Welcome — Dinner & Mingling
Grab a plate, find your table, and say hello — Please fill out your “Gameshow Host Personality Type” worksheet.
Sit with colleagues you don’t normally get to plan with, if you can. Sit with a group and not by yourself.
The formal session starts once everyone’s settled — no rush.
The Price Is RIght…
And Engagement is Priceless!
Game Night for Your Classroom
1 / 12
Andrew Tillman
Kara Windish
Meet Your Hosts
TODAY'S SHOW
What's on Deck
01
Why Gamify Financial Literacy?
02
Family Feud Simulation
Price Is Right, Jeopardy, and Family Feud styles
03
Content Crash Course
Let’s use popular gameshows to teach content!
04
Your Turn
Teams, scoring, pacing, and keeping it fair
05
Using AI for game templates and Engagement
Ready-to-edit slide decks you can use tomorrow
06
Share and Collaborate!
A quick planning exercise before you go
2 / 12
WHY GAME SHOWS WORK
01
Retrieval Practice
Answering under a bit of pressure strengthens memory far more than re-reading notes.
02
Low-Stakes Repetition
Multiple rounds mean multiple exposures to the same vocabulary and concepts.
03
Immediate Feedback
Students find out right away if they're right — no waiting for a graded quiz.
04
Social Engagement
Team formats give quieter students a reason to participate through peers.
3 / 12
“Every activity tonight was designed to be handed to a teacher with zero finance background — the game carries the concept, so you don’t have to.”
How Tonight Works
Play first, facilitate second — you experience every game as a student before running it as a teacher.
No wrong questions — this assumes zero prior finance or economics knowledge.
Steal shamelessly — every game, card, and script is yours to reuse starting tomorrow.
It’s all in your packet — answer keys and templates are already printed.
Tonight’s Agenda
Time
Segment
Length
0:00
Dinner & Professional Mingling
20 min
0:20
Welcome, Hosts, Norms & Agenda
10 min
0:30
Why Gamify Financial Literacy?
10 min
0:40
Content Crash Course
15 min
0:55
Meet the Games: Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune, Match Game, Family Feud
45 min
1:40
Break — tables set for the Family Feud Live Simulation
10 min
Tonight’s Agenda (continued)
Time
Segment
Length
1:50
Family Feud: Live Simulation
25 min
2:15
Back Pocket Games & AI Template Demo
20 min
2:35
Build Your Own Game Show (table work time)
25 min
3:00
Teacher Share-Out
10 min
3:10
Game Build-Out (worksheet time)
20 min
3:30
Closing & Q&A
10 min
You Will Be Able To…
Facilitate every game-based review activity in tonight’s lineup without needing a finance or economics background.
Explain the core vocabulary behind Florida’s 7 Personal Financial Literacy strands in plain language.
Adapt every activity up or down for a middle school or high school audience.
Leave with the beginnings of your own game show, built for your own students, tonight.
Why Gamify Financial Literacy?
Concrete over abstract — a wheel or a board turns "compound interest" into something students watch happen.
Lower the affective filter — team play makes it safer to guess, get it wrong, and try again.
Built-in repetition — review rounds naturally repeat vocabulary and scenarios.
Works even if you’re new to the content — the format teaches the concept for you.
“If you can host trivia night, you can host every game in this deck.”
You Don’t Have to Be a Finance Expert
Every answer is already written — each activity includes a "Try This Example" with the correct answer built in.
A full glossary is coming right up — every term you’ll hear tonight, defined in plain language.
You facilitate, students think — press play and ask the debrief question. The game does the explaining.
Foundations — Taught First, on Purpose
Content Crash Course
A plain-language primer on the 7 ideas every game tonight is built around.
Financial Attitudes & Behaviors
Strand 1 of 7
The habits, beliefs, and gut reactions that shape how someone handles money — many of them learned before age seven.
Money Script: An unconscious belief about money picked up from family or culture — e.g., "money is for security" or "money is for status."
Earning Income
Strand 2 of 7
How people make money — through a job, a business, or an investment — and what gets taken out before it ever reaches their pocket.
Net vs. Gross: Gross income is the full amount earned; net income is what’s left after taxes and deductions.
Buying Goods & Services
Strand 3 of 7
The decisions behind every purchase: needs vs. wants, comparison shopping, and reading the fine print on a contract.
Opportunity Cost: What you give up when you choose one option over another.
Saving
Strand 4 of 7
Setting money aside now, usually in a bank account, so it’s there — and has grown a little — later on.
Compound Interest: Interest earned not just on the deposit, but on the interest that deposit already earned.
