Checking Accounts

Learning Goals/Objectives:

The students will demonstrate an understanding of the consequences of bouncing a check by writing a creative story.
The students will demonstrate an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of "Overdraft Protection" in an assessment later in the week.
The students will demonstrate an understanding of the different forms of a checking account by writing a creative story.

Methods:

Activities:

“Hook”/Question of the Day – What does ‘bouncing’ a check mean?

a. Direct Instruction (Consequences of bouncing a check) – 25 minutes

Intentionally bouncing a check is illegal. Your consequences could be: fine and/or jail time.
You could get turned down for a job because a public record of you bouncing a check on a consumer report will be there for seven years.
Damages your credit score.
Without ‘Overdraft Protection’ – you are fined a flat fee of $20-$40 ‘per transaction’, plus a per day fee of around $5 until the consumer has a positive balance.
- The bank records your checking account at the end of each business day. For example, on Monday your transactions are recorded from greatest amount to least amount. ‘Per transaction’ means that each time you use your debit card it is a transaction. Therefore if you are overdrawn on Saturday and on Sunday you use your credit card seven times - - that is seven transactions that you will be fined for. (Show an example of this on the board)
"‘Overdraft Protection"
- What is it? It is essentially a credit line up to a certain amount. The bank covers the difference of what you owe with what you have. You are charged a fee (usually around $10) for using the credit line ($500). Advantages – Prevents you from facing the consequences bouncing a check. Once again, what are those consequences? Disadvantages – Read the section from the ‘Consumer Fed document on bouncing checks’ entitled ‘Impact on Consumers’

b. Direct Instruction – 5 minutes

Checking Account Services

ATM’s, Debit Cards, Checks, Online Banking/automatic bill payments (Use a spider web graphic organizer, with Checking Account Services in the middle and everything else circled and around the outside).

c. Creative Story – 20 minutes

Each student must write a creative, but realistic story about what could potentially happen to them. The story must use most of the consequences of overdrawing your checking account using all of the different forms of the checking account. You will share your story and turn it in at the end of class.

Materials:

Assessment:

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