Lesson 5: Why is my deposit smaller than what I earned? Printable pages
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Grades 6–8
Task: Label a practice pay statement and explain to a partner where the money went.
Students make: Labeled statement plus 3–4 sentence explanation.
One class period: 45 minutes. Full chapter: 69 minutes.
Educator pages
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Open on screen Print this lesson Download fillable PDF, 437 KBGrades 9–10
Task: Write Gia’s payroll question and a short explainer for a friend starting their first job.
Students make: Payroll message (50–80 words) plus explainer (150–200 words).
One class period: 50 minutes. Full chapter: 93 minutes.
Educator pages
Open on screen Print this lesson Download PDF, 582 KBStudent pages
Open on screen Print this lesson Download fillable PDF, 458 KBGrades 11–12
Task: Write an explainer connecting the FICA lines on a pay stub to Social Security and Medicare as social insurance.
Students make: Explainer, 400–500 words.
One class period: 60 minutes. Full chapter: 94 minutes.
Educator pages
Open on screen Print this lesson Download PDF, 502 KBStudent pages
Open on screen Print this lesson Download fillable PDF, 474 KBCollege and community
Task: Write Gia’s question to payroll about the missing hours. Then write a one-page guide for new student workers that walks through her pay statement line by line. The guide could be used in a campus career office’s first-job case.
Students make: Payroll question, 50–80 words, plus a guide of 300–400 words.
One class period: 75 minutes. Full chapter: 90 minutes.
Student pages
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Family page
One page to send home: a short summary of the lesson and three questions to talk about. Nobody needs to share personal stories to use it.
Family page Lesson 5: Why is my deposit smaller than what I earned?
In this case, Gia’s bank deposit is smaller than the pay she expected. Your student read a practice pay statement line by line and explained where the money went.
Questions to talk about
- What is the difference between gross pay and net pay?
- Why might a bank deposit be less than the hours worked times the hourly rate?
- Who at a workplace can answer questions about a pay statement?
Read the lesson together: noperowhy.pages.dev/cases/your-paycheck