Using Credit
Strand 5 of 7
Borrowing money now with a promise to pay it back later — usually with an extra cost for the privilege of waiting.
APR: Annual Percentage Rate — the yearly cost of borrowing money, shown as a percentage.
Investing in Financial Markets
Strand 6 of 7
Putting money into something — stocks, bonds, funds — with the hope it grows in value over time. There is no guarantee.
Diversification: Spreading money across different investments so one bad outcome doesn’t sink the whole plan.
Protecting & Insuring
Strand 7 of 7
Paying a smaller, predictable amount now to avoid a much larger, unpredictable cost later.
Premium & Deductible: Premium is the regular payment to keep a policy active. Deductible is what you pay before insurance kicks in.
Vocabulary Quick-Hits
Principal
The original amount borrowed or invested, before interest.
Credit Score
A three-digit number lenders use to judge how risky it is to lend to you.
Liquidity
How quickly an asset can be turned into cash without losing value.
Amortization
Paying off a loan gradually through payments that cover interest and principal.
Vocabulary Quick-Hits (continued)
Collateral
An asset a borrower offers as security — the lender can take it if unpaid.
Diversification
Spreading investments so one loss doesn’t wipe out the whole portfolio.
Deductible
What you pay out of pocket before insurance pays the rest.
Budget
A plan matching expected income to planned spending.
Vocabulary Quick-Hits (continued)
Emergency Fund
Money set aside for a surprise cost — typically 3–6 months of expenses.
Expected Value
The average outcome you’d expect if a choice were repeated many times.
Tonight’s Lineup
Meet the Games
Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune, Match Game, and Family Feud — walked through one at a time.
Round 1
The Price Is Right
Pricing, budgeting, and the true cost of credit — guessed live.
The Price Is Right: What to Expect
Four fast, low-prep pricing games — no special equipment.
Each ties to a specific Florida PFL strand: Using Credit, Saving, Buying Goods & Services, Investing.
Every game adapts up or down for MS or HS audiences.
Total time: about 40 minutes for all four.
Contestants' Row
1
Pick a real financial scenario (a car loan, a credit card balance, a phone plan).
2
Prepare 3–4 close price options — only one is correct.
3
Reveal all four; students guess closest without going over.
4
Reveal the real number and unpack why it is that high.
Contestants' Row — Try This
A $25,000 car loan at 7% APR over 5 years. What is the TOTAL interest paid?
A) $2,500 B) $4,700 C) $9,400 D) $18,000
Answer: B — about $4,700.
Debrief: Why did the real price surprise you? What would you do differently knowing the true cost?
Contestants' Row — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use simpler numbers — a $20 lunch order, a $60 video game.
High School
— Add a second round comparing two loan offers with different APRs.
Hole In One
1
Come up with dates for your topic - using financial literacy, an example can be: When was the stock market crash?
2
Students are given a random date and they can say HIGHER or LOWER. If they get it right, they can move one spot closer to the hole.
3
Have about 4-5 different dates for your content area (or something that they can use HIGHER or LOWER for.)
4
Discuss the dates and order of events that things happened.
This is great for timelines, sequencing of events and number
lines.
Hole In One — Try This
When was the FDIC created?
⬆️ HIGHER or ⬇️ LOWER than 1929?
Answer: HIGHER — 1933
Debrief: What event in 1933 created the FDIC?
Hole In One — Differentiate
Middle School
High School
Cliff Hangers
1
Draw a simple mountain on the board with 8–10 steps.
2
Ask a true/false question about compound interest or debt growth.
3
Correct: the climber moves up. Wrong: a "storm" card sets them back.
4
Reaching the top earns the class a small reward.
Cliff Hangers — Try This
True or False: paying only the minimum on a credit card can take over a decade to pay off.
Answer: TRUE.
Debrief: What surprised you about how fast interest adds up — for saving, or for debt?
Cliff Hangers — Differentiate
Middle School
— Keep questions to simple yes/no compound-growth facts.
High School
— Have students calculate the actual payoff time before the climber moves.
Magic Number
1
Choose a real local cost — median rent, a grocery basket, a starter emergency fund.
2
Students write a silent guess, or narrow a range together.
3
Reveal the real number.
4
Use the gap between guess and reality to launch a budgeting conversation.
Magic Number — Try This
What’s a reasonable starter emergency fund for a young adult living independently?
Guesses often range $200–$5,000 — reveal $500–$1,000.
Debrief: Was your guess too high or too low? What does that tell you about your money assumptions?
Magic Number — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use costs students already encounter — lunch, a video game, sneakers.
High School
— Use real independent-living costs — rent, utilities, insurance.
