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All grades  Project 4 weeks

Future Me Money Quest

Lana T
Updated
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.1
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.1
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.7
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.1
+ 5 more
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Purpose

Learners investigate what it really takes to plan for adult life by making informed choices about work, housing, transportation, spending, and saving in a future-life scenario. They use research, math, discussion, and feedback from community experts to build and revise a realistic plan they can explain with evidence. The experience helps them connect skills to everyday financial decisions, compare trade-offs, and communicate and defend their thinking clearly to families and invited experts.

Learning goals

1) Learners will research careers, housing, and local cost-of-living information from multiple sources and use that evidence to build and revise a realistic future-life plan.
2) They will calculate monthly income, rent, utilities, transportation, food, and savings using decimals, fractions, and percentages, then explain the trade-offs behind their choices.
3) Learners will strengthen discussion, speaking, and writing skills by collaborating with peers, using feedback from a realtor, bank or credit union representative, and career counselor, and preparing a clear presentation script for families and invited experts. T
4) They will reflect regularly on how their decisions align with their goals and revise their portfolio, map display, and money plan over time.

Standards
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.10 - Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.1 - Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.1 - Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.7 - Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
  • [Common Core] CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.7.1 - Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Competencies
  • Effective Communication - Students practice listening to understand, communicating with empathy, and share their learning through exhibiting, presenting and reflecting on their work.
  • Critical Thinking & Problem Solving - Students consider a variety of innovative approaches to address and understand complex questions that are authentic and important to their communities.
  • Content Expertise - Students develop key competencies, skills, and dispositions with ample opportunities to apply knowledge and engage in work that matters to them.
  • Collaboration - Students co-design projects with peers, exercise shared-decision making, strengthen relational agency, resolve conflict, and assume leadership roles.
  • Self Directed Learning - Students use teacher and peer feedback and self-reflection to monitor and direct their own learning while building self knowledge both in and out of the classroom.

Products

1) A future-life plan portfolio that includes a housing comparison chart, a monthly budget, job choice evidence, written explanations of trade-offs
2) A Map-based planning display showing commute routes, rent, utilities, and nearby services, paired with a brief presentation for families and invited experts
3) Draft budget revisions
4) Annotated career and housing research notes
5) Reflection entries that document how feedback from peers, the realtor or property manager, the bank or credit union representative, and the career counselor shaped their decisions.

Launch

Open with a fast-paced “mock payday” simulation: each student gets a starter job, monthly paycheck, and a stack of bills for rent, food, transportation, utilities, and savings, then has to make immediate choices about what they can afford. Add a map of local housing and job options so students must consider commute time, nearby services, and trade-offs as they adjust their plans with a partner. Pause for a short whole-group discussion where students compare choices, notice surprises, and generate questions about income, housing, and real-life costs. Close by introducing the challenge to create and defend a realistic future-life plan for an audience of families and community experts.

Exhibition

Host a “Future Me Showcase” where learners present their future-life plan portfolio and map-based display to families, peers, and invited experts in a gallery-style event. Each hero gives a short talk defending their job, housing, commute, and budget choices using evidence from their research and revisions, then answers questions from a realtor or property manager, a bank or credit union representative, and a career counselor. Include feedback cards so guests can note strong evidence, realistic trade-offs, and questions about next steps. Close with a brief reflection wall where learners post one choice they are most confident in and one part of their plan they would still revise.