Grade 5 · 36 weeks
Grade 5 financial literacy curriculum
Assets, net worth, simple vs. compound interest, good vs. bad debt, and inflation. 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 1–6Assets, Liabilities, and Value
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What Is an Asset? Students learn that an asset is something valuable a person owns. | Spending |
| 2 | What Is a Liability? Students learn that a liability is money a person owes. | SpendingManaging Credit |
| 3 | Assets vs Liabilities Students compare assets and liabilities side by side. | Spending |
| 4 | What Gives Things Value? Students explore why some things are worth more than others. | Spending |
| 5 | Sorting Your Stuff Students practice classifying real belongings as assets or liabilities. | SpendingManaging Risk |
| 6 | Review: Assets and Liabilities Students review the first five weeks with games and a quiz. | Spending |
Checkpoint 1 closes the unit: Assets, Liabilities, and Value.
Unit 2 · Weeks 7–12Net Worth, Tracking, and Careers
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | What Is Net Worth? Students learn that net worth is assets minus liabilities. | Earning Income |
| 8 | Calculating Net Worth Students practice net worth with several assets and liabilities. | Spending |
| 9 | Growing Your Net Worth Students learn ways to raise net worth over time. | SavingEarning Income |
| 10 | Tracking Net Worth Over Time Students learn to record and compare net worth week by week. | SpendingManaging Risk |
| 11 | Careers and Income Students learn how jobs, careers, and skills affect the money people earn. | Earning IncomeSpending |
| 12 | Review: Value and Net Worth Students review value, net worth, and tracking with a quiz. | Earning IncomeManaging Credit |
Checkpoint 2 closes the unit: Net Worth, Tracking, and Careers.
Unit 3 · Weeks 13–18Simple and Compound Interest
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Banks and Credit Unions: How They Work Students learn what banks and credit unions do and how they earn money. | Earning IncomeSavingManaging Credit |
| 14 | Comparing Savings Options: Accounts, CDs and Money Market Students compare savings accounts, CDs and money market accounts to match a goal. | SpendingSaving |
| 15 | What Is Compound Interest? Students learn that compound interest is earned on interest too. | Earning IncomeInvesting |
| 16 | How Compounding Grows Money Students see how compound interest speeds up over many years. | Investing |
| 17 | Simple vs Compound Interest Students compare simple and compound interest side by side. | SpendingInvesting |
| 18 | Review: Interest Basics Students review simple and compound interest with practice. | SavingInvestingManaging Credit |
Checkpoint 3 closes the unit: Simple and Compound Interest.
Unit 4 · Weeks 19–24Debt, Interest, and Borrowing Smart
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | What Is Debt? Students learn that debt is money that must be paid back. | Managing Credit |
| 20 | Good Debt vs Bad Debt Students learn to tell helpful debt from harmful debt. | Managing Credit |
| 21 | How Interest Makes Debt Worse Students see how interest increases the amount owed. | Managing Credit |
| 22 | Borrowing Smart Students learn habits for borrowing wisely. | SpendingManaging Credit |
| 23 | Debt and Net Worth Students see how debt affects net worth. | Managing Credit |
| 24 | Review: Debt and Interest Students review debt and interest concepts with a quiz. | SpendingManaging Credit |
Checkpoint 4 closes the unit: Debt, Interest, and Borrowing Smart.
Unit 5 · Weeks 25–30Inflation, Purchasing Power, and Investing
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | What Is Inflation? Students learn that inflation is rising prices over time. | Spending |
| 26 | Inflation and Purchasing Power Students learn that inflation lowers what money can buy. | SpendingManaging CreditEarning Income |
| 27 | Prices Over Time Students study how everyday prices change across years. | Spending |
| 28 | Beating Inflation by Saving Students learn how earning interest helps money keep up with inflation. | Earning IncomeSaving |
| 29 | Beating Inflation by Investing Students learn that investing can help money grow faster than inflation. | Earning IncomeInvestingManaging Risk |
| 30 | Review: Inflation Students review inflation and ways to beat it. | Managing Credit |
Checkpoint 5 closes the unit: Inflation, Purchasing Power, and Investing.
Unit 6 · Weeks 31–36Wealth Projects, Scams, and Year Review
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Planning a Wealth Project Students begin a project to plan how to build wealth. | Saving |
| 32 | Building Your Wealth Plan Students choose strategies and estimate growth for their project. | Investing |
| 33 | Assets That Grow Students explore which assets increase in value over time. | Spending |
| 34 | Presenting Your Wealth Project Students share their wealth plans with the class. | Spending |
| 35 | Protecting Your Wealth: Scams and Identity Theft Students learn how scams and identity theft can shrink net worth and how to stay safe. | Managing CreditManaging Risk |
| 36 | Year-End Review Students review the whole year and celebrate their learning. | Spending |
Checkpoint 6 closes the unit: Wealth Projects, Scams, and Year Review.
Bonus unit · after week 36Money and Investing
| Lesson | Topic | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | What Gives Money Its Value? Good money is trusted, hard to fake, and limited, and printing too much can cause inflation. | SpendingSaving |
| B2 | Compound Growth and Risk Compound growth makes money grow faster over time, and higher rewards usually come with higher risk. | Investing |
| B3 | Crypto, Scams, and Safety Crypto is held in digital wallets with secret keys, has no FDIC protection, and is a favorite tool of scammers. | Managing Risk |
| B4 | Choosing Where to Keep Your Money Comparing accounts, interest, fees, insurance, and card safety helps you keep money safe and growing. | SavingManaging Risk |
| B5 | Can Your Savings Keep Up? Inflation slowly shrinks purchasing power, so savers compare the interest they earn with how fast prices rise. | SpendingSaving |
Money connections: 6 short activities in this grade link the week's topic to Managing Risk, Earning Income, Saving (shown above in the Standards areas column).
Other grades
Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8