If a Student Asks…
“Why is the interest so much more than I guessed?”
Interest is charged on the amount you still owe, every month, for the life of the loan.
“What does APR actually mean?”
Annual Percentage Rate — the yearly cost of borrowing, as a percentage.
If a Student Asks… (continued)
“Why does a "safe" investment pay so little?”
Risk and reward move together. A savings account barely loses money, so it barely grows it.
“Is a $500 emergency fund really enough?”
It’s a starting goal, not a finish line — enough for one surprise bill.
More Formats to Add to Your Toolkit
Three more whole-class formats — vocabulary drilling, quick-match recall, and open-ended reflection.
Zero specialized equipment needed for any of the three.
Reuse all three endlessly by swapping in new prompts.
Total time: about 45 minutes for all three, including Family Feud’s walkthrough.
Wheel of Fortune
1
Choose 5–8 vocabulary terms tied to your current unit.
2
Draw blank letter boxes on the board, or use the puzzle-grid template in your packet.
3
Teams take turns "spinning" and guessing letters or the whole term.
4
A "Bankrupt" wedge resets a team’s round score for suspense.
Wheel of Fortune — Try This
Puzzle: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ → I N T E R E S T
Clue: "The cost of borrowing money, or the reward for saving it."
Debrief: Use one term from today’s puzzle correctly in a sentence about your own money habits.
Wheel of Fortune — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use shorter, familiar terms — save, spend, budget, income.
High School
— Use multi-word phrases — compound interest, credit utilization ratio.
Let’s Make a Deal
1
Each table starts with a small stake, say 100 points.
2
Ask one quick trivia question
3
A table that answers correctly is offered a deal: keep the points they have, or trade them for a mystery envelope or box.
4
Mystery contents are revealed only after the choice.
Match Game
1
Prepare 6–8 fill-in-the-blank statements using tonight’s vocabulary, each missing one key word or phrase.
2
Split the room into pairs or trios — no team needs more than three.
3
Read a statement aloud; each team writes their best-guess word on a mini whiteboard or index card.
4
Reveal on three — teams matching the official answer, or matching each other, score a point.
Match Game — Try This
Statement: "A ______ score is a three-digit number lenders use to judge risk."
Teams reveal: CREDIT, CREDIT, SCORE, CREDIT — three of four match the official answer and each other.
Debrief: Which blank was hardest to agree on, and why did teams land on different words?
Match Game — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use single, familiar vocabulary words as the missing blank.
High School
— Blank out a full phrase or number ("APR," "3–6 months") instead of one word, and award partial credit for a close match.
Family Feud Showdown
1
Survey students ahead of time with an open-ended financial prompt.
2
Rank the top 5–8 answers by frequency, hidden on a board.
3
Two teams face off; a buzzer-in round decides who guesses first.
4
Three strikes passes control to the other team.
Family Feud Showdown — Try This
Survey says… "Name a way people waste money on subscriptions."
Top answer: "Forgetting to cancel a free trial" (32 responses).
We’ll play a full live round together later tonight.
Debrief: Which survey answer matched your own habits? Which one would you add?
Family Feud Showdown — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use lighter prompts — "Name something you’d save your allowance for."
High School
— Use prompts tied to real decisions — "Name a reason a credit score might drop."
And now a word from our sponsors
Stretch, refill your coffee, and flip through your handout packet — we’re setting up tables for the live Family Feud simulation while you’re up.
Many thanks to:
For sponsoring our workshop tonight!!!
Live Simulation
Family Feud: Come On Down
The whole room plays one live round, built entirely from tonight’s financial literacy content.
“Where the walkthrough taught the rules, this round asks the whole room to live with real financial answers together.”
Setup & Materials
Make sure you have an easy way to divide into teams (Left side vs. Right side). You will need 2 teams.
Each team will provide a roster to the teacher with a list of names in the order that they strategically come up with (rating, etc)
You will need a desk or table in a middle area of the classroom, easily accessed by the students, as well as something to buzz or grab.
Teacher will keep track of the score on the sheets with the students names/Family name. I usually give the winners extra credit, so it’s nice to have the names on paper.
Running the Live Simulation
1
Split the whole room into two large teams. The teams will come up with a family/team name.
2
List all of the players names using strategy. I like to have the kids rate themselves and list based on their subject knowledge. Hand list to host.
3
The host will call up the first two names on the list and they will face off against each other. The host will read a question and player will “buzz” in.
4
If the player answers correctly, they stay up. Whoever answers incorrectly will call up their next family member to play.
5
Each question correct is a point. Whichever Family has the most points when all of the questions run out, wins the game!
