Inflation! It’s everywhere, all at once, affecting everyone! The lessons and activities found in this “Inflation & The Family” post will help students understand the impact of it on a variety of families. Additionally, students will explore ways that families can fight inflation.

Set

• Begin with the Bell-Ringer. Ask students the following prompt:  According to the Council of Economic Advisors, what is the #1 challenge facing families today?
• The answer is INFLATION (defined as a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money).  Source:  NPR Article
• Follow the bell-ringer prompt with an activity titled “Card Sharks Intro for Inflation Statistics” which is based off of the “Card Sharks” television show. * NOTE: This activity can take some time, but it really engages students and is an eye-opener for many on how much prices have changed.

Materials

• iPads or Laptops
• Projector & Screen
• Large Deck of Playing Cards (affiliate link)

Activities

• Ask students to think about how they would personally respond to the
  Google Form Survey prompts and be prepared to discuss as a class. Note: You will need to create your own survey in Google Forms.
• Prompts: Would you…
  • drive less (walk, bike or stay home instead) to save money?
  • go in debt just to take a vacation?
  • help pay for the purchase of a car?
  • dip into your emergency fund to add money to your retirement account?
  • sell your home and rent instead to save money?
  • stop giving yourself a paycheck if you owned your own business to pay your employees?
• All of the above prompts relate to a Kiplinger article titled, “How Four Households are Tackling Inflation”.
• Count students off by 4 and assign each a “case study” from the article. After reading the assigned case study, complete the prompts found in the response sheet which include…
  • Name & Description of the Individual or Family (age, family structure or life cycle stage, job, location, etc.)
  • Summarize how inflation is impacting this individual or family
  • Explain what is this individual or family is doing to combat inflation
  • How relevant is this article/case study right now?  Briefly explain
  • How might this story change lives and or inspire readers? Briefly explain
  • How close to “home” does this story hit and/or what emotion(s) does it evoke?  Briefly explain
• Place students into jigsaw groups containing all #’s 1-4 and have each person share the case study they were assigned before answering the next set of prompts.  The prompts will be shared and further discussed as a class.
  • Rank the case studies in order of relatability from most to least. Briefly justify your reasoning for each.
  • Rank the case studies in order of most to least based on which family you believe has or will have the most difficulty fighting inflation. Briefly justify your reasoning for each.
  • Discuss the emotions evoked for each case study and rank them in order of intensity from most to least. Briefly justify your reasoning for each.
  • If these case study individuals and families lived within our community, where could they turn for help locally (this may be extended to a 60 mile radius of our county) if they needed additional help?  Name at least one organization or agency per group member. Include the name of the organization, service provided, location and cost.
• Explain and assign the Individual or Partner Project:  Ten Ways Families Can Fight Inflation (see guide sheet for directions, criteria and rubric. Since there are many tech based options available to complete the final project, be sure students are familiar with all of them and have appropriate apps downloaded, if necessary. Platforms include: Padlet, Paper Slides Video, Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video, Google Slide Show Recorded with Screencastify.
• Lists and Video Explanations will be shared in one of the following ways; either by group or by gallery walks or stations (you decide which is best based on your students and classroom).
• As students view and listen to the various ways to fight inflation, they are to keep a list of suggestions that differ from their own and use it along with other lesson materials to complete the open ended exit prompts (see below).

Attachments

• Inflation Card Sharks Game (PDF)
• Four Household Article to Cut Apart
• Case Study Response Form
• Fight Inflation Project & Exit Prompts