Lesson 9: Research and Gallery Walk

Learning Objective:

Students will be able to gather and share key information about pivotal financial topics.

Pre-work:

• Read through the lesson plan and instructional slides. 
• Bring a hat or bowl to class to collect students’ names.
• Prepare to share the following topics and links:
  • Compound interest
  • Health insurance
  • Income tax
  • Paying the minimum balance on credit cards
  • Building your credit
  • What’s a 401(k)?
  • Saving vs. investing
  • Charitable giving
  • Life insurance
  • Car insurance
  • Disability insurance 
  • Renters and homeowners insurance
  • Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)
  • Getting started with investing
  • The racial wealth gap

• Provide enough poster or Kraft paper, art supplies, and tape or tacks for students to create visual presentations and hang them on the classroom walls.
  • If you’re teaching remotely, considering creating and sharing a single Google doc where students can create their “gallery.” 
• Make sure students have paper to write on.

Follow-up from Previous Lesson (2 min)

Slide: Follow-up from previous lesson
Ask: 

• What’s one thing you’ve learned so far about investing?
• Are there other financial topics we haven’t covered yet that you have questions about?

Call on 2-3 students.

Hook (3 min)

Slide: In your life, what’s one…
Say: In your life, what’s one money-related issue that’s caused difficulty—for you or for your family, friends, or community? You don’t need to provide details—just identify the issue at a high level. For example: lack of health insurance, insufficient income, lack of funding for desired education, etc.

Call on 2-3 students.

Say: Ok—I’d like you to pair up now, and sit with your partner. If we have an uneven number of students today, we can have one group of three.

I’m going to pass around a hat/bowl, and I want you to write the name of one person in your group on a slip of paper and put it into the hat/bowl. When each group has a name in the hat/bowl, please pass it back to me.

Research and Gallery Creation (20 min)

Slide: Research and gallery creation—topics
Say:  Today you’re going to research a range of money-related topics and then share what you learn in a gallery walk. First, each pair or group will choose their topic.

Display and share the following topics and links:

• Compound interest 
• Health insurance
• Income tax
• Paying the minimum balance on credit cards
• Building your credit
• What’s a 401(k)?
• Saving vs. investing
• Charitable giving
• Life insurance
• Car insurance
• Disability insurance 
• Renters and homeowner’s insurance
• Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)
• Getting started with investing
• The racial wealth gap

Say: When I call the name of someone in your group, you can choose a topic from this list or propose another money-related topic to research. Each topic on this list can only be researched by one team. 

Select one name at a time from the hat/bowl. Allow each team to choose a topic from the list or propose their own topic, which you may approve or veto. Cross topics off the list after they’re selected.

Slide: Research and gallery creation: Guidelines
Say: Here’s how this will work. Topics on the list are linked to informative texts or videos. If you chose your own topic, you’ll need to find your own information sources. Look for current or recent sources that are focused on facts vs. opinions, ideally from sites that end in .edu, .org, or .gov. You may all refer to more than one source if you choose to.

You’ll have about 15 minutes to learn about your topic and use the art supplies (or shared Google doc) to visually represent your key takeaways. In your visual display, be sure to ID the main topic; the main source (e.g., Stash Learn, Pew Research, IRS, etc.); and your group members. After 15 minutes, I’ll ask you to post what you’ve created around the room and then take a gallery walk to explore each group’s findings.  (If students are working remotely, tell them that after 15 minutes, you’ll have them look through the full Google doc to see what their peers discovered.)

Circulate to assist groups with their research and presentation content as needed. When they have 3 minutes left, give them a time warning so they can wrap up.

Gallery Walk (15-20 min)

Slide: Gallery walk
Say: Ok, it’s time to post what you learned around the classroom.

Give students a minute or so to post their work.

Say: Now it’s time to take a gallery walk to learn from your peers. Make note of any questions you have, and feel free to take pictures to refer back to later.

Questions (5 min)

Slide: Questions
Ask: What questions do you have ? 

Call on students and allow their peers to answer. If their peers are unsure, direct students to do additional research after class.