Lesson 5: Money in my day
- Single class period
Activity 2: Diary of my day
Has someone in your home ever said: ‘Get off the phone!’ or ‘Turn the lights off when you leave the room!’ Why do they do this? It is an attempt to reduce money going out. In this lesson, students work together to identify the financial costs associated with their day-to-day activities and look at their role in keeping costs down and getting value for money spent.
Activity 1: Review of Lesson Four Homework Task
1. Review Lesson 4: Homework Task, recording student responses on the white/blackboard. Depending on your class you may wish to provide the following prompts:
a) List the ways people can get money:
- Earn money from working, either for themselves or for someone else (income/wage/salary)
- Borrow money from family, friends or a financial institution (loan)
- Inherit money
- Find money
b) What do people use money for?
- People use money to buy goods and services they either need or want.
c) How can having money make you feel?
- Depending on your individual circumstances having money can make you feel happy and secure or it can make you feel unhappy.
d) How can not having enough money make you feel?
- Not having enough money can make you feel stressed, unhappy etc.
2. Explain that the emotions we associate with having/not having money are very dependent on individual attitudes and situations.
Activity 2: Diary of my Day
1. Distribute one copy of Student Worksheet: Diary of my day to each student in the class.
2. Invite students to think about everything that has happened since they got out of bed that morning and note all of these activities in the space provided on their worksheet.
3. Take feedback from a sample of students, noting their responses on the white/blackboard.
4. Invite students to write the following heading on the third column of the table on the worksheet: ‘Cost?’ Ask them to consider whether or not there was a day-to-day financial cost to each of the activities they listed in their diary – i.e., insert ☑ if there is a cost and ☒ if there is no cost.
5. Take feedback from a sample of students, noting their responses on the white/blackboard.
6. Invite students to write the following heading on the fourth column of the table on the worksheet: ‘Who pays?’ Ask them to consider who is responsible for covering the cost of each specific activity they listed in their diary.
7. Take feedback from a sample of students, noting their responses on the white/blackboard.
8. Finally, invite students to write the following heading on the last column of the table on the worksheet: ‘What can I do?’ Ask them to consider what they can do to reduce the costs of each specific activity they listed in their diary.
9. Conclude by reminding students that money is part of all our lives, but this is not always obvious to us as we go about our day. Having a positive relationship with money, and recognising our responsibilities in relation to money is an essential life skill and a step towards financial well-being.
Invite students to take their completed Student Worksheet: Diary of my day home and discuss it with their parent(s)/guardian(s).
Ask students to write a short reflective piece about their role and responsibilities in relation to household spending. Their assignment should include reference to if/how they think their new knowledge impacts on their lives.
Depending on your class you may decide to take-up and correct these reflections once completed.