Teaching article
Price, payment and change: label the amounts before calculating
Keep the cost of an order separate from the amount offered by the customer.
A pretend customer hands over five dollars for a three-dollar order. Keep both amounts on the table and ask what each one means; arithmetic becomes easier to interpret once their roles are clear.
A $3 paper order paid with $5 still costs $3; the payment and price are different quantities.
Ask learners to label each quantity before calculating. The same transaction contains a price, payment and possible change with different meanings.
The payment does not change the price
Read the menu price. Place the offered payment beside it. Explain whether change is needed.
Do not label the payment as the order total. Which amount tells us the price?
Use two clearly named spaces.
Resources
- Café Change – Australian Money Worksheet — Use its pretend transactions to practise price, payment and change.
Further reading
Read next
- Count up to find change, then verify the difference
- Needs and wants make more sense inside a situation
- A balance comparison can challenge a size prediction
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