6
Play 3–4 rounds, tally the running score, and crown a winner before the debrief.
Sample Survey Prompt Bank
Survey Says…
Top Answers
Strand
"Name a reason someone might not have an emergency fund."
Didn’t think about it · Living paycheck to paycheck · Not a priority
Saving
"Name something people forget to budget for."
Subscriptions · Car repairs · Gifts
Buying Goods & Services
"Name a reason a credit score might drop."
Missed payment · Maxed-out card · New hard inquiry
Using Credit
"Name a way people waste money without noticing."
Unused subscriptions · Bank fees · Impulse buys
Financial Attitudes
Reflect & Debrief
Which answer surprised your team most — and why did it rank where it did?
How did the steal round change your strategy in the moment?
What does tonight’s survey reveal about real financial habits, including your own?
Which of these prompts would you swap in for your own students’ survey?
Back Pocket Games
Three More for Whenever You Need Them
Quick-hit formats for whenever you have a spare 15–25 minutes to fill.
Back Pocket Games: What to Expect
Three familiar formats that flex to fit whatever review window you have left.
Build a category-based review game from any five strands in minutes.
Introduce expected value and risk tolerance through a simple decision game.
Total time: 15–25 minutes — pick one, or sample all three.
Jeopardy
1
Build a 5x5 grid using five of the seven PFL strands as categories.
2
Write 5 questions per category at increasing point values.
3
Teams select a category and value; answer in question form or straightforward.
4
Include one Daily Double for a wager-based comeback moment.
Jeopardy — Try This
Category: Using Credit, for 300 —
"This three-digit number lenders use to judge risk."
Answer: What is a credit score?
Debrief: Which category was your team’s strongest? Which needs more review?
Jeopardy — Differentiate
Middle School
— Lower point values, single-concept recall questions.
High School
— Scenario questions applying two concepts together.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
1
Write 10–15 questions in escalating difficulty and point value.
2
One student in the "hot seat" answers multiple-choice questions.
3
Offer three lifelines: Ask a Friend, 50/50, Ask the Teacher.
4
The student can walk away and bank points, or risk the next question.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — Try This
$500 question: What does APR stand for?
A) Annual Percentage Rate B) Average Payment Ratio
Answer: A
Debrief: Which lifeline did you rely on most, and why?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — Differentiate
Middle School
— Cap the ladder at 8 easier questions.
High School
— Add real stakes tied to a grade or reward.
Deal or No Deal
1
Assign point values — some low, some very high — to 10–12 briefcases.
2
A student picks one briefcase to "keep" without looking.
3
The student opens others one at a time, eliminating values from the pool.
4
After each round, the "banker" offers a guaranteed value.
Deal or No Deal — Try This
Six briefcases left; average remaining value is 400 points.
The banker offers 350. Deal, or no deal?
Debrief: Would a financial advisor call your decision risk-averse or risk-seeking?
Deal or No Deal — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use smaller point spreads so the math stays simple.
High School
— Calculate the expected value of remaining briefcases before deciding.
From Trivia Night to AI-Built Templates
Paste your unit’s vocabulary or standards into an AI tool and ask for a first-draft Jeopardy board, trivia set, or Kahoot question bank.
Treat the draft like a student paper — check every fact and every "correct" answer before you use it.
Live demo: watch a template get built in real time, start to finish, in the next few minutes.
Save the prompt you used tonight — reuse it for your next unit in under five minutes.
Your Turn
Build Your Own Game Show
With your content and tonight’s formats in your back pocket, sketch the beginnings of a gameshow for your own students.
How This Works
Work at your table, with your own grade level and content in front of you.
Each table either takes an assigned format — Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune, Match Game, Family Feud, or a Back Pocket game — or chooses whichever fits its content best. Facilitator’s call for the room.
Sketch categories, sample questions, and one "Try This" example — you don’t need a finished product, just a strong start.
Use tonight’s packet templates as your starting point; steal shamelessly.
Share What You Built
Each table shares their format and one sample question or round with the whole room.
Listen for formats you could borrow for your own content, even if your table built something different.
What Did We Miss?
Are there gameshow formats we didn’t cover tonight that would fit your content or your students?
Share verbally with the room, or pin your idea to the working poster at the back of the room.
Building on someone else’s idea counts — say whose spark you’re borrowing.
Tonight’s Game Build-Out
Using the worksheet at your table, finish your gameshow and content plan before you leave tonight.
Free rein to use your laptop or phone — draft questions, search images, or try the AI approach from earlier.
Walk out with something ready to run in class tomorrow, not just an idea.
Differentiation at a Glance
Activity
Middle School
High School
Contestants' Row
Simple, familiar prices.
