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TITLE: Writing Checks
TASK DEVELOPER: Mr. Richard Glueck
GRADE AND CONTENT AREA: Grades 9-12 Personal Finance
SCHOOL: John F. Kennedy High School, Paterson, New Jersey
SCOPE AND SEQUENCE: This is the original lesson in check writing
STANDARDS:
Consumer, Family, and Life Skills - Grades 9-12
STANDARD 9.2 (CONSUMER, FAMILY, AND LIFE SKILLS): All students will demonstrate critical life skills in order to be functional members of society.
Strand E. Consumer and Personal Finance: Building upon the knowledge and skills gained in the previous grades, by the end of Grade 12 students will:
7. Evaluate the actions a consumer might take in response to excess debt and personal financial status.
MATHEMATICAL PROCESSES - K-12
STANDARD 4.5 MATHEMATICAL PROCESSES: All students will use mathematical processes of problem solving, communication, connections, reasoning, representations, and technology to solve problems and communicate mathematical ideas.
Strand C. Connections: At each grade level, with respect to content appropriate for that grade level, students will:
4. Apply mathematics in practical situations and in other disciplines.
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PERFORMANCES:
- The students will be able to write checks and balance a checkbook.
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SETTING:
Real World Setting: Money management
You are a consumer. You opened up your checking account and now you are faced with learning how to write checks and balance your checkbook. You must write checks for your monthly bills that are due: credit card, car payment, auto insurance, etc.) Once you have completed your check writing, you will have to make the correct entries into your check register. After each check is written, you have to calculate the new balance left in your checking account.
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SMARTSKILLS:
Level I: Acquiring Data - Data students will acquire in this standards-based task:
Vocabulary: Students will be able to define: Check, Check Protector, Check Stub, Checkbook, Drawee, Drawer, Issue, Legible, Payee, Postdated, and Void.
Level II: Visualizing Information - Data from Level I that are visualized as information in this standards-based task:
Creating meaning: Students will be able to identify the parts of the check and discuss their importance.
Level III: Applying Knowledge - Visualized information from Level II that is applied knowledge in this standards-based task:
Solving problems: Students will be able to write checks and balance their checkbooks, helping them determine if they have enough money left in their accounts to write more checks
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PREFERENCES:
Student Involvement - The students will complete the task individually.
Instruction - Activities will be organized and delivered as a teacher-facilitated set of hands-on activitie and in a student booklet during class time
Special Education Accommodations - Students with special needs will require the following electronic devices: Calculator
Special Education Accommodations - Students with special needs will require the following presentation of information: Extra processing and response time and written copies of orally presented instructional or assessment materials
Use of Resources - The school will provide classroom materials such as pencil, paper, notebooks; computer hardware and software; and classroom time to complete the task
Customer for Student Work - The student will present their work as evidence of task completion to the student's teacher
Assessment of Student Work - The student's teacher will be involved in assessing student work generated to complete the task:
Assessment of Student Work - Performance assessment will be used to determine progress and results.
Reporting Results - The assessment results will be reported as a score point on a rubric.
Timeline - The estimated time needed to plan, teach, and score this task is one to three class periods.
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ACTIVITIES:
20-60-20 Teaching Model
Segment One: Mini-Lesson - Estimated Time: 20% of allocated time
During this segment of the lesson:
- Teacher will discuss that instead of paying their bills with cash, students can write out checks in lieu of cash. This is because some stores or businesses are too far away to drive to and it is not safe to put cash in the mail. Therefore, it is advantageous for the student to write a check out and place it in the mail. the check is an order to pay the person or company cash.
- To assess prior knowledge, I will question the students to find out if there is anyone in their family that uses checks to pay their bills. I will ask them questions like, "Why do you think people write checks instead of paying with cash?" The student's responses will provide impetus for the lesson. I will assess the students ability to do simple addition and subtraction -- the same mathematical concepts that will be used to balance their checkbook.
- Teacher will draw a picture of a check on the board and model the different parts of the check. By visualizing the check on the board and identifying the different parts of the check, students will be able to identify the parts of the check they will have to fill out once the independent activity commences. Teacher will also model the checkbook and the various fields that need to be filled in order to correctly balance the checkbook.
Technology for this segment: Overhead projector and or computer
Materials for this segment: Paper, pencils, notebooks, and a ditto sheet of a blank check
Student product or performance for this segment: Students will be able to identify the different parts of a check and checkbook.
Scoring tool for this segment: Teacher will give the students a blank check to label and hand in. I will have a copy of the answer key and use a 3 point rubric to assess student performance.
Segment Two: Practice - Estimated Time: 60% of allocated time
Describe for this segment of the lesson how you will:
- I will collect the math skill builder exercise and review for student proficiency of basic addition and subtraction skills.
- Teacher will advise students that after the lesson is modeled and the guided practice is complete, they will be required to write a series of checks to pay bills - then they will balance a checkbook. Students will also be given a similar assignment, this time on the computer. Students will be able to use Microsoft Excel to see how much quicker and easier the computer can balance a checkbook.
- Instructions for the activity will be listed on the board as well as in the assignment activity. Students will have to read the scenario presented in order to properly write the checks and balance the checkbook.
- As the students are working on the independent activity, teacher will continue to explain that check writing is important to everyday living. There will be times when not enough cash will be in their pockets and they need to buy some kind of product that is necessary for every day living.
- Teacher will circulate around the room to field student questions and listen to student feedback.
