Unit 2 — Money and Choices

Track G+M · Klasse 9 · Niveau G/M

Template: Activate → Input → Practise → Produce → Reflect.
Niveau: G/M parallel. class test (“Klassenarbeit”) at Niveau M (45 BE).

Learning objectives Link to heading

  • I can read a short text on personal finance and identify the writer’s advice.
  • I can use should / shouldn’t / had better for advice.
  • I can write a 120-word reflection on a money decision.

Bildungsplan alignment Link to heading

  • 3.2.1 Soziokulturelles Orientierungswissen / Themen
  • 3.2.3.2 Leseverstehen
  • 3.2.3.5 Schreiben
  • 3.2.3.8 Verfügen über sprachliche Mittel – Grammatik

(Source: https://www.bildungsplaene-bw.de/,Lde/LS/BP2016BW/ALLG/SEK1/E1)

Lead-in story Link to heading

Eli is saving for a second-hand bicycle. Naima is saving for a one-week language course in Dublin. They are both keeping notebooks. Eli’s is a small green ledger; Naima’s is a sticky note that has migrated five times in two months. Mr. Yilmaz, who has watched this, says: “How you keep the record is part of the discipline.”

1. Activate Link to heading

Money quick-think. In 90 seconds write one thing I save for, one thing I waste on, one thing I would save for if I had a goal.

2. Input Link to heading

Vocabulary — money Link to heading

to save up, to spend, to waste, to budget, to lend, to borrow, to owe, salary, wage, pocket money, interest, debt, savings account, ATM, cash, card, digital wallet.

Grammar — should / shouldn’t / had better Link to heading

Mild advice: You should save 10 % of your pocket money. Mild warning: You shouldn’t lend money you can’t afford to lose. Stronger advice / warning: You’d better keep a record (= it would be a mistake not to).

3. Practise Link to heading

Niveau G Link to heading

  1. Choose should / shouldn’t: You __________ keep a small notebook. You __________ borrow what you can’t return.
  2. Build had better: You / save / receipts → ___ .

Niveau M Link to heading

  1. Build 4 advice sentences (2 should, 1 shouldn’t, 1 had better) for a younger student saving for a trip.
Answer key

G. 1. should / shouldn’t. 2. You’d better save your receipts.

M. 3. Open.

4. Produce Link to heading

Reflection, 120 words. Write about a money decision — real or invented. Use should / shouldn’t / had better twice and if once.

Sample Link to heading

Last year I saved for a second-hand bike. I should have started earlier, because the price went up twice. I had a small notebook in which I wrote every amount I added. If I had not kept the notebook, I would have lost track. My advice to a younger student would be simple: you should write it down, you shouldn’t try to remember, and you’d better protect the notebook from siblings.

5. Reflect Link to heading

  • I can read a personal-finance text and find advice.
  • I can use should / shouldn’t / had better.
  • I can write a 120-word money reflection.

One thing in your notebook: Write one sentence using something you learned in this Unit.

Exam example Link to heading

class test ("Klassenarbeit") — Niveau M (45 minutes)
Time. 45 minutes. Total. 45 points.

Task 1 — Listening (10 BE) Link to heading

Listen twice.

“You should keep a record of every purchase. You shouldn’t lend more than you can afford to lose. You’d better start small — three months of pocket money is enough to learn the habit.”

  1. Should keep: ___ . 2. Shouldn’t lend: ___ . 3. Had better: ___ . 4. Length: ___ .

Task 2 — Reading (12 BE) Link to heading

Read.

“Eli started a small green notebook. By month four he could see the shape of his spending: half on food outside the home, a quarter on small things he didn’t remember buying. He decided to cut the small things.”

  1. Notebook colour: ___ . 2. Half spending: ___ . 3. Quarter spending: ___ . 4. Decision: ___ .

Task 3 — Use of English (10 BE) Link to heading

Fill in should / shouldn’t / had better.

  1. You __________ save 10 %.
  2. You __________ lend what you can’t afford.
  3. You __________ start now, before prices change.
  4. We __________ keep all receipts.

Task 4 — Writing (13 BE) Link to heading

Write 120 words about a money decision. Use should / shouldn’t / had better (3 in total).

Answer key
T1. every purchase, more than you can afford to lose, start small, three months. T2. small green; half — food outside the home; quarter — small things not remembered; cut the small things. T3. should / shouldn’t / had better / should. T4. Open.
Notenschlüssel (von 45)
| 42–45 | 1 | 36–41 | 2 | 30–35 | 3 | | 22–29 | 4 | 13–21 | 5 | 0–12 | 6 |

Downloads Link to heading

**Slide deck timing.** 45 minutes total. Lead-in 4 min · Activate 5 min · Input 14 min · Practise 8 min · Produce 11 min · Reflect 3 min.

Differentiation. Niveau G: scaffold card with the key structure. Above Niveau M: extension prompt linking to Klasse 10.

Common pitfalls Link to heading

  • You should to save → ✗ / You should save → ✓.
  • You had better to keep → ✗ / You had better keep → ✓.
  • should and must feel different in advice — must is stronger and more imposed.

Further reading / listening Link to heading

  • BBC Bitesize — Personal finance topic.
  • MoneyHelper UK — accessible articles for teens.

Downloads

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