Compare two real loan offers.
Hole In One
Chronology/dates
Dates, but explain how/why
Cliff Hangers
Yes/no compound-growth facts.
Calculate actual payoff time.
Magic Number
Costs students already know.
Real local costs.
Differentiation at a Glance (continued)
Activity
Middle School
High School
Wheel of Fortune
Short, familiar terms.
Multi-word phrases.
Match Game
Single vocabulary words.
Full phrases, partial credit.
Family Feud
Lighter, universal prompts.
Prompts tied to real decisions.
Differentiation at a Glance (continued)
Activity
Middle School
High School
Jeopardy
Single-concept recall.
Scenario questions.
Millionaire
Cap at 8 questions.
Real stakes.
Deal or No Deal
Smaller point spreads.
Calculate expected value.
Quick Formative Checks
After Meet the Games — 3-2-1 Exit Ticket: 3 things to comparison-shop, 2 ways interest cuts both ways, 1 open question.
After Meet the Games — Vocabulary Self-Rating: confidence 1–4 on each term used, reteach anything below a 3.
After the Family Feud Simulation — One-Sentence Reflection: "My biggest financial lesson today was ___, because ___."
After Back Pocket Games — Two Truths and a Fix: two true statements and one misconception, swap and correct.
Your Take-Home Kit
Printable templates for every game — price cards, puzzle grids, match-game statement cards, survey boards, and the Family Feud scoreboard.
The full content crash course — the 7-strand primer plus the 10-term glossary.
Digital equivalents — Blooket, Gimkit, or Kahoot templates for 1:1 classrooms.
Your own game build-out worksheet, already started tonight.
Quick-Reference Card
Game
Best For
Strand
The Price Is Right
Live pricing & cost-of-credit
Using Credit
Wheel of Fortune
Vocabulary warm-up
All Strands
Match Game
Quick vocabulary recall
All Strands
Family Feud
Team review + live simulation
Any Strand
Quick-Reference Card (continued)
Game
Best For
Strand
Jeopardy
Pre-test category review
All Strands
Millionaire
Individual accountability
Any Strand
Deal or No Deal
Risk & expected value
Investing
Survey Says…
You're Ready to Play
Thank you for spending Game Night leveling up financial literacy instruction — no economics degree required.
Questions & Contact
USF Gus A. Stavros Center for Economic Education
usf.edu/education/stavros-center
Try the gameshow you built tonight within the next two weeks, then share how it went.
The Price Is Right: What to Expect
Four fast, low-prep pricing games — no special equipment.
Each ties to a specific Florida PFL strand: Using Credit, Saving, Buying Goods & Services, Investing.
Every game adapts up or down for MS or HS audiences.
Total time: about 40 minutes for all four.
Contestants' Row
1.
Pick a real financial scenario (a car loan, a credit card balance, a phone plan).
2.
Prepare 3–4 close price options — only one is correct.
3.
Reveal all four; students guess closest without going over.
4.
Reveal the real number and unpack why it is that high.
Contestants' Row — Try This
A $25,000 car loan at 7% APR over 5 years. What is the TOTAL interest paid?
A) $2,500 B) $4,700 C) $9,400 D) $18,000
Answer: B — about $4,700.
Debrief: Why did the real price surprise you? What would you do differently knowing the true cost?
Contestants' Row — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use simpler numbers — a $20 lunch order, a $60 video game.
High School
— Add a second round comparing two loan offers with different APRs.
Plinko
1.
Label drop zones with investment types — savings, index fund, stock, crypto — low to high risk.
2.
Students choose a zone before "dropping the chip" (a die roll works fine).
3.
Reveal the payout range — some zones swing wildly, some barely move.
4.
Discuss the tradeoff: money needed next year vs. in 30 years.
Plinko — Try This
Chip lands in "Individual Stock": roll a die.
1–2 = –20% 3–4 = +5% 5–6 = +40%
Compare to "Savings Account," which is always +2%.
Debrief: Would your answer change if this was retirement money instead of next month’s rent?
Plinko — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use only two zones — safe vs. risky.
High School
— Add a time-horizon twist: a 1-year goal vs. a 30-year goal.
Cliff Hangers
1.
Draw a simple mountain on the board with 8–10 steps.
2.
Ask a true/false question about compound interest or debt growth.
3.
Correct: the climber moves up. Wrong: a "storm" card sets them back.
4.
Reaching the top earns the class a small reward.
Cliff Hangers — Try This
True or False: paying only the minimum on a credit card can take over a decade to pay off.
Answer: TRUE.
Debrief: What surprised you about how fast interest adds up — for saving, or for debt?
