Grade 1 financial literacy curriculum
Ways to pay, counting coins to a dollar, and the spend, save, share habit. One lesson a week for the school year, about 45 minutes each, with a worksheet, a quiz, a family letter and a checkpoint test every six weeks.
Every week includes
- Lesson plan with timings, differentiation and a hands-on activity
- Student worksheet and answer key
- Weekly quiz (75% unlocks the next week)
- Family letter in English, Spanish or Portuguese
Aligned to standards
Every lesson is tagged with the six areas of the National Standards for Personal Financial Education (Jump$tart Coalition and Council for Economic Education) and the grade's Common Core math standards. State codes are available for Illinois, Texas, Florida, North Dakota, Colorado, Georgia, Arizona, Utah, Nebraska.
Scope and sequence
Unit 1 · Weeks 1–6Money Around Us, Ways to Pay, and Coins
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Money All Around Us We see and use money in many places every day. | Earning IncomeSpending |
| 2 | Ways We Pay: Cash Cash means paper bills and metal coins. | Spending |
| 3 | Ways We Pay: Cards and Tap People can also pay with cards or by tapping a phone. | SpendingSavingManaging Credit |
| 4 | Meet the Coins There are four coins we use most: penny, nickel, dime, and quarter. | Spending |
| 5 | What Coins Are Worth Each coin has its own value in cents. | Spending |
| 6 | Review: Ways to Pay and Coins We look back at how we pay and what coins are worth. | Spending |
Checkpoint 1 closes the unit: Money Around Us, Ways to Pay, and Coins.
Unit 2 · Weeks 7–12Counting Coins, Needs and Wants, and Prices
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Counting Coins to 10 Cents We count pennies and nickels up to ten cents. | Spending |
| 8 | Counting Coins to 25 Cents We use nickels and dimes to count higher. | Spending |
| 9 | Counting Coins to One Dollar Many coins together can make one dollar. | SpendingManaging Risk |
| 10 | Earning Money by Helping People earn money by doing work, like chores and helping jobs. | Earning Income |
| 11 | Reading Prices A price tag tells us how much something costs. | Spending |
| 12 | Review: Coins, Needs, and Prices We look back at counting coins, earning money, and prices. | Earning IncomeSpending |
Checkpoint 2 closes the unit: Counting Coins, Needs and Wants, and Prices.
Unit 3 · Weeks 13–18Spend, Save, Share, and Saving Goals
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | The Three Jobs of Money Money can be spent, saved, or shared. | Earning IncomeSpendingSaving |
| 14 | Spending Money Spending means using money to buy something now. | Spending |
| 15 | Saving Money Saving means keeping money to use later. | SavingManaging Risk |
| 16 | Sharing Money Sharing means giving some money to help others. | SpendingManaging Credit |
| 17 | Choosing Between Two Goals When we want two things, we pick one goal to save for first. | SpendingSaving |
| 18 | Review: Spend, Save, Share We look back at the three jobs of money and choosing a goal. | Earning IncomeSpendingSaving |
Checkpoint 3 closes the unit: Spend, Save, Share, and Saving Goals.
Unit 4 · Weeks 19–24Shopping Plans, Adding Prices, and Better Buys
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Making a Shopping Plan A plan helps us decide what to buy before we shop. | Spending |
| 20 | Adding Small Prices We add two prices to find the total cost. | Spending |
| 21 | Comparing Two Prices We can tell which item costs more and which costs less. | Spending |
| 22 | Choosing the Better Buy We use price to pick a smart choice. | Spending |
| 23 | Sticking to a Plan A good shopper follows the plan and does not overspend. | SpendingManaging Credit |
| 24 | Review: Plans and Prices We look back at plans, adding, and comparing prices. | Spending |
Checkpoint 4 closes the unit: Shopping Plans, Adding Prices, and Better Buys.
Unit 5 · Weeks 25–30Patience, Borrowing, and Keeping Money Safe
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Ads Want Your Money Ads use tricks to make us want things, so we pause and think. | Spending |
| 26 | Patience Pays Off Waiting to save can lead to something better. | SavingInvesting |
| 27 | Free Things and Things That Cost Money Some things are free to use because everyone pays for them together. | Earning IncomeSpendingManaging Credit |
| 28 | Banks, Passwords and the FDIC Banks, secret passwords, and grown-ups help keep money safe. | SavingManaging Risk |
| 29 | Saving for Something Big Big goals take more time and more saving. | SpendingSaving |
| 30 | Review: Patience and Smart Choices We look back at ads, shared things, patience, and smart choices. | Spending |
Checkpoint 5 closes the unit: Patience, Borrowing, and Keeping Money Safe.
Unit 6 · Weeks 31–36Classroom Store, Money That Grows, and Year Review
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Our Classroom Store: Planning We plan a pretend store for our class to run. | Earning IncomeInvesting |
| 32 | Our Classroom Store: Pricing We put fair prices on our store items. | Spending |
| 33 | Our Classroom Store: Shopping Day We use coins to shop at our class store. | SpendingManaging Risk |
| 34 | Money That Grows Money saved in a bank can earn interest and grow. | Earning IncomeSavingInvesting |
| 35 | Getting Ready for the Money Show We practice to share our money learning with families. | Spending |
| 36 | Year-End Review and Money Show We celebrate and show all we learned about money. | Spending |
Checkpoint 6 closes the unit: Classroom Store, Money That Grows, and Year Review.
Bonus unit · after week 36Money and Investing
| Lesson | Topic | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | Shells, Coins, and Cards Money has changed from shells to coins to cards and screens. | Spending |
| B2 | Plant a Money Seed Choosing to wait and save can help money grow, like a seed into a tree. | SavingInvesting |
| B3 | Game Coins Are Not Real Coins and gems in games are not real money, and we stay safe online. | SpendingManaging Risk |
| B4 | Deposit and Withdraw A bank keeps your money safe. You can put money in and take money out. | SavingManaging Risk |
| B5 | Then and Now Prices When prices change, the same money can buy more or less, so we compare and choose. | SpendingSaving |
Money connections: 8 short activities in this grade link the week's topic to Managing Credit, Managing Risk, Investing (shown above in the Standards areas column).
Other grades
Kindergarten Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8