Today’s episode of CNN Student News contains a segment about impact of a proposed budget cut on students in California. This segment could be a good introduction to teaching lessons on how state budgets are formed, how a revenue is raised, and how tax revenue is spent. Below the video embedded below you’ll find a couple of corresponding lesson plans.

PBS Kids has a great lesson plan for introducing young students to the concepts of budgets and taxes. The lesson starts with a focus on the students’ personal budget before moving onto the basic concepts of government budget.

The IRS website, Understanding Taxes, is a good source of lesson plans and individual learning materials about taxes and budgets. In the teacher section of the site you will find lesson plans like this one (opens as pdf) designed to teach students about services for which tax revenue is used.

Here are some related resources that may be of interest to you:
It’s Tax Day! Where Does the Money Go?
Learning About US Income Taxes
The Importance of Supreme Court Nominations
Lesson Plans from the US Department of State
Civics Lessons for ESL Students