Grade 6 · 36 weeks
Grade 6 financial literacy curriculum
Investing basics: stocks, bonds, diversification, index funds, and risk vs. return. 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 1–6Investing, Return, and Money Goals
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Investing: Putting Money to Work Investing means using money today to try to grow more money for the future. | SpendingInvesting |
| 2 | Putting Money to Work Money can earn more money when you invest it wisely. | Earning IncomeSavingInvesting |
| 3 | Understanding Return Return is the extra money you earn from an investment. | Earning IncomeInvestingManaging Credit |
| 4 | Saving Versus Investing Saving keeps money safe while investing tries to grow it faster. | SpendingSavingInvesting |
| 5 | Setting Money Goals Clear goals help you decide how to save and invest. | SavingInvestingEarning Income |
| 6 | Review: Foundations Part One We review investing, growth, return, and saving versus investing. | SavingInvesting |
Checkpoint 1 closes the unit: Investing, Return, and Money Goals.
Unit 2 · Weeks 7–12Stocks, Bonds, and Dividends
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Stocks Mean Ownership Buying a stock makes you a part owner of a company. | SpendingInvesting |
| 8 | How Stock Prices Change Stock prices go up and down based on how people value a company. | Earning IncomeSpendingInvesting |
| 9 | Bonds Are Loans A bond is a loan you give that pays you back with interest. | SpendingInvestingManaging Credit |
| 10 | Stocks Versus Bonds Stocks are ownership while bonds are loans, each with different risk. | Earning IncomeSpendingInvesting |
| 11 | Earning Dividends Some companies share profits with owners through dividends. | Earning IncomeSpendingInvesting |
| 12 | Review: Foundations Part Two We review stocks, bonds, prices, and dividends. | SpendingInvesting |
Checkpoint 2 closes the unit: Stocks, Bonds, and Dividends.
Unit 3 · Weeks 13–18Diversification, Risk, and Portfolios
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | What Is Diversification? Diversification means spreading money across many investments. | Investing |
| 14 | Understanding Risk Risk is the chance that an investment loses value. | InvestingManaging Risk |
| 15 | Building a Portfolio A portfolio is your mix of different investments. | Investing |
| 16 | Dollar-Cost Averaging Investing the same amount at regular times buys more shares when prices are low. | SpendingInvesting |
| 17 | Comparing Two Portfolios We compare a single investment to a diversified mix. | SpendingInvesting |
| 18 | Review: Diversification and Risk We review diversification, risk, and portfolios. | InvestingManaging Risk |
Checkpoint 3 closes the unit: Diversification, Risk, and Portfolios.
Unit 4 · Weeks 19–24Index Funds, Fees, and Compounding
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | What Is an Index Fund? An index fund lets you own many companies in one investment. | SpendingInvesting |
| 20 | One Fund, Many Companies A single index fund can include hundreds of companies. | SpendingInvesting |
| 21 | Index Funds and Diversification Index funds make diversification simple and automatic. | InvestingManaging Risk |
| 22 | Costs of Investing Some investments charge small fees that affect your return. | SpendingInvestingManaging Credit |
| 23 | Investing Over Time Investing steadily over many years can grow money a lot. | InvestingEarning Income |
| 24 | Review: Skills and Index Funds We review index funds, fees, and long-term growth. | Investing |
Checkpoint 4 closes the unit: Index Funds, Fees, and Compounding.
Unit 5 · Weeks 25–30Risk Versus Return and Smart Decisions
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Risk Versus Return Higher possible returns usually come with higher risk. | SpendingInvestingManaging Risk |
| 26 | Time Horizon and Choices How long until you need money shapes how you invest it. | SpendingInvesting |
| 27 | Making Investment Decisions Good decisions weigh goals, risk, time, and diversification. | SavingInvestingManaging Risk |
| 28 | Reading Simple Market News Market news can help investors understand what is happening. | Investing |
| 29 | Avoiding Common Mistakes Knowing common mistakes helps investors make better choices. | InvestingManaging Credit |
| 30 | Review: Decisions and Trade-offs We review risk versus return, time horizon, and smart decisions. | SpendingInvestingManaging Risk |
Checkpoint 5 closes the unit: Risk Versus Return and Smart Decisions.
Unit 6 · Weeks 31–36Portfolio Project, Fraud, and Year Review
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Portfolio Project: Planning We begin planning a diversified pretend portfolio. | SpendingInvesting |
| 32 | Portfolio Project: Choosing We choose specific investments for the pretend portfolio. | Investing |
| 33 | Portfolio Project: Calculating We calculate the allocation and check the balance. | Investing |
| 34 | Portfolio Project: Presenting We present our diversified portfolios to the class. | Investing |
| 35 | Investment Fraud and Scams Knowing the red flags of investment fraud helps protect your money. | InvestingManaging Risk |
| 36 | Year-End Review We celebrate and review everything learned about investing. | Investing |
Checkpoint 6 closes the unit: Portfolio Project, Fraud, and Year Review.
Bonus unit · after week 36Money and Investing
| Lesson | Topic | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | Money, Trust, and the Fed The dollar moved from gold-backed to fiat money, and the Federal Reserve works to keep it stable. | SpendingSaving |
| B2 | Index Funds and Diversification Index funds spread money across many companies at low cost, but they still rise and fall with the market. | Investing |
| B3 | Blockchains and Shared Ledgers A blockchain is a shared ledger of linked blocks, kept honest by many computers instead of one bank. | InvestingManaging Risk |
| B4 | Interest Rates and APY Savings accounts pay interest, and APY lets you compare how much different accounts really earn in a year. | SavingManaging Risk |
| B5 | Measuring Inflation With the CPI The Consumer Price Index tracks a basket of goods and services, and its changes show the inflation rate and the rising cost of living. | SpendingSaving |
Money connections: 5 short activities in this grade link the week's topic to Managing Credit, Earning Income (shown above in the Standards areas column).
Other grades
Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 7 Grade 8