Cliff Hangers — Differentiate
Middle School
— Keep questions to simple yes/no compound-growth facts.
High School
— Have students calculate the actual payoff time before the climber moves.
Secret Number
1.
Choose a real local cost — median rent, a grocery basket, a starter emergency fund.
2.
Students write a silent guess, or narrow a range together.
3.
Reveal the real number.
4.
Use the gap between guess and reality to launch a budgeting conversation.
Secret Number — Try This
What’s a reasonable starter emergency fund for a young adult living independently?
Guesses often range $200–$5,000 — reveal $500–$1,000.
Debrief: Was your guess too high or too low? What does that tell you about your money assumptions?
Secret Number — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use costs students already encounter — lunch, a video game, sneakers.
High School
— Use real independent-living costs — rent, utilities, insurance.
If a Student Asks…
“Why is the interest so much more than I guessed?”
Interest is charged on the amount you still owe, every month, for the life of the loan.
“What does APR actually mean?”
Annual Percentage Rate — the yearly cost of borrowing, as a percentage.
If a Student Asks… (continued)
“Why does a "safe" investment pay so little?”
Risk and reward move together. A savings account barely loses money, so it barely grows it.
“Is a $500 emergency fund really enough?”
It’s a starting goal, not a finish line — enough for one surprise bill.
Ten-Minute Break
Stretch, refill your coffee, and flip through your handout packet — Round 2 starts when the lights come back up.
Round 2
Wheel & Feud
Vocabulary spins and team showdowns for fast, high-energy review.
Wheel & Feud: What to Expect
Two whole-class formats — vocabulary drilling and open-ended reflection, both team-based.
Zero specialized equipment needed for either format.
Reuse both endlessly by swapping in new prompts.
Total time: about 30 minutes for both.
Wheel of Fortune
1.
Choose 5–8 vocabulary terms tied to your current unit.
2.
Draw blank letter boxes on the board, or use the puzzle-grid template in your packet.
3.
Teams take turns "spinning" and guessing letters or the whole term.
4.
A "Bankrupt" wedge resets a team’s round score for suspense.
Wheel of Fortune — Try This
Puzzle: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ → I N T E R E S T
Clue: "The cost of borrowing money, or the reward for saving it."
Debrief: Use one term from today’s puzzle correctly in a sentence about your own money habits.
Wheel of Fortune — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use shorter, familiar terms — save, spend, budget, income.
High School
— Use multi-word phrases — compound interest, credit utilization ratio.
Family Feud Showdown
1.
Survey students ahead of time with an open-ended financial prompt.
2.
Rank the top 5–8 answers by frequency, hidden on a board.
3.
Two teams face off; a buzzer-in round decides who guesses first.
4.
Three strikes passes control to the other team.
Family Feud Showdown — Try This
Survey says… "Name a way people waste money on subscriptions."
Top answer: "Forgetting to cancel a free trial" (32 responses).
Debrief: Which survey answer matched your own habits? Which one would you add?
Family Feud Showdown — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use lighter prompts — "Name something you’d save your allowance for."
High School
— Use prompts tied to real decisions — "Name a reason a credit score might drop."
Round 3 · The Main Event
Game of Life
One simulation, every strand: careers, credit, saving, and the unexpected.
“Where the other rounds review isolated facts, Game of Life forces students to live with the consequences of a decision.”
Setup & Materials
Career Cards — a shuffled deck assigning a starting job, salary, and education requirement.
Life Event Cards — windfalls, expenses, and decision points, drawn each turn.
A Budget Ledger — one per student or team, tracking income, expenses, and balance.
A path or board is optional — the ledger carries the game.
Sample Career Cards
Registered Nurse
Salary: $68,000/yr Education: Associate Degree Perk: +1 Saving Card
Small Business Owner
Salary: $20k–$90k Education: None Required Perk: Roll twice, keep higher
Software Developer
Salary: $85,000/yr Education: Bachelor’s Degree Perk: Skip 1 Debt Card
Electrician
Salary: $58,000/yr Education: Trade Apprenticeship Perk: +1 Insurance Card
Sample Life Event Cards
WINDFALL — Tax Refund
+$800 to balance — Earning Income
EXPENSE — Car Repair
−$450 to balance — Buying Goods & Services
DECISION — Job Offer Across Town
Higher pay, longer commute — Financial Attitudes
Sample Life Event Cards (continued)
WINDFALL — Birthday Gift
+$100 to balance — Saving
EXPENSE — Medical Bill
−$300 (or $50 insured) — Protecting & Insuring
DECISION — Invest the Bonus?
