New activities expand Katrina's Classroom options
Since it debuted in 2007, the Atlanta Fed's Katrina's Classroom: Financial Lessons from a Hurricane, a free DVD-based curriculum for middle and high school, has been a popular tool for teaching students about the importance of financial preparedness. In August 2009, three extension activities were added that provide four more hours of classroom material.
The core material for Katrina's Classroom presents stories of three real teenagers and their families affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. These stories, presented in short video segments, are tied to lessons plans and activities that focus on financial responsibilities such as budgeting, banking, savings, and wise use of credit.
The three new extension activities each feature 90 minutes or more of activities closely tied to the core lesson plans. Like the original lessons, the extension activities show their correlation with Jump$tart national education standards and benchmarks and include visuals, handouts, and worksheets.
The extension activity for Lesson 2 focuses on various bank products and services, exploring their advantages and limitations as well as costs, returns, and requirements. The Lesson 3 extension activity explains how financial decisions are reflected in a credit history and the impact those decisions have on a credit report and credit score. The Lesson 4 extension activity explores the total cost (including opportunity cost) of borrowing for higher education and helps students evaluate whether loans are a desirable option for financing their education beyond high school.
The videos, an English/Spanish transcript, and the lesson plans with extension activities can be downloaded. Free DVD/CD sets are also available to order.