Official Teacher Guide
How to Use Make It Make Cents in the Classroom
Make It Make Cents is a free browser-based daily challenge designed primarily for high school classrooms. The public schedule rotates among The Vocab Challenge on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; Financial Fill-Ins on Tuesday; and Financial Connections on Thursday. The curriculum pauses on weekends.
Play Today’s ChallengeQuick-start facts
- Suggested audience
- High school personal finance classrooms
- Classroom time
- Approximately 5–10 minutes, with optional discussion
- Required setup
- A modern browser and internet connection; no student account is required
- Display options
- One projected class board or individual student devices
How each published challenge format works
The Vocab Challenge
Students guess the hidden financial term in six tries. A definition hint is available, and the tile colors show whether each letter is correct, misplaced, or absent. Ask students which part of the definition or letter feedback changed their next guess.
Financial Fill-Ins
Students read a real-world financial scenario, select terms from a word bank, and place them into the blanks before choosing Check Answers. Three distractor words do not belong. Ask students to justify why a term fits the sentence’s meaning and context.
Financial Connections
Students begin with 16 shuffled terms, select sets of four, and submit each proposed relationship. Correct groups reveal their category; students have four mistakes available. Ask for the relationship before the class submits a set.
When the published puzzle includes a Question of the Day, use it as an optional follow-up discussion after the challenge.
Option A: Project today’s challenge
- Open the homepage on the classroom display.
- Give students private thinking time before taking suggestions.
- Ask a student to explain the clue, context, or relationship behind a response.
- Let the class test the answer and revise together.
This setup supports a shared discussion and requires only the teacher’s device.
Option B: Use individual devices
- Share the homepage URL with students.
- Have students work independently or in pairs.
- Pause after several minutes for students to compare reasoning.
- Debrief one useful term, completed sentence, or connection even if students finish at different times.
Student accounts, names, and email addresses are not required to open the game.
Discussion strategies that keep the reasoning visible
On Vocabulary days, ask what changed. Have students identify the definition clue or letter feedback that made one guess stronger than another.
On Fill-In days, ask for context. Have students explain why a selected word makes sense in that sentence and why a distractor does not.
On Connections days, ask for the relationship. Require a precise reason that connects all four terms before submitting the group.
End with transfer. Ask where someone might encounter today’s concept or what financial decision it could affect.