Big Dreams on a Budget

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Course Name:

  Personal Finance

  Course Number:

  8815120

  Career Cluster:

  Finance

  CIP Number:

  0252080110

  Course Type:

  CAR-PREP – High School Career Preparatory Program

  CTE Standard(s) or benchmark:

  CTE-FIN.912.8815120.4.2

  CTE-FIN.912.8815120.9.6

  CTE.FIN.912.881520.9.7

  Integrated benchmarks: ELA or Other:

  ELA.12.C.3.1

  ELA.11.C.3.1

  MA.912.FL.2.5

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, “Big Dreams on a Budget.” See CPALMS resource ID#215296.

• Career Connection

  
  

  Students will use financial planning and research skills to perform comparative financial analysis when making financial decisions. Students will develop an email explaining the comparative analysis to develop professional communication skills.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Use a spreadsheet to perform comparative calculations to develop a financial plan and compare home options.
  • Research current rates, home prices, and how to finance a home.
  • Discuss financial information provided by a client to use for financial planning.
  • Write a professional email outlining various home options for a client.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/able to:

  • Working with a financial plan.
  • Concepts like loans, interest, earnings, savings, and expenses.
  • Conducting research.
  • Creating a formal email explaining an option to a customer.
  • Using formulas within a spreadsheet for calculations.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How can developing a financial plan help determine which home to purchase?
  • What are the challenges when developing a financial plan?
  • Discuss the challenges of researching and identifying the best financial option for a home based on the financial plan.

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, review important content vocabulary from the case study, “Big Dreams on a Budget” (see CPALMS Resource ID #215296). For example, Mortgage, Interest, Expenses, Earnings, Loan, Finance, Personal savings, and Interest rates.
     • Discuss what students already know about financial plans and purchasing a home.
  2. Pose the following discussion questions after reading the case study.
     • What are the key expenditures to consider when developing Cassandra’s budget?
     • How could developing a financial plan help Cassandra when purchasing her home?
     • What else could Cassandra consider after consulting with her financial planner?
  3. Pair students or put them into small groups to conduct research related to the case study. Allow groups time to research 3 property options in-depth and complete the calculations to determine Cassandra’s budget. Students should research current market trends in the area when considering the three options for Cassandra. The teacher should provide the students with banking options and current interest rates (assume Cassandra has good credit). When developing the budget, tell the students to include the homeowner taxes and insurance in the monthly payment. Students should assume the seller pays for closing costs.
  4. Provide students with the attached Financial Plan Template and Email Template. Students should also use a spreadsheet application to calculate the items on the financial plan.
     • Monitor student progress and assist students with completing their financial plans, clarifying misconceptions as needed.
  5. Bring the class together to review student research, asking groups to share their findings and financial plan suggestions using their spreadsheet calculations.
     • Clarify any misconceptions and errors in student research.
     • Begin to discuss the financial plan suggestions based on the expenditures, income, and savings provided.
     • Have students describe the calculations programmed on their spreadsheets to develop the financial plan.
     • For example, how much does Cassandra have available for her mortgage monthly?
  6. Ask students to draft their email to Cassandra. This email should take place after the plan has been developed.
     • Review the expectations for writing a professional email, including proper grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. Emphasize the importance of following conventions in a professional setting. For example, remind students to capitalize all proper nouns and/or use spell check.
  7. To bring the lesson to a close, have students reflect on the following questions on an exit ticket:
     • How can you apply this research to your future?
     • How can you apply this financial plan to your own success and personal financing?

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Students may need additional time to complete research; this lesson can be extended over additional days if needed.
  • You may want to include a brief review on composing professional emails before asking students to draft the email, particularly if it is a summative assessment. Suggested reminders for students: professional tone and vocabulary.