Download Taking Charge of My Cash - Roots of American Music

Taking Charge
of My Cash
An Arts-Integrated Approach to Personal Finance for Grades 5-12
support provided by
The
George Gund
Foundation
Taking Charge of My Cash
Teach personal financial concepts using music. ROAM uses
roots music (traditional, blues, jazz, country, and rock) and
a host of instruments including fiddle, banjo, guitar, pennywhistle, bass, and vocal harmonies to expand both the student’s musical knowledge as well as an understanding of academic content. Assess student understanding by their song
lyrics. Students write songs that incorporate the personal
financial concepts and music genres being presented during
each class session. Prepare students for a final performance
of their songs.
Roots of
American Music
3109 Mayfield Road,
Suite 205
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
216 321.9353
www.rootsofamericanmusic.org
Taking Charge
of My Cash
An Arts-Integrated Approach to Personal Finance
for Grades 5-12
Summary
Goals
• Exploring career options
Taking Charge of My Cash is an
arts-integrated personal finance
program aligned with the State of
Ohio’s social studies curriculum.
Students benefit by being introduced
to a new state-mandated
curriculum of national standards
about personal finance that will
guide them as they grow, work and
save for their futures. Two Roots
of American Music (ROAM)
professional teaching artists present a personal finance curriculum
through music and engage multiple
classrooms of students in grades 5-8
for one hour over a seven-week
period. Student song writing to
reflect their understanding of the
curriculum is a key element of this
program. A final school-wide assembly
at each school of student-written
songs will serve entire school populations and will be backed by professional musicians and sound.
• Teach personal financial concepts
using music. ROAM uses roots
music (traditional, blues, jazz,
country, and rock) and a host of
instruments including fiddle, banjo,
guitar, pennywhistle, bass, and vocal
harmonies to expand both the
student’s musical knowledge as
well as an understanding of
academic content.
• Identifying sources of personal
income
Understanding personal finance is
a critical aspect of youth development as young people enter a world
of where innovation, tough competition, and uncertain markets paint
the landscape. A national student
survey of basic, personal financial
literacy in 2008 was a justification
for the development of the current
national standards. The survey
showed that of 6,856 graduating
high school seniors, the mean test
score – their understanding of basic
financial literacy concepts – was
only 47.5% of 100%.
• Assess student understanding by
their song lyrics. Students write
songs that incorporate the personal
financial concepts and music genres
being presented during each class
session.
• Prepare students for a final
performance of their songs.
Standards
ROAM aligns the program with
the State of Ohio and a curriculum
created by the nationally recognized
Jump$tart Coalition which recommends personal finance principles
for young people. These include: pay
yourself first, start saving money,
budget your money, and don’t
borrow what you can’t repay. In
accordance with the national
standards, ROAM will present the
following topics during the course
of seven visits to each school:
• Taking responsibility for personal
financial decisions
• Finding and evaluating financial
information from a variety of
sources
• Making financial decisions by
systematically considering alternatives and consequences
• Describing factors affecting
take-home pay
• Developing a plan for spending
and saving
• Describing how to use different
payment methods
Outcomes
Since 2009, the original Taking
Charge of My Cash has been
successfully implemented at 10
schools with positive evaluation
results. The program demonstrates
student improvement in the arts
and math by at least 20% in areas
tested. Since the State of Ohio
revised the social studies curriculum
in 2010 to include personal finance,
the Taking Charge of My Cash
program has been revamped to
align with National Standards in
personal finance to corroborate
with the state mandate.
About ROAM
Roots of American Music (ROAM) is a 501c
(3) nonprofit music education organization,
established in 1999. Roots of American
Music provides arts-integrated programs to
youth and diverse communities, using
traditional music, in order to enhance
educational outcomes and enrich people’s
lives. ROAM currently employs 15 teaching
artists who reach over 25,000 individuals
annually with educational music programs.
ROAM teaching artists provide an
arts-integrated learning experience for core
subjects to help students achieve
academic goals.