Author: Anita Homesley
First Authored: January 31, 2012
Last Revised: June 13, 2018
Students will learn what is an opening change fund and how it differs with different types of businesses. After students understand this concept, they will count their own opening change fund using classroom money. Students will drop off their till with the teacher where he/she will alter the till in some way. Students will then count a specific number of tills and determine how much the tills are off. Discussion will follow with techniques so their tills will be balanced, not short or over.
Students need to know the value of rolled coin and straps of currency.
1 strap of $1 has 25 bills-$25 value, 1 strap of $5 has 100 bills-$500 value, 1 strap of $10 has 100 bills-$1000 value, 1 strap of $20 has 100 bills-$2000 value. A retailer usually gets rolled coin and $1's from the bank, but most do not get their larger bills in straps.
A strap is a bundle of pre-counted bills with a paper or rubber band holding them together.
A till or drawer for each student
Enough play coin and currency to make an opening change fund for each or pair of students
If you do not have plastic coin and paper money, you can cut the different denominations (pennies, nickels, etc ) out of colored card stock. Just use a paper cutter to cut squares representing each coin. Use a different color of paper per coin, example- orange=pennies, yellow=nickels, etc.
Have tills already prepared with a handful of each coin and a stack of currency in each compartment. Don't try to make them a specific amount, each should actually be different.
Formative assessment: Student's worksheet.
Formative assessment: Teacher surveying room as students work.
Formative assessment: Students will turn in their papers on the altered till exercise as a pair with how much they were off according to the chart activity we did as a group
Summative assessment will be another worksheet similar to the one used in guided practice but done as a individual. If possible you could actually have students count their own opening change fund as an individual.
Till/Drawer
Physical container which holds currency and coins.
Over
When the till has more money than the detail audit strip has stated.
Bank Deposit
Amount of currency collected during the sales day in excess of the opening change fund.
Opening change fund
Amount of coin and currency needed to make appropriate change at the beginning of the day.
Short
When the till has less money than the detail audit strip has stated.
Even/Balanced
When drawer/till is neither over or short, exact amount of money in till