Technology for this segment: (Computer - for the second exercise)
Materials for this segment: Workbook, calculators, and pencils
Student product or performance for this segment: Students will be able to write checks and balance a checkbook.
Scoring tool for this segment: Rubric
Segment Three: Feedback - Estimated Time 20% of allocated time
Describe for this segment of the lesson how you will:
- Teacher will provide a solution key for the students to look at. Teacher will field questions from the students who may have difficulty with this assignment.
- Teacher will re-teach any portion of the lesson necessary in order for all students to understand and master the skills necessary.
Source: Adapted from Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical Senior High School, Baltimore, MD
http://www.learningfront.com/mergenthaler/pages/teaching.html
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SCORING:
New Jersey High School Proficiency Test (HSPT)
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Holistic Scoring Guide for Mathematics Open-Ended Items (Generic Rubric)
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| 3-Point Response |
The response shows complete understanding of the problem's essential mathematical concepts. The student executes procedures completely and gives relevant responses to all parts of the task. The response contains few minor errors, if any. The response contains a clear, effective explanation detailing how the problem was solved so that the reader does not need to infer how and why decisions were made.
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| 2-Point Response |
The response shows nearly complete understanding of the problem's essential mathematical concepts. The student executes nearly all procedures and gives relevant responses to most parts of the task. The response may have minor errors. The explanation detailing how the problem was solved may not be clear, causing the reader to make some inferences.
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| 1-Point Response |
The response shows limited understanding of the problem's essential mathematical concepts. The response and procedures may be incomplete and/or may contain major errors. An incomplete explanation of how the problem was solved may contribute to questions as to how and why decisions were made.
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| 0-Point Response |
The response shows insufficient understanding of the problem's essential mathematical concepts. Their may be no explanation of the solution or the reader may not be able to understand the explanation. The reader may not be able to understand how and why decisions were made. |
| Source: New Jersey State Department of Education |
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RESULTS:
Organize: I will use the following chart to display student data for each time that I assess and score the same learning standard(s):
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Data-Driven Results Disaggregated by Gender and All Students
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| Directions: Complete this chart for each content standard and aligned scoring tool used to measure student performance in classrooms. In order to judge student growth across assessments, record data from only one scoring tool on one chart. |
| Content Standard: Consumer, Family, and Life Skill |
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Students
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Scoring Results
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Last Name and First Name
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Male
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Female
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All Students
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| 1. Student One |
|
1
|
3
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| 2. Student Two |
|
3
|
3
|
| 3. Student Three |
3
|
|
3
|
| 4. Student Four |
1
|
|
1
|
| 5. Student Five |
|
2 |
2 |
| 6. Student Six |
|
3
|
3
|
| 7. Student Seven |
|
2
|
2
|
| 8. Student Eight |
|
1 |
1 |
| 9. Student Nine |
3
|
|
3
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| 10. Student Ten |
3
|
|
3
|
| 11. Student Eleven |
3
|
|
3
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| 12. Student Twelve |
1 |
|
1 |
| 13. Student Thirteen |
3
|
|
3
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| # Of students at the Advanced Performance Level |
5
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2
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7
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| # Of students at the Proficient Performance Level |
0
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2
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2
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| # Of students at the Basic Performance Level |
2 |
2 |
4 |
| % of Students equal to or greater than the Proficient Level (Total # of students at the proficient and advanced levels divided by the total number of students) |
71 |
67 |
69 |
| % Distance above or below school Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) |
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19% |
Analyze: I will examine the data in the chart to look for trends, contributing factors, and implications of student performance over a series of assessments of the same learning standard.
Trends: The student breakdown was as follows: Seven boys and six girls. Seventy-one percent of the boys scored at the Proficient or Advanced Proficient level. Sixty-seven percent of the girls scored at the Proficient or Advanced Proficient level.
Contributing factors: I firmly believe that the lesson presented to these young men and women caught their attention because the students realized that writing checks and balancing a checkbook will soon be part of their everyday life. Therefore, the students took an active interest because it is something they are going to relate to
Reflect: I will consider two or more of the following stems to reflect on the results and instructional practices I used and others I might benchmark and apply in the future. Then, I'll write a brief summary about my findings, contributing factors, and implications for improvement.
As I relate my students' results with my lesson activities, I noticed that...
- The actual check writing activity had the most influence on student achievement because this is an activity that the students will use in everyday life well beyond high school. Based on student comments they were grateful they had a chance to simulate a real world situation. The point is the more relevant the exercise, the more engaged students will be and the more they will retain.
- The check labeling activity had the least influence on student achievement because the students weren't of the mind set that this was an important activity (though down the road they will realize it was). I explained that by labeling each part of the check, they were able to identify who the payee was, who the drawer was, and who the drawee was. Even though the students did not believe so, it helped them in the actual exercise because they were able to write checks correctly by filling the correct information in the proper places of the checks.
- Having the students write down the key vocabulary terms as their "Do Now" work goes a long way in laying the foundation for the rest of the lesson. By reading the vocabulary words and their definitions, then having the teacher give real world examples of each, the students can develop a mental picture of the terms and their meaning. This will only leading to further success during the lesson because once the task to be completed is modeled, the students can relate to the terms that come up in the task.
If the task or lesson went well and the standards-based instructional activities are promising, I will prevent drift to previous practices and adopt the improvements as new instruction and assessment activities to improve upon.
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