LESSON PLAN

Financial Literacy: Making Change and Financial Decisions

Apothem Team

Grade 4 · Number

LESSON AT A GLANCE

Warm-up

5 min

Explore

15 min

Consolidate

10 min

Practice

12 min

Exit ticket

3 min

Warm-up

You buy three items: $3.49,$ 2.75, and $5.20. Total? (11.44.) You pay with$ 15.00. How much change? Count up: $11.44 to$ 11.50 = $0.06. To$ 12.00 = $0.50. To$ 15.00 = $3.00. Total change:$ 3.56.

Explore

Classroom store: students make 4 purchases totalling between $15 and$ 95, pay with a round amount (e.g., $20,$ 50, $100), and calculate change using counting up. Then: plan a simple weekly budget allocating$ 20 of allowance to spending, saving, and giving with specific dollar amounts.

Consolidate

Practice

Students complete 5 change calculations using counting up, create a simple budget for $40 of weekly income, and solve 2 equitable trade problems. Exit ticket: calculate change from$ 20 for a purchase of $13.67.

Exit ticket

TIP The counting-up strategy is how cashiers make change in their heads. It converts subtraction into addition, which most students find easier. Practice it as a mental math skill, not a written subtraction.

WORKED EXAMPLES

Calculate change from

50.00 for a purchase of

36.75.

Count up: $36.75 to$ 37.00 = $0.25. To$ 40.00 = $3.00. To$ 50.00 = $10.00. Total change:$ 0.25 + $3.00 +$ 10.00 = $13.25.

In an equitable trade, if 4 bags of rice = 1 cooking pot, how many bags equal 3 cooking pots?

4 x 3 = 12 bags of rice = 3 cooking pots.

MATERIALS

•Play money (bills and coins to $100)

•Classroom store with decimal prices

•Budget planning sheets

•Equitable trade scenario cards

WATCH FOR

!Students may subtract from left to right without considering decimal place alignment. Counting up avoids this entirely.

!Students may not understand that giving is a valid financial category. Discuss: community contributions, charitable giving, and sharing resources as normal parts of financial planning.