Junior Achievement Curriculum
K-5th Grade Curriculum
Kindergarten (Ourselves®)
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Ourselves introduces the economic roles of individuals. JA uses compelling stories about helping, working, earning, and saving along with hands-on activities to engage students.
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1st Grade (Our Families®)
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Our Families discusses the role of families in the local economy. JA volunteers use a combination of pictures, stickers, and flashcards to engage students in activities about needs and wants, jobs, tools and skills, and interdependence.
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2nd Grade (Our Community®)
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Our Community examines responsibilities and economic opportunities available within a community. Through hands-on activities, the students learn about workers, the work they perform, why workers are paid, what taxes are and where to save money.
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3rd Grade (Our City®)
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Our City considers economic development, local business and career opportunities. Students construct paper buildings, map out a city, write newspaper articles, plan their own restaurants, and examine why banks are important.
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4th Grade (Our Region®)
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Our Region explains the economic/business resources found in state and regional economies. Students discover the natural, human, and capital resources in their home states and in regions of the United States.
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5th Grade (Our Nation®)
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Our Nation introduces the concept of a global economy and the importance of choosing the right career. Volunteers lead studnets into activities that explore the various types of businesses and jobs that use STEM skills.
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JA BizTown for 5th Graders
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At the McGrath Family JA BizTown™ students acquire a better understanding of the free enterprise system by actively participating in a simulated town. Students can work in a bank, a television station, or a retail store. They take on their own finances by learning to write checks and making purchases. Students quickly realize the relevance of what they learn in school and how to successfully participate in the economy.
BizTown provides teachers with a new approach to teaching economics, and parents are given an opportunity to actively participate in their children's education as a JA BizTown volunteer.
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Middle School Curriculum
6th Grade (Global Marketplace®)
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Global Marketplace provides practical information about the key aspects of the global economy, what makes world trade work, and how trade affects students' daily lives.
-View a video on JA Global Marketplace™
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JA Economics for Success™
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Economics for Success explores personal finance and students' education and career options based on their skills, interests, and values.
-View a video on JA Global Marketplace™
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JA America Works™
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America Works provides students examples of how business, economics, and entrepreneurship affected the development of the United States during the 19th century.
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High School Curriculum
Our high school programs help students make informed, intelligent decisions about their future, and foster skills that will be highly useful in the business world. From economics to ethics, JA high school programs have a topic fit for your classroom. Our high school programs truly epitomize the 3 pillars of financial literacy, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship. Each program entails 7 volunteer-led lessons that last from 45minutes to 1 hour each.
JA Be Entrepreneurial™
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JA Be Entrepreneurial, a new high school program, focuses on challenging students, through interactive classroom activities, to start their own entrepreneurial venture while still in high school. One of ten JA programs designed with the specific needs of upper grade students in mind, JA Be Entrepreneurial provides useful, practical content to assist students to transition into becoming productive, contributing members of society.
Click here to read more.
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JA Business Ethics™
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JA Business Ethics™ is designed to foster ethical decision-making in students as they prepare to enter the workforce. Students learn to recognize, analyze, and apply basic terminology, theories, and concepts common to the study of ethics.
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JA Careers with a Purpose™
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Through JA Careers with a Purpose™, students learn to use ethical decision-making skills to make career and life decisions. They discover that their career can have a noble purpose by reviewing their values and life maxims.
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JA Company Program®
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JA Company Program® provides basic economic education for high school students. By organizing and operating an actual business enterprise, students not only learn how businesses function, they also learn about the structure of the U.S. free enterprise system and the benefits it provides.
-Click here for more information about the "The Next Big Thing" JA Entrepreneur's Showcase.
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JA Economics™
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JA Economics™ examines the fundamental concepts of micro-, macro-, and international economics. JA Economics is a one-semester course and is recommended for students in grades 11 and 12. Instructional materials include textbooks and study guides.
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JA Exploring Economics™
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JA Exploring Economics teachers concepts such as supply and demand and inflation, and teachers studnets about the effect which governments and the individual have on the global economy and the price of a loaf of bread.
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JA Job Shadow™
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JA Job Shadow takes students into the workplace to learn about careers.We introduce students to careers through one-day, on-site orientations or through more extensive internships. Either way, it�s an authentic work-world experience for the students � enhanced with classroom preparatory and follow-up activities.
Click here to read more about JA Job Shadow.
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Personal Finance
(formerly known as JA Presents NEFE)-
This program introduces students to the importance of making wise financial choices. Students explore the role that money plays in achieving personal goals throughout life.
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JA Success Skills™
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Students participate in challenging exercises to help them develop personal strategies to achieve lifelong learning pursuits and career opportunities. Team-building exercises test their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, as well as their ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead.
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JA TITAN Competition
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JA Company Program® provides basic economic education for high school students. By organizing and operating an actual business enterprise, students not only learn how businesses function, they also learn about the structure of the U.S. free enterprise system and the benefits it provides.
JA Titans of Industry Challenge is an annual competition that pits student teams against each other as they manage a virtual corporation.
-Click here for more information on the JA Titans of Industry Business Challenge..
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1st Grade: Our Families
5th Grade: BizTown Experience
Middle School: JA Economics for Success
10th Grade: JA TITAN Program
11th Grade: JA Company Program
