Lesson 2.10, one day, 14 slides. Fees marked [update].
Do now
- List every way you have seen someone pay for something in the last seven days.
- Circle the one you think is safest. Write why.
Teacher notes
Tally on the board. Hold up the voided check for the hook.
Cash
- Money from: your pocket.
- Record: none, unless you ask for a receipt.
- Risk: lost is gone. Stolen is gone.
- Fee: none. (The ATM you got it from may charge one.)
Teacher notes
Image: three bills and some coins on a counter.
Check
- Money from: your checking account.
- Record: the check, your register, the bank statement.
- Risk: it bounces if the balance is too low. Slow to clear.
- Fee: overdraft, about $35 [update].
- Landlords, leagues, schools, and the IRS still take them.
Teacher notes
Image: a paper check with the six parts numbered.
Debit card
- Money from: your checking account, right now.
- Record: the bank statement.
- Risk: a stolen card or number drains the account.
- Fee: out-of-network ATM, about $3 plus the other bank's fee [update].
Teacher notes
Image: a plain debit card next to an ATM screen.
Credit card
- Money from: the bank's money, borrowed. A bill comes.
- Record: the monthly statement.
- Risk: interest if you do not pay in full. Debt. (Tomorrow.)
- Best fraud protection of any card: you can dispute a charge.
Teacher notes
Image: a credit card next to a paper statement.
Prepaid card
- Money from: loaded in advance. No bank account needed.
- Record: the card balance.
- Risk: lost is gone, like cash.
- Fee: to load it, to check the balance, sometimes monthly [update].
Teacher notes
Image: a gift card on a store rack.
Phone or app payment
- Money from: a linked card or bank account.
- Record: the app history.
- Risk: send to the wrong person and it is usually final. Scam requests.
- Fee: some apps charge to move money instantly, about 1.5 to 3 percent [update].
Teacher notes
Image: a phone screen drawn in words: a contact name, an amount box, a green Send button.
Bank transfer
- Direct deposit: how most paychecks arrive. Dana's stub said "direct deposit."
- Wire: bank to bank, cannot be reversed, $15 to $30 [update].
- App to bank: free if you wait a day or two.
Teacher notes
Image: two bank buildings with an arrow between them.
Seven ways, one table
- Fill in every row of Part A.
- Where the money comes from. The record. One risk. One fee.
- Two of these spend money you already have, right now. One spends the bank's money.
The six parts of a check
- 1 Date. 2 Pay to the order of. 3 Amount in numbers.
- 4 Amount in words, cents as a fraction: "and 00/100."
- 5 Memo: what it is for. 6 Signature.
- Watch me write one.
Teacher notes
Write on the big printed check. Say each part out loud.
The register
- Every dollar that moves gets a line, the day it moves.
- Date. Check number or type. Description. Payment or deposit. Balance.
- The balance is what you have. Not what the app says. The app has not seen the check yet.
Teacher notes
Do the first two lines on the board.
Practice
- Write check 101: Long Island Youth Soccer League, $85.00, October 3, 2026.
- Post all ten lines. Carry the balance to the cent.
- Compare final balances with your partner. Different? Find the line.
- 14 minutes.
Which way is safest?
- Pay a friend back $12.50.
- Pay rent, $2,200 [update], to a landlord.
- Buy a $40 item online from a site you have never heard of.
- Carry money on a school trip to the city.
- Hold up the number: 1 cash, 2 check, 3 debit, 4 credit, 5 prepaid, 6 app, 7 transfer.
Teacher notes
Land the answers: app or cash; check or transfer; credit; prepaid or a little cash.
Exit card
- 3 ways to pay that come out of a checking account
- 2 fees you learned about today
- 1 sentence: why does anyone still write a check?
- Tomorrow: the card that spends the bank's money, and what that costs.