Welcome to the Middle School Resource Portal! We are always adding new resources, so make sure to check back often. If you have any questions or would like additional help implementing the standards, please contact us here.
Illinois Personal Finance Challenge
2023 Registration Open Now!
The Illinois Personal Finance Challenge (IPFC) makes it fun and easy to engage students while assessing personal finance learning taking place. Access to individual student and team test scores provides insight into content knowledge gained and critical thinking skills.
Middle school students gain an advantage by learning early about personal finance. Teachers who add the opportunity for the IPFC add an element of competition to their classroom. Watch the incentive to learn dramatically increase!
Registration is FREE and testing is convenient and easy to do. Online teacher registration is open February 1 through April 15, 2023.
The testing window is open from April 3 to April 24, 2023.
Practice tests and resources are available online for all teams prior to the testing window.
To learn more and register, visit the Illinois Personal Finance Challenge website.
Curriculum
Our Middle School curriculum ties the Financial Literacy and Inquiry learning standards together so that students are challenged to think critically about the world around them. By the end of the lessons, students should be able understand the stock market, how to craft a budget, interest, risk, insurance, how to bank online safely, and much more. Students explore these concepts in a variety of investigative strategies, including hands on activities, writing, and nonfiction reading.
Introduction to Curriculum
Letter from the Treasurer
Curriculum Unit- You can download the entire curriculum as a booklet here.
Lesson One Lesson Plan
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Opening Activity
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Stock Market Game
This unique game is used by thousands of students nationwide each year. Students participate in teams to research and evaluate stocks, bonds, and mutual funds to make informed, economic decisions. Competitions are held each Fall and Spring. There are also connections to Common Core with the extension program, InvestWrite. For Stock Market Game participants, InvestWrite is a writing competition on investment related topics. It is entirely FREE for a class to participate. In addition, there are many resources online, and a dedicated staffer to help answer all of your questions. Explore below to learn more:
Additional Resources
Explore the links below to find lesson plans, assessments, and more.
Standards
The new Social Studies standards went into effect during the 2017-2018 school year. For the first time, they include Financial Literacy. In addition, inquiry skills were added to this group of standards to equip students with the skills necessary for college, career, and civic life. Please click through the links to read through requirements.