Insurance Curriculum for Middle & High School Teachers

By Taylor Covington

Updated June 18, 2024

Reviewed By Beth Swanson

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Materials
Procedures

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Teaching the basics of insurance

The Zebra has created the following presentations and activities for use in your at-home or online classroom. This lesson plan can help demonstrate the importance of insurance, as well as provide a basic level of knowledge for future future consumers.

Objective

This lesson plan introduces students to a broad overview of insurance. At the end of the lesson, students will be familiar with basic insurance terms and concepts. This will provide supplemental information for a Social Studies unit on Personal Finance. The lesson can be covered in two 50-minute class periods.

Materials

Students will need:

Teachers will need:

Procedures

Day One (50 minutes total)

First, administer the Insurance Pre-test and review the questions out loud with the students. Explain that this test is not for a grade but is designed to gauge their existing knowledge of insurance. Time the pretest for about 5 minutes. (10 minutes)

Next, begin the actual teaching process. Show the "What is Insurance?" PowerPoint presentation to teach students the basics of insurance.
Encourage the students to take notes since the information will be used in the activities. (15 minutes)

Pass out the "Learning the Lines" activity sheet for the students to gauge what they have learned so far. The worksheet is based on the information they just received in the PowerPoint. Grading the responses is left to the discretion of the teacher. (15 minutes)

Pass out the "Insurance Timeline" worksheet, explain the directions, and have students complete the timeline based on the information they learned in the presentation. Because there is no “correct” answer, these cannot be graded for strict accuracy. Instead, have a class discussion about what should be in what order and why. If time runs out, either ask the students to complete as homework or give them a couple of minutes to complete the worksheet during the next class period. (10 minutes)

Day Two (50 minutes total)

If the "Insurance Timeline" activity is incomplete, have the students complete the worksheet at the start of class. (7 minutes)

Then, pass out the "How Much Does Insurance Cost" activity sheet. Explain the directions and have students fill in their answers. Instruct the students to keep this sheet close by as it will again become relevant after the presentation. (10 minutes)

Go through and explain to the students the "Major Lines of Insurance" PowerPoint. Take the time to answer questions and go slow. (15 minutes)

Review the appropriate auto and homeowners price comparisons for your state with the students. Have them review the price comparisons and complete the questions on the "How Much Does Insurance Cost?" activity sheet. (15 minutes)

Last, give a writing homework assignment. There are two suggested assignments. You, as the teacher, can make the final decision on which, or both, to assign.

Referencing the PowerPoints, have the students design a budget in Excel for their ideal life. Paying for the item itself is one thing, but insurance can add extra thousands each month. Encourage the students to use the websites listed in the "How Much Does Insurance Cost?" activity sheet to find the best coverage. Let them play with a high deductible but low monthly payments and vice versa. How much money would they have to make to insure everyone in their home and themselves. As a follow up, have them write a short essay on their experience.
Referencing the "How Much Does Insurance Cost?" activity sheet, have the students write a brief (1-2 pages) essay on what they imagine their future will look like. This is the My Goals in Life paper referenced from the materials page, so be aware there is no handout for this particular assignment. The paper should focus on one or two simple goals, and the student should say how insurance relates to, or is affected by, that goal. For example, if the student wants to own a motorcycle one day, he or she should emphasize the need for motorcycle insurance and why it is important to have it.