Risk it, or bank it safely — Investing
Running the Simulation
1.
Hand each student a Career Card and a blank Budget Ledger. Record starting salary as Turn 1 income.
2.
Each turn, students draw one Life Event Card and apply it to their ledger.
3.
For Decision cards, give 30 seconds of think time — there is no "correct" choice, only a tracked consequence.
4.
Repeat for 6–10 turns until the round timer runs out.
5.
Students total their final balance and compare — highest is not always "best" if it came from reckless risk.
6.
Debrief as a whole class using the reflection questions ahead.
Budget Ledger Walkthrough
Turn
Event
Income
Expense
Balance
1
Starting Salary (Nurse)
$68,000
—
$68,000
2
Tax Refund
+$800
—
$68,800
3
Car Repair
—
−$450
$68,350
4
Medical Bill (insured)
—
−$50
$68,300
Game of Life: MS vs. HS
Middle School
— 4–6 career cards, round salaries.
— One event card per turn.
— Whole dollars only.
— Skip taxes entirely.
High School
— 10+ career cards, gig work.
— Flat 15% tax withholding.
— Real APR on credit events.
— Retirement-contribution decisions.
Reflect & Debrief
Which single card changed your outcome the most — a windfall, an expense, or a decision?
Would you make the same decision-card choices if you played again?
How did having insurance change the impact of your medical or property events?
Is the highest final balance automatically the "winner"? What else matters?
Bonus Round
Three More for Your Back Pocket
These are where we can show them how to use AI templates as these games are great for building templates through AI
Bonus Round: What to Expect
Three familiar formats that flex to fit whatever review window you have left.
Build a category-based review game from any five strands in minutes.
Introduce expected value and risk tolerance through a simple decision game.
Total time: 15–25 minutes — pick one, or sample all three.
Jeopardy
1.
Build a 5x5 grid using five of the seven PFL strands as categories.
2.
Write 5 questions per category at increasing point values.
3.
Teams select a category and value; answer in question form or straightforward.
4.
Include one Daily Double for a wager-based comeback moment.
Jeopardy — Try This
Category: Using Credit, for 300 —
"This three-digit number lenders use to judge risk."
Answer: What is a credit score?
Debrief: Which category was your team’s strongest? Which needs more review?
Jeopardy — Differentiate
Middle School
— Lower point values, single-concept recall questions.
High School
— Scenario questions applying two concepts together.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
1.
Write 10–15 questions in escalating difficulty and point value.
2.
One student in the "hot seat" answers multiple-choice questions.
3.
Offer three lifelines: Ask a Friend, 50/50, Ask the Teacher.
4.
The student can walk away and bank points, or risk the next question.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — Try This
$500 question: What does APR stand for?
A) Annual Percentage Rate B) Average Payment Ratio
Answer: A
Debrief: Which lifeline did you rely on most, and why?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire — Differentiate
Middle School
— Cap the ladder at 8 easier questions.
High School
— Add real stakes tied to a grade or reward.
Deal or No Deal
1.
Assign point values — some low, some very high — to 10–12 briefcases.
2.
A student picks one briefcase to "keep" without looking.
3.
The student opens others one at a time, eliminating values from the pool.
4.
After each round, the "banker" offers a guaranteed value.
Deal or No Deal — Try This
Six briefcases left; average remaining value is 400 points.
The banker offers 350. Deal, or no deal?
Debrief: Would a financial advisor call your decision risk-averse or risk-seeking?
Deal or No Deal — Differentiate
Middle School
— Use smaller point spreads so the math stays simple.
High School
— Calculate the expected value of remaining briefcases before deciding.
Differentiation at a Glance
Activity
Middle School
High School
Contestants' Row
Simple, familiar prices.
Compare two real loan offers.
Plinko
Two zones: safe vs. risky.
Add a time-horizon twist.
Cliff Hangers
Yes/no compound-growth facts.
Calculate actual payoff time.
Secret Number
Costs students already know.
Real local costs.
Differentiation at a Glance (continued)
Activity
Middle School
High School
Wheel of Fortune
Short, familiar terms.
Multi-word phrases.
Family Feud
Lighter, universal prompts.
Prompts tied to real decisions.
Game of Life
4–6 careers, no taxes.
10+ careers, tax & APR.
Differentiation at a Glance (continued)
Activity
Middle School
High School
Jeopardy
Single-concept recall.
Scenario questions.
Millionaire
Cap at 8 questions.
Real stakes.
Deal or No Deal
Smaller point spreads.
Calculate expected value.
Quick Formative Checks
After Round 1 — 3-2-1 Exit Ticket: 3 things to comparison-shop, 2 ways interest cuts both ways, 1 open question.
