NGPF’s Middle School Course can help you bring personal finance education to your students. And it isn’t just for middle school students; it can be a great way to scaffold content for your high school students, too! Below are five ways to make sure you’re getting the most out of the curriculum, plus some bonus pro tips! 

1: Use the whole course OR select units

The Middle School Course follows a specific scope and sequence but you can rearrange the units to an order that makes sense for you and your students. Don’t have enough time to do the whole course? Pick and choose select units to cover! 

PRO TIP: We recommend keeping Unit 1: Money in Our Lives as your intro unit. It has only three lessons and has students examine their relationship with money and reflect on their financial goals in a fun and engaging way! 

2: Administer course assessments 

The Middle School Course offers a variety of assessments, including a: 

• Diagnostic exam 
• Unit exam for units 2-9
• Final exam 

Each assessment is available as a Google Doc and a Google Form to make grading easier! 

PRO TIP: The unit exam answer key breaks down how each question aligns to a specific lesson from the unit.

3: Don't forget review

Use these resources to review key vocabulary and content:

• Unit Review that goes over the vocabulary and core concepts to prepare for unit exams
  • Available for Units 2-9. Unit 1 has no review or assessment.
  • Find it on each unit of the Middle School Course
• Middle School Personal Finance Dictionary
  • Find it under Course Materials.
• Final Review Jeopardy
  • Find it under Course Materials.

PRO TIP: Use the summative project, CREATE: My Financial Flipbook to review at the end of each unit. Find it under Course Materials.

4: Engage students with Nearpod and Pear Deck

Perfect for a hybrid classroom or for varying implementation - NGPF has ready-made Nearpod and Peardeck slides to accompany the Middle School Course! Find them on the Middle School Course page.

All Nearpod and Pear Deck Lessons can be done synchronously or asynchronously! This makes them great for:

• Students who need to make up classes they missed
• Differentiating learning for your students
• Mixing up your lesson delivery

Pear Decks are created using Google Slides. To use the slides:

• Click the “Pear Deck & Google Slides” button for an NGPF lesson
• Click the "Copy to Google Drive" button
• Edit and use the slides
• Use the Pear Deck Extension to incorporate Pear Deck’s interactive features.

PRO TIP: Learn more about Using NGPF on Various Platforms

5: Scaffold content with your high school students

The Middle School Course can be a great way to scaffold content for your high school students, too! You might find that some of the middle school course lessons are a great way to introduce tougher personal finance topics like investing, credit, etc. before diving into the high school material.  

Plus, the Middle School Course lessons are a great resource for students with IEPs or 504s! 

BONUS (#6): Supplement the course with NGPF’s high school curriculum 

Want to dive deeper into a specific content area or even introduce something completely new that’s not in the Middle School Course scope and sequence? Simply pull from NGPF’s high school curriculum, including: 

• FinCap Fridays
• Questions of the Day
• Mini-Units
• NGPF Math Activities
• High school courses: Semester Course, Trimester Course, and Full Year Course

Not sure which course to use? Refer to NGPF’s Course Comparison Chart! 

 [Updated 8/13/25]

About the Authors

Sonia Dalal

Sonia has always been passionate about instruction and improving students' learning experiences. She's come a long way since her days as a first grader, when she would "teach" music and read to her very attentive stuffed animals after school. Since then, she has taught students as a K-12 tutor, worked in several EdTech startups in the Bay Area, and completed her Ed.M in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is passionate about bringing the high quality personal finance content and instruction she wished she'd received in school to the next generation of students and educators. When she isn't crafting lesson guides or working with teachers, Sonia loves to spend her time singing, being outdoors, and adventuring with family and friends!

Kathryn Dawson

Kathryn (she/her) is excited to join the NGPF team after 9 years of experience in education as a mentor, tutor, and special education teacher. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management and has a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. Kathryn is looking forward to bringing her passion for accessibility and educational justice into curriculum design at NGPF. During her free time, Kathryn loves embarking on cooking projects, walking around her Seattle neighborhood with her dog, or lounging in a hammock with a book.