Loading preview...

Skills Covered

  • Count by the amount saved each week
  • Find the total saved after a number of weeks
  • Find how many weeks it takes to reach a goal
  • Compare two savers and find the difference
  • Give reasons to save, including college
  • Make a savings plan with a goal and an amount a week

How to Use This Pack

Five pages about how saving a little at a time adds up. Page 1 has five savers, each saving the same amount every week: students fill in an 8-week table by counting on, find the week a total is reached, and work out the total after 10 weeks. The first table is done as an example. Page 2 shows a jar that gets a $5, $10 or $20 bill every week: write the total under each jar, then keep the pattern going to week 5 and week 10 and find the week a total is reached. On page 3 students count in a strip of ten weeks to find how long it takes to reach a goal, like a $20 teddy bear at $4 a week; one goal is not reached exactly, so it takes one more week. Page 4 compares two savers in a table (one starts with more money) and in four story problems: who saves more, and how much more. Page 5 has savings plans for five reasons (a bike, college, a gift, an emergency and giving to others) with a missing total, amount or number of weeks, shows how saving every week beats saving only what is left over, and ends with a plan of the student's own.

In the Classroom

Before page 1, put a $5 bill of play money in a clear jar for each day of the week and count the total together. Ask the class what they would save for and list the reasons on the board: something big, college, a gift, an emergency, giving to others. For page 4, act out the two savers with play money: one starts with $10 and adds $2 a week, the other starts with nothing and adds $5, and watch when the second one passes the first.

At Home

Choose something your child wants and find its price together. Decide how much to save each week, then mark each week on a calendar and count how long it will take. Keep the savings in a clear jar so your child can see it grow, and talk about why saving the same amount every week works better than saving only what is left.

Tips for Success

  • Count by the amount saved: $5, $10, $15, $20, ...
  • Weeks times the amount saved each week gives the total
  • To find the weeks for a goal, count until you reach or pass the price
  • When two savers start differently, make a table week by week
  • A savings plan has a goal, an amount to save each week, and a number of weeks

Common Core Standards Alignment

This pack supports the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics:

  • 2.OA.A.1 Solve one- and two-step story problems with sums and differences up to 100, with the unknown in any position, using drawings and equations.
  • 3.OA.D.9 Spot patterns in addition tables, times tables and other arithmetic, and explain them with properties, like why multiples of 5 end in 0 or 5.

© Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

Saving Money Over Time

2nd – 3rd Grade

A 5-page saving money pack for 2nd and 3rd grade. Fill in week-by-week tables by counting by the amount saved, write how much is in a jar that gets a $5, $10 or $20 bill each week and keep the pattern going to week 10, and count up to find how many weeks it takes to reach a goal. Compare two savers week by week and in four story problems, then find the missing number in savings plans for a bike, college, a gift, an emergency and giving, see why saving every week beats saving what is left over, and make a savings plan of your own. Every page comes in color and in black and white. Answer keys included.

Download PDF
Pin

What’s Included

  • 5 worksheets in color and in black and white, with answer keys (15 pages)
  • Week-by-week savings tables and a growing jar of bills, each with a worked example
  • How many weeks to reach a goal, and who saves more
  • Savings plans for five reasons to save, including college, and a plan of your own
Can’t find what you need?

Tell us what to make next, or build your own with a worksheet maker.

Suggest a worksheet

Free to print and share

This worksheet is free to download, print, copy, and hand out in your classroom or at home. You do not need to create an account, and there are no watermarks on the PDF.