Mathematics · Class 4

Active learning ideas

Addition and Subtraction of Money

Let's bring the marketplace into our classroom and show students how the maths they learn helps them in real life every single day!

• CBSE Learning Outcomes
• NCERT Class 4 Mathematics: Chapter 3 - A Trip to Bhopal

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Simulation Game
• 45 min · Small Groups

Classroom Kirana Store

Set up a mock shop in the classroom with various items and price tags. Students use pretend money to buy items, add up the total cost on a bill, and calculate the change they should receive.

Explain the process of adding two amounts of money, ensuring the decimal points are aligned.

Facilitation Tip

Assign roles like shopkeeper and customer to ensure active participation from all students.

What to look for

Observe students during the 'Classroom Kirana Store' activity. Check their ability to add amounts and calculate change correctly in a practical setting.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Simulation Game
• 25 min · Pairs

Bill Busters

Provide students with pre-made shopping bills, some containing deliberate calculation errors. In pairs, students must check the bills for accuracy and correct any mistakes they find.

Analyse a shopping bill to check if the total amount has been calculated correctly.

Facilitation Tip

Include a mix of correct and incorrect bills to encourage careful checking rather than just searching for errors.

What to look for

Give a worksheet with word problems where students have to calculate total bills and the change received from a given amount, for example, from a ₹100 or ₹500 note.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Simulation Game
• 30 min · Individual

Menu Maths

Distribute laminated menus from local restaurants. Ask students to plan a meal for a family of four within a specific budget, like ₹500, requiring them to add up the costs of their chosen items.

Justify the amount of change you should receive after buying an item.

Facilitation Tip

Encourage students to write down their calculations step-by-step to show their work.

What to look for

Provide students with a solved word problem and a checklist. They have to check if the decimal points are aligned, the calculation is correct, and the final answer has the rupee symbol.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Begin by using play money to physically represent amounts, connecting coins to paise and notes to rupees. Model setting up an addition or subtraction problem on the board, emphasizing 'decimal below decimal'. Use grid paper initially to help students maintain proper column alignment for rupees and paise.

After this lesson, your students will be able to confidently handle money calculations, from adding up their shopping to making sure they get the right change back.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• Students misalign the decimal points when adding or subtracting, treating the amounts as whole numbers (e.g., adding ₹12.50 and ₹5.00 as 1250 + 5).

  Explain that the decimal point separates rupees and paise. Always write the numbers one below the other, ensuring the decimal points are in a straight vertical line. Use column headings for 'Rupees' and 'Paise' to help.

• When subtracting from a whole rupee amount (e.g., ₹50.00 - ₹23.75), students get confused about borrowing across the decimal.

  Teach that when you borrow 1 rupee, it becomes 100 paise in the paise column. So, ₹50.00 becomes ₹49 and 100 paise, making the subtraction straightforward.

• Forgetting to write the rupee symbol (₹) or the decimal point in the final answer.

  Consistently remind students that the answer represents money and is incomplete without the correct unit and format. Make it a mandatory part of the final answer.

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Methods used in this brief

• Simulation Game