Objective

By the end of this lesson, the student will be able to apply basic arithmetic skills in a pretend store setting, including addition and subtraction.

Materials and Prep

• Paper and pencil
• Play money (coins and bills)
• Pretend store items (can be imaginary or use household items)
• Calculator (optional)

No prior knowledge or preparation is required for this lesson.

Activities

1. Set up a pretend store with the items you have gathered. Assign prices to each item (e.g., $1 for an apple, $2 for a toy car).

   Ask the student to pretend to be the store owner and you will be the customer. Take turns being the store owner and the customer.

   Practice buying items from the store by adding the prices together. For example, if the student wants to buy an apple and a toy car, they should add $1 and $2 to get a total of $3. Encourage the use of fingers or objects to help with counting.

2. Introduce the concept of change. Explain that when the customer pays more money than the total cost of the items, they will receive change back.

   Give the student a scenario where they need to calculate the change. For example, if the total cost of the items is $5 and the customer pays with a $10 bill, the change would be $5.

   Encourage the student to use subtraction to find the change. In the given scenario, they would subtract $5 (total cost) from $10 (amount paid) to get $5 (change).

3. For an extra challenge, introduce the use of a calculator. Allow the student to use a calculator to add the prices and calculate the change. Emphasize the importance of checking the calculator's answer by using mental math or counting.

First Grade Talking Points

• "In our pretend store, we will be buying and selling items, just like in a real store."
• "When we buy something, we need to know how much it costs."
• "To find the total cost, we can add the prices of the items together."
• "Sometimes, we might have more money than the total cost. In that case, we will get change back."
• "To find the change, we can subtract the total cost from the amount paid."
• "It's important to check our answers to make sure they are correct."
• "If we want to use a calculator, we can, but we still need to double-check the answer."