“Is today a shopping day?” This is the question boys and girls in Mrs. Tarleton’s math class ask as the end of the month approaches. Shopping at school? Think about all of the math skills you use when you go shopping. The boys and girls in Mrs. Tarleton’s class put those skills to use in a real world setting by shopping in a class store.
In order to have this privilege, students in Mrs. Tarleton’s class earn money by following positive class behaviors: being respectful, being resourceful and being responsible. Each student has a bank account in which Mrs. Tarleton makes a “deposit” at the end of every class. The students count their money at the end of the month and decide how they would like to spend it.
The students use addition and skip counting to determine how much they have earned, counting and adding pennies, nickels, and dimes. They also may use addition or multiplication skills to decide if they can buy more than one item. They use their subtraction skills to determine how much they have left after purchasing an item or items.
Mrs. Tarleton then makes a withdrawal from their account. Students have a choice among several items in the store. They also have a choice of how to spend their money. The students may spend some of their money, all of their money, or save their money for the following month, again, using addition or subtraction. Some students have already determined if they are a spender or a saver!
The incentive program is two fold in that it works as a reward system as well as getting students to use their math skills in a realistic setting. It has proven to be a success in the classroom, which is clearly heard when the students realize it is a “shopping day”.