Counting Money Lesson Plan for Special Education: Next Dollar Up
A functional math lesson where students pay for priced items with the next dollar up strategy at a class store, with a purchase log.
- Math
- Ages 13-16
- Group of 4
- 45 minutes
- Free printable PDF
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Page 1 of 3. Page 2 is the data sheet.
What’s inside this plan
Objective: Students will pay for priced items up to five dollars using the next dollar up strategy: say the price, count the dollars, add one more.
The goal it serves: Given items priced up to five dollars, the student will pay using the next dollar up strategy with 80% accuracy in 4 of 5 sessions.
- 5 min Warm-Up
- 10 min Direct Instruction & Modeling
- 14 min Guided Practice
- 12 min Independent Practice
- 4 min Closure
Supports on the table: Task Analysis, Visual Schedule, Errorless Learning, Positive Reinforcement, Timers. Differentiated three ways (more support, on level, more challenge), with accommodations and a per-student data sheet at an 80% accuracy target.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the next dollar up strategy?
- Say the price, count out that many dollars, then add one more. The extra dollar covers the cents, so a student can pay real prices without counting coins, and the change comes back to them.
- What age is this counting money lesson plan for?
- It is written for ages 13 to 16, where paying independently is a transition goal, but the class store format works from upper elementary on. Open it in the builder to change ages, prices, and group size.
- Why does the lesson use only dollar bills and no coins?
- Coins add a counting load that blocks the paying skill for many students. Next dollar up removes them on purpose; the exact-price card in every set keeps the one-more step from overgeneralizing.
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