Here are three videos (with three questions for each) that do a good job of engaging your students with a "not so easy to engage" topic:

• PBS 2 Cents Project: How do your tax dollars get spent? [4:34]
  • What is the FICA tax that gets deducted from your paycheck? 
  • How do today's tax rates compare with tax rates over the last 100 years?
  • What are the three largest items that get paid from federal income taxes? 

Hear Philip and Julia, producers of 2 Cents, on this NGPF Podcast

• Your Tax Dollars At Work from We The Economy
  • What are the three areas where most of our tax money goes?
  • What areas surprised you the most when it came to where tax dollars are spent? 
  • What are the heart vs. mind arguments for various federal expenditures? 

• If Paychecks Could Talk (National Priorities) [3:16]
  • What are the three components of federal income (revenue)?
  • What are the three categories of spending outlined in this video?
  • What makes up the largest amount of discretionary spending?
  • What are examples of how federal spending benefits YOU?

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Looking for more videos to engage your students? Look no further than the NGPF Video Library! 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.