Grade 4 · 36 weeks
Grade 4 financial literacy curriculum
Percent money math: gross vs. net pay, discounts, tax, tips, and the 50/30/20 budget. One lesson a week for the school year, about 45 minutes each, with a worksheet, a quiz, a family letter and a checkpoint test every six weeks.
Every week includes
- Lesson plan with timings, differentiation and a hands-on activity
- Student worksheet and answer key
- Weekly quiz (75% unlocks the next week)
- Family letter in English, Spanish or Portuguese
Aligned to standards
Every lesson is tagged with the six areas of the National Standards for Personal Financial Education (Jump$tart Coalition and Council for Economic Education) and the grade's Common Core math standards. State codes are available for Illinois, Texas, Florida, North Dakota, Colorado, Georgia, Arizona, Utah, Nebraska.
Scope and sequence
Unit 1 · Weeks 1–6Gross Pay, Deductions, Net Pay, and Percents
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Earning Money: Gross Pay Students learn that gross pay is the full amount a worker earns before anything is taken out. | Earning IncomeManaging Risk |
| 2 | Where Money Goes: Deductions Students discover that some money is taken out of a paycheck before a worker takes it home. | Earning IncomeInvestingManaging Risk |
| 3 | Net Pay: What You Take Home Students learn that net pay is the money left after deductions are removed from gross pay. | Earning IncomeSaving |
| 4 | What Does Percent Mean? Students learn that percent means out of one hundred. | Spending |
| 5 | Ways to Be Paid: Hourly, Salary, Commission Students compare three ways workers are paid: by the hour, by a yearly salary, or by a commission on sales. | Earning IncomeSpendingManaging Risk |
| 6 | Review: Pay and Percents Students review gross pay, net pay, deductions, and the meaning of percent. | Spending |
Checkpoint 1 closes the unit: Gross Pay, Deductions, Net Pay, and Percents.
Unit 2 · Weeks 7–12Percent of a Number, the 10 Percent Trick, and Returns
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Finding a Percent of a Number Students learn to find a percent of a whole amount. | Spending |
| 8 | The 10 Percent Trick Students learn a fast way to find 10 percent of any number. | SpendingManaging Credit |
| 9 | Using 10 Percent to Find More Students build on the 10 percent trick to find 20 percent and 30 percent. | Spending |
| 10 | Growing Money: Percent Returns Students find 1 percent, 5 percent, and 10 percent to see how savings and investments grow or shrink. | SpendingSavingInvesting |
| 11 | Percent Word Problems Students solve short word problems about finding a percent of an amount. | Spending |
| 12 | Review: Percent Skills Students review finding percents of numbers using tricks and shortcuts. | Spending |
Checkpoint 2 closes the unit: Percent of a Number, the 10 Percent Trick, and Returns.
Unit 3 · Weeks 13–18Discounts, Sale Prices, and Sales Tax
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | What Is a Discount? Students learn that a discount is an amount taken off a price. | SpendingManaging Credit |
| 14 | Finding the Sale Price Students find the new price after a discount is taken off. | Spending |
| 15 | Bigger Discounts Students work with larger discounts like 25 percent and 50 percent off. | SpendingManaging Credit |
| 16 | What Is Sales Tax? Students learn that sales tax is an extra amount added to a price. | Earning IncomeSpending |
| 17 | Adding Sales Tax to a Price Students find the total cost by adding sales tax to the price. | Earning IncomeSpending |
| 18 | Review: Discounts and Tax Students review discounts, sale prices, and sales tax. | Earning IncomeSpending |
Checkpoint 3 closes the unit: Discounts, Sale Prices, and Sales Tax.
Unit 4 · Weeks 19–24Tips, Unit Prices, and the Cost of Borrowing
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | What Is a Tip? Students learn that a tip is extra money given for good service. | Spending |
| 20 | Calculating Tips Students calculate tips and find the total bill with a tip added. | Spending |
| 21 | Comparing Unit Prices Students learn that unit price tells the cost of one item or one unit. | Spending |
| 22 | Best Buy: Using Unit Price Students compare unit prices to decide which choice is the better buy. | Spending |
| 23 | The Cost of Borrowing Students use percent steps to find what borrowing really costs. | SpendingManaging Credit |
| 24 | Review: Shopping Smart Students review discounts, tax, tips, and unit prices. | Earning IncomeSpending |
Checkpoint 4 closes the unit: Tips, Unit Prices, and the Cost of Borrowing.
Unit 5 · Weeks 25–30Budgets, Needs and Wants, and the 50/30/20 Rule
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Budgeting an Allowance A budget plans an allowance across spending, saving and giving. | Earning IncomeSpendingSaving |
| 26 | Fixed and Variable Expenses Students sort expenses into ones that stay the same and ones that change. | Spending |
| 27 | The 50/30/20 Rule Students learn a simple rule that splits money into needs, wants, and savings. | SpendingSaving |
| 28 | Finding 50 Percent for Needs Students find the needs part of a budget using 50 percent. | Earning IncomeSpendingManaging Risk |
| 29 | Finding 30 Percent for Wants Students find the wants part of a budget using 30 percent. | Earning IncomeSpending |
| 30 | Review: The 50/30/20 Budget Students review needs, wants, and the 50/30/20 rule. | SpendingSaving |
Checkpoint 5 closes the unit: Budgets, Needs and Wants, and the 50/30/20 Rule.
Unit 6 · Weeks 31–36Saving, Protecting Money, and the Budget Project
| Week | Lesson | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Finding 20 Percent for Savings Students find the savings part of a budget using 20 percent. | Earning IncomeSpendingSavingInvesting |
| 32 | Building a Budget Students build a full budget using the 50/30/20 rule. | Earning IncomeSpendingManaging Credit |
| 33 | Protecting Your Money Students use percents to plan an emergency fund and learn how insurance and safe habits protect money. | SpendingSavingManaging Risk |
| 34 | Budget Project Part 1 Students begin a project to plan a budget for a pretend allowance. | Earning IncomeSpending |
| 35 | Budget Project Part 2 Students finish their budget project by adding wants, savings, and a check. | SpendingSaving |
| 36 | Year-End Review Students review the whole year of money math from pay to budgeting. | Spending |
Checkpoint 6 closes the unit: Saving, Protecting Money, and the Budget Project.
Bonus unit · after week 36Money and Investing
| Lesson | Topic | Standards areas |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | Why Money Moved Beyond Gold Commodity money was hard to use, so people moved to paper money backed by trust and then to digital money. | Spending |
| B2 | Stocks, Bonds, and Interest Stocks make you a part owner, bonds are loans that pay interest, and spreading money out lowers risk. | Investing |
| B3 | Crypto Prices Can Swing Crypto uses a shared record instead of a bank, and its price can rise and fall quickly. | InvestingManaging Risk |
| B4 | Banks, Credit Unions, and Interest Banks and credit unions both keep money safe, pay interest on savings, and are backed by deposit insurance. | SavingManaging Risk |
| B5 | Purchasing Power: Then and Now As prices in general rise, a dollar buys less, and comparing then-and-now prices shows how much less. | SpendingSaving |
Money connections: 8 short activities in this grade link the week's topic to Managing Risk, Investing, Managing Credit (shown above in the Standards areas column).
Other grades
Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8