Pay Stub Reading Task Box: Paycheck Math for Transition

This reading a pay stub task box teaches gross pay, deductions, net pay, and overtime in three levels, using 3 practice pay stubs, and ends with checking your own stub for mistakes.

Why I made this: The first paycheck is a big moment, and it is often a confusing one: "Why is it less than I thought?" My students need to know what gross pay, deductions, and net pay mean, and how to check that the hours are right. This box teaches pay stubs one level at a time, from finding the basics to catching a mistake and planning with take-home pay.

What’s included (26 pages):

- A "Words on a pay stub" page and 3 practice pay stubs

- Level A ●: 12 cards about Pay stub 1

- Level B ■: 24 cards comparing Pay stubs 1 and 2

- Level C ▲: 24 cards on overtime, year-to-date pay, checking for mistakes, and planning with net pay

- An answer mat, a "How to read a pay stub" page, and a "Check my own pay stub" page

- 3 practice pages, one for each level

- Answer key for every card

- Data sheet and a 10-session accuracy graph

- A try-it-for-real page with an adult check

- Ideas for practice at school, home, and job sites, and blank cards

How I use it: We go over the words page together, then students work on their level with the 3 practice pay stubs and a calculator. When a student starts a paid job, we use the "Check my own pay stub" page after the first payday.

Who it is for: Transition, special education, life skills, and vocational teachers, job coaches, and paras working with students in grades 9 to 12 and 18-21 programs.

What you download: Reading-a-Paystub-Task-Box-Job-Ready.pdf (26 pages, US Letter, print-ready).

From the author of The Transition Map (Jeremy D. Gooch), available in paperback and Kindle.

Jeremy D. Gooch, The Transition Cliff. Transition coordinator with 20+ years in education.

Part of the Job-Ready Task Box series.