.Give examples of the ways people save their money and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each. (E)

4. Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 25, #6N9 6.N.9 Select and use appropriate operations to solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and positive integer exponents with whole numbers, and with positive fractions, mixed numbers, decimals, and percents. l

5. Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework 8/2003 Page 28 #14.Give examples of how changes in supply and demand affected prices in colonial history (e.g., fur, lumber, fish, and meat). (E, H)

6. Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 25, #6N13 6.N.13 Accurately and efficiently add, subtract, multiply, and divide (with double-digit divisors) whole numbers and positive decimals

7. Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 34, #6P4 6.P.4 Represent real situations and mathematical relationships with concrete models, tables, graphs, and rules in words and with symbols, e.g., input-output tables.

8. Mathematics Curriculum Framework, 11/2000, Page 26, #6N7 6.P.4 Represent real situations and mathematical relationships with concrete models, tables, graphs, and rules in words and with symbols, e.g., input-output tables.