5th Six Weeks | Cross-cluster financial planning | 5 class periods (50 minutes each)
Learning target
I can build a monthly budget for a stated lifestyle, compare the same household-cost scenario across locations, compare at least three career salaries on one evidence basis, and identify ways to pay for education or training.
Success criteria
- My salary evidence records the occupation, geography, measure, source, and access date.
- My budget uses a supplied fictional monthly income and basic-cost evidence without pretending a planning estimate is a tax calculation.
- My location comparison uses the same one-adult/no-children household scenario in all three places.
- My three-career comparison uses the same wage basis across all three occupations.
- My education-funding decision separates grants, scholarships, work-study, loans, savings, employer benefits, and Registered Apprenticeship accurately.
TEKS alignment
- d(5)(A): Analyze a current labor-market trend for one selected career on Day 1.
- d(5)(D): Prepare and revise a personal budget reflecting a desired lifestyle on Days 1–3 and 5.
- d(5)(E): Compare salaries of at least three careers on Day 5.
- d(3)(C): Identify methods to pay for college and other postsecondary training on Day 4.
Binding evidence decisions
- Xello is the default localized salary source. Record the exact career, displayed geography, displayed wage measure, and date. Do not relabel a median or range as starting pay.
- Hats & Ladders is supplemental. No budget, grade, or completion proof depends on a Hat profile or favorite.
- The independent fallback is fixed and dated. Students without usable Xello evidence use the supplied May 2024 U.S. BLS career card and label it national.
- The Dallas County cost baseline is fixed. MIT's one-adult/no-children scenario, updated February 15, 2026, lists $48,489 required annual income before taxes and $41,399 after taxes. Annual basic expenses are converted to monthly values in the CCE packet.
- The monthly budget uses a fixed fictional income. Students do not estimate take-home pay from an annual salary. The salary-minus-cost-target comparison on Day 5 stays on a before-tax basis and is labeled as a screening comparison, not an affordability claim.
- No live financial account is created. Students do not complete FAFSA/TASFA, apply for aid, contact providers, disclose family income, or enter personal financial information.
Five-day sequence
| Day | Focus | Durable evidence | Primary TEKS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salary source + lifestyle target | Source-labeled career/lifestyle target and trend interpretation | d(5)(A), d(5)(D) |
| 2 | Build the Dallas County monthly budget | Complete personal budget with surplus/shortage and one revision | d(5)(D) |
| 3 | Location changes the cost target | Same-$70,000-offer comparison and relocation judgment | d(5)(D) support |
| 4 | Pay for education or training | Funding-method decision guide + retryable Canvas practice check | d(3)(C) |
| 5 | Compare three careers + submit portfolio | Same-basis salary comparison, tradeoff explanation, revised budget | d(5)(D), d(5)(E) |
Canvas design
Every day receives a paired Teacher Facilitator Guide and Student Guide. Required directions remain visible; optional vocabulary and absence help use native disclosures.
- Days 1–3 use Student Annotation, upload, typed labeled responses, or paper.
- Day 4 uses a short unlimited-retry Canvas practice Quiz for bounded financial-aid misconceptions plus a private notes artifact.
- Day 5 uses one self-contained private portfolio Assignment with annotation, upload, or typed labeled responses and a student-visible 16-point rubric. The teacher may collect the same labeled paper portfolio. Days 1–4 may inform the decision but are not extra attachments the teacher must reopen to score the major.
- CareerOneStop, the MIT Living Wage Calculator, Canva, and Adobe Express may be linked as extensions. None is a completion gate.
Grading recommendation
Days 1–4 are formative checkpoints. Day 5 is Major 2 in the 5SW assessment map. Keep it unpublished until the live Canvas Major group and 40/60 weighting are verified. Score individual evidence, not family income, lifestyle cost, chosen career, platform access, design polish, or English mechanics unless meaning is unclear.
Emotional and privacy boundary
This week compares fictional or planning scenarios; it does not judge a student's family, home, immigration status, income, debt, or career choices. Students never have to disclose what their family earns or spends. A shortage means the scenario needs revision—not that a person, family, or career failed.
Required teacher-ready artifacts
- Salary Source and Lifestyle Target
- Dallas County Personal Budget and worked model
- Three-Location Cost Comparison
- Paying for Education and Training guide
- Three-Career Salary Comparison and Portfolio
- 16-point student-visible rubric
All multi-sentence prompts require full-width writing space. Short facts may use table cells; rationale, tradeoff, and revision writing may not.