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Subject: Personal Finance |
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1. Topic-
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| Pay Credit When Credit Is Due |
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2. Content-
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| Students will learn about credit and credit scores. They will learn
what will impact their scores and what will help their scores. |
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3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
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| Make sure the students will learn about all the aspects of credit,
and that they will be able to make informed decision regarding credit. |
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4. Objectives-
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Students will understand the concept of credit
They will understand the concepts of a credit score.
They will learn the importance of having good credit.
Concept of interest, and learn how to analyze interest. |
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5. Materials and Aids-
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Computers
Notebook
Pens or Pencils
Calculator
Credit Score work sheet
Credit History Work sheet
Credit Card Offers work sheet |
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6. Procedures/Methods-
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A. Introduction-
1. Open by asking if any of the students have a credit card. If
not ask if their parents have credit cards, and if they understand
how they work.
2. Next write these words on the board: Credit, credit card, credit
risk, interest, APR, and credit limit. Make sure I discuss this with
the class in detail.
3. Explain how credit cards work. Explain to them how the interest
works if they do not pay off the balance of the card when it is due.
4. Discuss the difference between credit cards, debit cards, and cash.
Explain how each of them work.
5. Ask how banks make decisions on if they want to offer you credit.
6.Show a short video clip
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B. Development-
Review the "Green Chic" segment that was viewed, discussing with
students why a strong personal credit rating would help Anna get a
loan for her business. (Answer: Because her strong personal credit
rating, or score, showed that Anna has a history of using credit wisely
-- e.g., repaying loans and credit cards on time).
Begin a discussion about credit scores, how lenders use them, and
what makes up an individual's credit score. Explain that a credit
score is a number calculated using a number of different variables.
The resulting score helps lenders determine how likely a borrower
is to pay a loan or credit card back on time. In other words, a score
is a snapshot of "credit risk" at a given time.
Ask students if they know which organizations calculate credit scores:
is it the banks, the government, or private organizations? (Answer:
Private organizations calculate credit scores. One well-known organization
is the Fair Isaac Corporation, which produces the "FICO score" --
the most widely used credit score. Other scores include NextGen, VantageScore,
and the CE Score.)
Hand out the "Credit Score" Student Organizer. Ask students to read
about how a strong credit score can help them. Discuss about why it
is important to have a good credit score (Answer: A good credit score
facilitates the process of borrowing money for much-needed items like
homes or cars, and also helps with credit card approvals, apartment
approvals, etc. It also allows borrowing with lower interest rates,
which saves money.)
Using the "Credit Score" Student Organizer, write the percentages
that make up a credit score on the board. Have students read about
each on their "Credit Score" Student Organizers.
Next, explain to students that they will be analyzing a credit history
scenario, looking at the actions that one person made and how they
affected her credit score.
Hand out the "Credit History" Student Organizer. Ask students to complete
the grid for Part 1, filling in the "Why Does Her Action Affect Her
Score?" column (they should refer to the "Credit Score" Student Organizer).
Review Part 1 as a class, and discuss why each of Angela's behaviors
had an impact on her credit score. Compute how much the credit score
fell as a result of the behaviors. Refer to the "Credit History" Answer
Key for solutions.
Next, ask students to complete the grid for Part 2, filling in the
"Follow-up Action" and "Score" columns. The information for this is
listed on the "Credit Score" student organizer.
Discuss Part 2 as a class, looking at the different ways a person
can improve a credit score. Compute how much the credit score rose
with these behaviors. Refer to the "Credit History" Answer Key for
answers.
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C. Practice-
Introduce the "It Costs What?!" online interactivity. There are
three parts to this interactivity: a credit card "Crash Course," a
set of "Case Files," and a section on "Choosing Wisely." Provide students
with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, asking them to go through the
three sections of the interactivity and to consider how they would
make decisions about borrowing money on a credit card. Students will
then play the online interactivity "It Costs What?!" to apply the
concepts that they have learned.
Ask students to report back on the four characters in the "Case Files"
section of the interactivity. How did the various credit cards, and
the different ways the cards were used by the players, affect how
much the characters paid for the digital music players?
Hand out the "Credit Card Offers" Student Organizer. Ask students
to read through each of the five different credit card offers.
Discuss which offers look good and why. Ask students to compare the
offers to the terms of the credit cards they learned about in the
"It Costs What?!" interactivity. (Answer: The credit cards with high
interest rates ends up costing students much more money).
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D. Independent Practice-
Next, hand out the "Credit Card Comparison" Student Organizer. Ask
students to fill out the grid given the information from the "Credit
Card Offers" Student Organizer. Advise them that the offers may be
described in ways that make them look attractive, but they should
carefully read the details of each offer.
Now, ask students to take a good look at the grid. Which card actually
offers the best overall deal? (Answer: For ongoing balances, #3, because
the interest rate is the lowest and the rewards of the other two are
not worth much. The best option overall is the ATM card, because there
is no concern for rates or fees.)
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E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-
| There will be a few different learning styles used. They will have
direct instruction, as well as cooperative learning. |
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F. Checking for understanding-
As an extension activity, have the students collect credit card
offers that arrive at home or that they notice displayed in public
places. Once some offers have been compiled, do a similar activity
to the above to analyze and evaluate real-world credit card offers.
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G. Closure-
| Review all of the information covered and ask questions. |
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