After Round 2 — Vocabulary Self-Rating: confidence 1–4 on each term used, reteach anything below a 3.
After Round 3 — One-Sentence Reflection: "My biggest financial lesson today was ___, because ___."
After Bonus Round — Two Truths and a Fix: two true statements and one misconception, swap and correct.
Your Take-Home Kit
Printable templates for all 9 games — price cards, puzzle grids, survey boards, career and event cards, ledgers, boards, and briefcases.
The full content crash course — the 7-strand primer plus the 10-term glossary.
Digital equivalents — Blooket, Gimkit, or Kahoot templates for 1:1 classrooms.
Full differentiation and assessment notes, ready to reference lesson by lesson.
Quick-Reference Card
Game
Best For
Strand
The Price Is Right
Live pricing & cost-of-credit
Using Credit
Wheel of Fortune
Vocabulary warm-up
All Strands
Family Feud
Team-based review
Any Strand
Game of Life
End-of-unit simulation
Income · Saving · Credit
Quick-Reference Card (continued)
Game
Best For
Strand
Jeopardy
Pre-test category review
All Strands
Millionaire
Individual accountability
Any Strand
Deal or No Deal
Risk & expected value
Investing
Survey Says…
You're Ready to Play
Thank you for spending 2.5 hours leveling up financial literacy instruction — no economics degree required.
Questions & Contact
USF Gus A. Stavros Center for Economic Education
usf.edu/education/stavros-center
Try one game within the next two weeks, then share how it went.
TODAY'S SHOW
What's on Deck
01
Why Game Shows?
The learning science behind competition & recall
02
Three Formats to Steal
Price Is Right, Jeopardy, and Family Feud styles
03
Design Principles
Turning any content into a round-based game
04
Classroom Management
Teams, scoring, pacing, and keeping it fair
05
Using AI for game templates and Engagement
Ready-to-edit slide decks you can use tomorrow
06
Try It Yourself
A quick planning exercise before you go
2 / 12
WHY GAME SHOWS WORK
01
Retrieval Practice
Answering under a bit of pressure strengthens memory far more than re-reading notes.
02
Low-Stakes Repetition
Multiple rounds mean multiple exposures to the same vocabulary and concepts.
03
Immediate Feedback
Students find out right away if they're right — no waiting for a graded quiz.
04
Social Engagement
Team formats give quieter students a reason to participate through peers.
3 / 12
THREE FORMATS
WORTH STEALING
Three classic show structures, three different classroom uses
4 / 12
FORMAT SPOTLIGHT
Jeopardy-Style Board
Categories, point values, and answer-in-question-form review
BEST FOR
Broad topic review before a test — unit vocabulary, multiple categories at once.
HOW IT WORKS
TEACHER TIP
Cap team size at 3–4 so every student gets meaningful airtime during a round.
6 / 12
FORMAT SPOTLIGHT
Family Feud-Style Survey
“Name the top answers” — great for open-ended thinking
BEST FOR
Brainstorming, opinion-based prompts, and open-ended concepts with several valid answers.
HOW IT WORKS
TEACHER TIP
Survey your own students ahead of time (a quick form) to build the answer board.
7 / 12
DESIGNING YOUR OWN GAME
1
Start with the objective
Pick the standard or skill first — the game format should serve it, not the other way around.
2
Write questions in tiers
Mix easy recall with a few stretch questions so every student can contribute.
3
Decide how teams form
Random draw, mixed-ability groups, or self-selected — each changes the dynamic.
4
Plan for the losers
Build in a way for trailing teams to catch up (bonus round, double points) so engagement doesn't drop.
8 / 12
KEEPING IT FAIR
Classroom Management Essentials
Set Ground Rules First
Score Transparently
Watch the Pace
9 / 12
TOOLS & READY-MADE TEMPLATES
01
Google Slides Templates
Editable Jeopardy, Feud, and wheel-style decks — duplicate and drop in your own content. Swap in your unit's questions and you're ready to run a round in minutes.
02
Buzzer / Timer Apps
Free classroom timer and sound-effect tools add urgency without extra equipment. A visible countdown keeps rounds moving and signals when time is up.
03
Digital Scoreboards
A simple shared spreadsheet or slide can track team scores across rounds, projected for everyone to see so scoring stays transparent and fair.
04
Question Banks
Reuse your existing quiz and worksheet questions — no need to write new content from scratch. Old assessments become new review games.
10 / 12
THANKS FOR PLAYING
Questions, template requests, or co-planning?
Kara · Stay COOL with Kara Tutoring · Learning Gate Community School
12 / 12