Checking Account Register: Keep the Balance Straight

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Business and Personal Finance · Personal Finance
SP-FIN-004  ·  Free to print and use in your classroom  ·  substituteplans.com
Page 2
Checking Account Register: Keep the Balance
Straight
Business and Personal Finance · Personal Finance · Grades 10-12 · 45 minutes
Time needed
45 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Copy the 2-page worksheet (one per student). Calculators help but are not required.
Technology
Optional: calculators.
Student
independence
High. Students work alone.
Copies to make
One 2-page worksheet per student
Materials
Pencils, Worksheet, Calculators (optional)
Goal for today: Students will keep a running balance in a check register, reconcile it against a statement, and
calculate the cost of an overdraft.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (2 pages).
☐ Put out calculators if available.
☐ Write on the board: DEPOSIT = money added to an account. WITHDRAWAL = money taken out. BALANCE =
the amount in the account right now.
Say this to start
Today students act as account managers for a teen named Casey. You will record every deposit and payment in a
check register and keep the balance up to date, just like a bank customer would. A small mistake can cost real fees, so
accuracy matters. The fee amounts are examples made up for this lesson.
Run of show
Minutes
What you do
What students do
0–5
Take attendance. Hand out the worksheet. Read the three
definitions on the board aloud.
Look over the register table.
5–12
Walk through the first row of the register on the board.
Show that a deposit adds and a payment subtracts.
Watch the example and ask questions.
12–25
Tell students to fill in the Balance column for all eight rows.
Calculate each new balance, one row at a
time.
25–38
Tell students to answer questions 1–9.
Add totals, reconcile the statement and
calculate the overdraft.
38–43
Read the balance column and answers 1–4 from the key.
Students check.
Fix any mistakes.
43–45
Collect the worksheets and leave them in a stack for the
teacher.
Hand in the worksheet.


SubstitutePlans.com
Business and Personal Finance · Personal Finance
SP-FIN-004  ·  Free to print and use in your classroom  ·  substituteplans.com
Page 3
If things go wrong
• If students say they have never used a check: tell them the register works the same for debit cards and apps.
Only the description changes.
• If one wrong balance carries through the table, tell students to find the first row that is off and redo from
there.
• If students ask about real bank fees: the fees here are made-up examples. Real accounts differ.
• Do not ask students for real account information. Use only Casey’s numbers.
Early finishers
• Write three habits that help a person avoid overdrafts.
• Make up a ninth transaction for Casey and update the balance.
Support and challenge
• Support: Provide a calculator and have students circle whether each row adds or subtracts before calculating.
• Challenge: Ask students to find how many of the $9.99 monthly subscriptions Casey could pay before the
balance after row 8 drops below $250.
Notes for the teacher (you fill this in)
Jot a few lines before you leave. A full Daily Sub Report is in the free Sub Survival Kit at SubstitutePlans.com.
How far the class got / what to pick up next:
Students who were especially helpful:
Anything the teacher should know: