Principles of Economic Thinking in the News
Unit 1 · Lesson 1.12 · Last updated April 10, 2026
A 45-minute summative assessment where students analyze a current news story using two principles of economic thinking from Unit 1.
Overview
In this lesson students complete the Unit 1 summative assessment. Students explain how a recent news story illustrates two of the principles of economic thinking learned in Unit 1 and describe how those principles apply to their selected current event. Note: In Lesson 1.11, students were introduced to the assessment and given time to locate a relevant news story.
Learning Objectives
- Apply the principles of economic thinking to decision making.
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Materials
- Instruction Slides (display during class period)
- Principles of Economic Thinking in the News pp. 3–4 (1 copy per student)
- Article (enough copies for students who forget to bring a printed copy)
- Optional: Computer or smartphone with internet access (1 device per student)
- Optional: Exemplar (1 copy for educator reference)
Lesson Sequence
Slides 2–7
- Display Slide 2. If students are writing by hand, direct them to retrieve their printed news articles, lined paper, and writing utensils. If students are typing, instruct them to get a device and access their news story. Instruct students to clear their desks of all other materials. Additional educator tips and suggested answers are in the notes section throughout Instruction Slides.
- Progress through Slides 3–4 to introduce the learning objective and the agenda for the lesson.
- Proceed to Slide 5. Distribute 1 copy of Principles of Economic Thinking in the News to each student. Direct students to review the "Task" and "Criteria for Success" before writing.
- Display Slide 6. Remind students to read the rubric carefully before beginning and before submitting their work.
- Proceed to Slide 7. Pause for any questions useful for the good of the group. Remind students they can ask questions during individual work time.
Slides 8–10
- Advance through Slides 8–9. Instruct students to follow the instructions on Slide 8. Distribute 1 copy of Article to any students who forgot to bring their own.
- Instruct students to begin working. Circulate while students work to supervise and clarify instructions as needed.
- Display Slide 10 when there are 5 minutes left in the class period. Announce that students should be getting ready to submit their work.
- Collect Principles of Economic Thinking in the News, students' written responses, and articles. Pro Tip: If students wrote by hand, have them staple their rubric to the back of their writing. If completed electronically, include a copy of the rubric in the document students work in.
Tips for Scoring: You may reference Exemplar to see what a proficient response might look like, but students may reasonably identify any number of economic concepts in a news story. Be open to unexpected connections and identifications of concepts within the assessment.
Aligned Standards
Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics
What Educators Are Saying
The Principles of Economic Thinking in the News was very easy to implement as a teacher.
It is a great way to assess, and so easy. I was actually out with a pulled back muscle and students were able to complete this without emailing me at all. Very good assessment.
There were some concepts that Econiful would focus on that I would not spend as much time with. I would simply delete those few concepts. The usefulness of having the ability to edit these plans cannot be overstated.