Grade 3: Money & Change

Warm up with a quick recall on the board. Add amounts and make change by counting up to the next dollar, keeping dollars and cents lined up. Relate to decimals.

Money work covers recognising coins, finding totals, and making change. It makes addition and subtraction concrete and useful. Model the method clearly, thinking aloud:

• Start by recognising and valuing coins.
• Practise adding coin amounts to a total.
• Introduce making change by counting up from the price.
• Move to dollars and cents and word problems.

Do the first few questions of the practice worksheet together, one child explaining each step. Check for understanding before releasing the class to work alone.

Students complete the worksheet independently. Hand out the three difficulty levels below so every child works at the right stretch.

Circulate and look for these, they are the usual sticking points:

• Confusing the value of coins with their size.
• Errors counting up to make change.
• Forgetting the decimal point in dollars and cents.
• Misaligning the decimal point and counting change down instead of up.

Pull the class back together. Ask one child to explain money & change in their own words, pose a single check question everyone answers on a mini whiteboard, and name what you will build on next lesson.

Use the independent worksheet as the evidence. A child who can complete it accurately and explain one answer has met the objective; anyone who cannot needs the easier level and a short reteach next session.