Last week, we posted virtual adaptations for three of our most popular MOVE activities (view the post here). By request, here are adaptation ideas for TWO additional MOVE activities.

As a reminder, these ideas are not meant to take away from the magic of MOVE activities. NGPF MOVE activities are some of the best activities to encourage movement and collaboration in a traditional learning environment. However, at a time where many schools have transitioned to offering synchronous and asynchronous learning, we've developed some adaptations to these activities that may work for your current classroom environment. 

Virtual Adaptation - MOVE: What Determines Your Insurance Premium?

In this activity, students learn the different factors that impact the cost of insurance premiums. This activity can be used as a hook to your insurance unit or a way to assess student knowledge at the end of the unit. In a traditional classroom environment, students would get up out of their seats while learning about five different types of insurance they will likely need in their lifetimes. They would collaborate and communicate with one another to match their factor with a specific insurance type. 

Link to MOVE: What Determines Your Insurance Premiums?

Here are some ideas to take the context of this activity and use it in a digital environment:

• Asynchronous Implementation Idea:
  • Use this Google Doc Drag & Drop version of the activity. Although students miss out on collaborating with their classmates, the activity is designed for students to drag & drop their responses in an easy-to-use format.
    • To use this version simply assign it to your students with the instructions that they will literally drag and drop the boxes of text in the correct area of the chart.
      • Note: Students must be logged in to their Google Account for the functionality to work properly. 

• Synchronous Implementation Idea:
  • Use this collaborative Google Sheets version of the activity. This is a wonderful way for students to work together and still achieve the key takeaways from the originally designed activity.
    • To use the spreadsheet synchronously, first, assign students to small groups. Each group will only work on THEIR ASSIGNED tab of the spreadsheet.
      • This option will work best if you have a conference platform that allows students to work in Breakout Rooms so they can verbally collaborate as they are completing the activity. 
    • To move the information, students will click on the cell, mouse over the left corner of the cell until a small "hand" appears, and then drag & drop it in the correct area of the chart.
    • In a synchronous environment, it is best for you to demonstrate these functions and review the directions before the students work together.
    • This version could also be used in an asynchronous environment by deleting the additional "group" sheets.

Virtual Adaptation - MOVE: Is This a Pitfall?

In this activity, students think critically about some common financial pitfalls and realize that individual values and circumstances have a great impact on the financial decisions people make. There are not necessarily "right" or "wrong" answers to this activity, but it promotes discussion and personal reflection. In a traditional classroom environment, students would MOVE around the room depending on if they strongly disagree, mildly disagree, mildly agree, or strongly agree with a displayed statement. 

Link to MOVE: Is This a Pitfall?

Here are some ideas to take the context of this activity and use it in a digital environment:

• Asynchronous Implementation Ideas:
  • Use Google Classroom Question to have students submit their responses and opinions. You can turn on the option where "students can reply to each other" to encourage discussion!
  • Use this collaborative Google Sheets version of the activity. It includes each question as a separate sheet and space for each student to type their answer/opinion. This would allow students to see their classmates' answers & opinions by collaborating on one spreadsheet digitally! 
    • Beware: all students would have editing rights to this spreadsheet, so they are able to see and edit all responses.
• Synchronous Implementation Ideas:
  • Conduct an interactive live poll using a website such as Poll Everywhere, Mentimeter, or Nearpod. You will be able to automatically see the results and can have a brief whole-class discussion about each statement. 
  • Use the collaborative Google Spreadsheet as described above. Consider having students choose 5 of the 10 statements to individually respond to and then conduct a verbal discussion of the statements and incorporate reflection questions. 

Do you have other ways that you have used MOVE activities in a digital environment? We would love to hear them! Reach out to Amanda at amanda@ngpf.org to share your ideas!

View NGPF's Virtual Adaptation Series if you're looking for additional resources with suggestions on how to facilitate in a virtual environment. 

About the Author

Amanda Volz

Amanda joins the NGPF Team with over 20 years of experience teaching personal finance. During that time, she led her students to hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, won multiple awards, and most importantly, impacted the financial lives of thousands of high school students. Amanda prides herself on being an educational leader and is constantly looking for innovative ways to make the classroom relevant, rigorous, and fun. She is a passionate advocate for financial education and has been a long-time member of the NGPF community. Fun fact - Amanda was NGPF’s first teacher account! When Amanda isn’t working, she enjoys cooking, gardening, and traveling with her husband and two children.