An Invitation

Setting the Scene

Financial understanding
This section introduces the scenario of a family saving to go on holiday in Australia. The Financial Fours game that follows introduces some financial literacy vocabulary that students will encounter and use as they work through the other activities in the book.
You could use page 1 as an opportunity for shared reading, perhaps with different students role-playing the family members.
To brainstorm the items the Murphy family might need to pay for (see the discussion question on page 2), you could put the students into groups of 3–4 and give each group a pile of sticky notes or similar-sized pieces of paper and felt pens. Group members each write their own ideas down, one idea on each piece of paper, say it aloud, and then put it down in the middle. The others can “hitch-hike” by using the idea to generate related ideas. When the brainstorming time is up, the group looks back through all the idea papers and classifies them as groups onto a larger piece of paper. You can send students on a “spying mission” to look at other groups’ brainstorms. Challenge them to come back with two different ideas each to add on to their list or get students to go on a “walk, look, talk” with a classmate to compare other groups’ brainstorms with their own.

Game

Financial understanding
The Financial Fours game exposes students to financial literacy vocabulary.
As the students play the game together, they will discuss their ideas and understandings with their classmates. If they have a difference of opinion, the students will need to negotiate and influence to achieve a resolution. Students may find many of the financial literacy terms unfamiliar and difficult to match with their definitions. It’s worthwhile giving lots of input here and encouraging the students to become familiar with the terms because they introduce some key financial concepts that will be built on in later activities. It’s easier to have meaningful discussions about these concepts later if you have built a shared understanding of the words that can be used to describe the ideas.
Before playing the game, you could use it as a puzzle so that the students can see all the terms and their definitions together. Photocopy the game board and get pairs of students to cut up the squares and to match them up with the definition cards. Then give them the definitions answers sheet (see copymaster) to see how many they have paired up correctly and which ones they need to change.
You could play the game the first time as a whole class in two teams, in game-show style. Photocopy the game board onto an overhead transparency or enlarge it to A3 size; get the teams to decide co-operatively which term each definition matches as you draw it from a box and read it aloud as an excited game-show host would. Use transparent counters to cover the words on the OHP.
Another way to use this material is to photocopy and enlarge each term and its definition to create a reference word wall that students can look back at during later activities. Try to use the words yourself as often as possible in discussions.

Answers

Setting the Scene
No answers required. Discussion will vary.

Game (Financial Fours)
A game matching terms and definitions. (See copymaster, page 45)

Costs: Expenses involved in setting up or running a business or enterprise
Income: Money you earn from work or other sources
Spending: Paying for goods or services
Savings: Money you put away (for example, in the bank) for use at a later time
Choices: Options you have before making a decision
Decision: Selecting a choice
Trade-off: What you are prepared to give up to get what you want
Budget: A plan showing where your income will come from and how you will use it
Wants: What you’d like to have but don’t need
Needs: Items you must have
Goods: Items made or produced for sale
Services: Work done for a person, group, or community
Consumer: The person who buys goods and services
Profit: Financial gain, such as the money you make from sales after you have paid for all your costs
Interest: Money you earn from saving or investing or the extra money you pay for borrowing money
Loan: Money that you borrow and have to pay back

Reflective question
Answers will vary. The family wants to go on a holiday in Australia, but they don’t have the money they need to do this. Instead of, or as well as, saving and earning extra, they might look at using a credit card (but they still have to pay that back, plus interest), selling some of their possessions, taking out a personal loan from the bank (at a lower interest rate than a credit card, but it still has to be repaid), or not going to Australia at all.