Primary 2 Maths | Money and Change (Teacher Lesson Guide)

2026-11-08

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Primary Maths

The hard part of money in P2 is not the adding. It is holding two units at once (dollars and cents) and knowing that change is a subtraction while “do I have enough” is a comparison. Fix the units first, count real coins once, and the word problems stand up.

Objectives — Students can: (1) recognise the 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, $2, $5 and $10 coins and the $20, $50 and $100 notes, and read a price written in dollars and cents; (2) pay a price with the fewest coins and explain why they do not just use $1 coins; (3) find change by subtraction and answer “do I have enough” by addition, always writing the unit in the answer.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Addition and subtraction to 100	What is 37 + 5?	42
Subtraction with borrowing	What is 50 – 37?	13
Reading decimals	How do you read 12.5 dollars?	Twelve dollars fifty cents
Comparing values	Which is larger, 12.5 or 12.05?	12.5, because the tenths digit 5 beats 0

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-8 min	Entry: sort the coins	Tip out a pile of coins and have students sort them into seven piles by value	They read 10c to $10 and state that $1 = 100 cents
8-17 min	Counting a total	Model “largest first, then smaller” with two $5, three $2 and one $10	They get 26 dollars and write the number sentence
17-26 min	Payment combinations	Ask for $17 using the fewest coins, then ask for three different combinations	Each combination is written out and the coins counted
26-35 min	Change is a subtraction	Model paying $50 for a $37.5 item and write 50 – 37.5 = 12.5	Five questions, unit written every time
35-43 min	Do I have enough	Model with addition: two $20 notes and three $5 coins against a $58 book	They decide yes or no and say by how much
43-45 min	Exit check	Three quick oral questions	Answered independently

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Dollars and cents are two marks on one ruler

Students read 12.5 dollars as “twelve point five” and then drop the unit in the answer. Say it plainly from the start: $1 = 100 cents, so 12.5 dollars is twelve dollars fifty cents, and 50 cents is the same as half a dollar.
Write every price in two columns, dollars and cents, and always show two decimal places. Then 12 dollars 50 cents never gets confused with 12 dollars 5 cents.

Student does: reads five price tags aloud and writes each as “so many dollars and so many cents”.

Scene 2: Count largest first, never one by one from the smallest

Students start at 10c and lose the thread halfway. Teach a fixed order: notes, then $5 and $2, then $1 and small coins. The tally is then a single addition sentence.
Make students say the total out loud before deciding anything. That spoken step looks redundant, but it separates counting from judging, and doing both at once is exactly where P2 students break down.

Student says: the total first, then whether it is enough, then writes the sentence.

Scene 3: Change is always a subtraction, and the order matters

Students try to add their way to change: pay $50 for a $37.5 item and answer $87.5. Nail one sentence: change equals money paid minus price. Have them label which number is paid and which is price in the working.
Add the everyday check: change must be smaller than the money handed over. If the answer is bigger, the direction was wrong and they can catch it themselves.

Student does: says “change is less than what I paid” before writing each answer.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Counting a total	Two $5, three $2 and one $10	Largest first, then one addition sentence	26 dollars
Fewest coins	Pay $17 for stationery	Use the largest values, then fill the remainder	$10 + $5 + $2, three coins
Change	Pay $50 for a $37.5 item	Change = paid minus price	12.5 dollars, i.e. twelve dollars fifty cents
Do I have enough	$55 in hand, a $58 book	Add up the money, then compare with the price	Not enough, $3 short

Sanity check (teach this): Reasonableness checks: every answer carries a unit, dollars or cents; change is always less than the money paid; a payment uses the fewest coins and the student can say why not all $1 coins; comparisons use the same unit on both sides; 12.5 dollars is written as twelve dollars fifty cents, never twelve dollars five cents.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
5 counting questions	Four to six coins each, dollars and cents mixed	Checks no small coin is missed
4 payment questions	Fewest coins required, one question asks for two different combinations	Checks the coin count really is minimal
4 change and enough-money questions	Two of each	Checks whether the sentence is an addition or a subtraction

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Reading 12.5 dollars as twelve dollars five cents	Answer written as 12 dollars 5 cents	“The first decimal place is tens of cents, so it is fifty cents. Twelve dollars fifty.”
Adding to find change	$50 for a $37.5 item, answer $87.5	“Change is what comes back, so it must be a subtraction: 50 minus 37.5 is 12.5. How could the change be more than you handed over?”
Leaving out the unit	Answer written as 26	“26 what? Dollars or coins? The answer has to say what it is.”
Comparing different units	58 dollars against 5500 cents, calling 58 bigger	“Compare on one ruler. 58 dollars is 5800 cents, so 5800 is bigger.”

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Primary 1 to 6 Maths test papers with answers — Do the P2 money and change questions, unit written each time
Primary Maths chapter index — All chapters in the subject
Redo this chapter — Redo four payment questions, two of them with two combinations

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
How many cents in a dollar	100	Answering 10 means going back to the second stage
Order for counting coins	Largest value first	Answering “one by one” means going back to the third stage
Change: addition or subtraction	Subtraction, paid minus price	Answering addition means going back to the fifth stage
12.5 dollars in words	Twelve dollars fifty cents	Answering five cents means going back to the second stage

09 Tutor FAQ

What if decimals have not been taught?

Say everything as dollars and cents and write the tags that way; the decimal is just a short form of the same thing, so there is no need to rush it.

Do we need real coins?

Yes. Handling, sorting and paying once beats ten worksheets. Printed coin cards work if real coins are not available.

The word problems are long. What if they cannot finish reading?

Have them circle two numbers and one question word (change, enough, altogether) before deciding on the operation.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.