GRAND PRIZE MONEY BINGO

July 27, 2010
Today, at our Beginners class, we had our Grand Prize Money Bingo. We have been practicing for it for weeks. First we had another practice trial. But even that one had a little prize -- a Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookie. Then came the big bingo. The students were really excited. Two different times the students thought they had it; but when I asked them to read the money numbers back,it wasn't what I called. So we persevered on to the end. And then finally, the same student who won the cookie, got the Grand Prize Money Bingo. The prize was a wall clock.
The reason why I chose that was because we have been working on telling time in the class and I felt that it would be an appropriate prize. This student, M., who is from a small country in Africa, and came to us totally illiterate in English as well as in her own language, has made tremendous progress. I was so proud to see that she had won the clock, fair and square!!!!

Another Day of Money Bingo for Beginners

July 20, 2010
We had a great session with the Beginners class again. It was another day of Money Bingo -- the same as last week. We had a full class load and we are getting ready for the really big Money Bingo next Tuesday. There will be a really nice prize and I will not be able to help the students in any way. The students are so excited about this. It is really a good game because they are learning how to make simple money tranactions and the value of coins. They are really c0ncentrating on their money. Although they are taking it seriously, (because each one wants to win) they are also having a lot of fun.
Look for more news next week.

Setting Goals for Advanced Students

Today we had a great Financial Litereacy Literacy Class in my Advanced class. We followed the FREE curriculum. First, we practiced reading about goals and then set 1 0r 2 for ourselves (financial). Then we talked about how we could specific ways each of us could save more money and spend less money.
Then I handed out a little test from FREE, in which the students were to write the number work\ds for various money numbers, e.g. $1,236,765.09. They were pretty good at that, but still needed a little help.
Finally I finished the class, with a reading from FREE about American money idioms. We guessed at the meaning and then talked about corresponding idioms in their own language.
We ended the class by discussing what experiences and barriers were preventing the students from reaching their previously stated goals.

Money Bingo for Beginners 7/13/10

Today was such a successful class. I made up Money Bingo cards. There were 24 spaces with 1 free space. The students had to figure out simple math problems to find the number on the card, e.g. "what1 quarter plus 1 dime plus 2 pennies equals." They had loose change at their desk to help them do the problems. We had two trial runs, and then the thirds time was for a prize, which was a photo frame, from the dollar store.
Next week, there should be full attendance in the class and I will make it a little more complicated.

Financial Literacy Goals for Beginners

Since I had this day off, due to A/C problems at the site and was unable to conduct my Intermediate and Advanced Classes, I decided to spend some time working on Financial Literacy Goals for my Beginners class.
As I said in my previous comment, I want them to be comfortable handling American money and also to be able to do simple transactions with American money. The idea that has just come to me re: these 2 goals is a "Money Bingo." On blank Bingo sheets, I will put various dollar and change amounts. Then I will call out the money amounts and also call out simple transactions, e.g. 2 cents plus 5 cents equals? The students will have to find the square that says 7 cents. After a few practice runs, I will offer a prize for the grand finale winner. I haven't decided the prize yet, but it will be money related, e.g. $1.00 of pretend money to use in the class store, or something like that.
Also, to get their reading skills covered, the students will practice the dialogues as mentioned in the FREE workbook in the first chapter.

money for beginners

We had a really good Financial Literacy lesson in my Beginner class today. We started off with a worksheet from the F.R.E.E. workbook. The students had to match money words to their numbers. Then I brought in a whole lot of change and dollar bills and asked each student to give me various amounts of money. After they got good at that, we had a pretend store. For example, I would say, this book costs $1.58. Give me $2.00 (in bills). Now count out how much change you should get back. They really enjoyed it and learned a lot.