Fake receipts are a great way to change up your worksheets and increase engagement. I mostly use them for creative writing and comprehension assessments, but I’m sure you’ll come up with a few ideas as well.
1. Reading Comprehension
Create fake receipts for various characters and have the students guess which character they belong to. After they identify the character, have each student write out a quick explanation for why the character would need each item listed.
Here are two receipts I created for British lit characters. Any guesses on who they are for?
The first receipt is for Lady Macbeth.
- the cleaner to get the blood (and guilt) off her hands
- small daggers to plant on the guards
- black slippers to keep her feet warm when she sleepwalks
- a book on hosting royalty to keep everything looking natural even though she’s plotting to kill her guests.
The second receipt is for Piggy from Lord of the Flies.
- lens cleaner so he doesn’t have to use his shirt anymore
- a lighter so people will stop stealing his glasses
- name tags to he can keep track of the little’uns and not lose anymore
- tent because their shelters just aren’t cutting it
This works best to review for finals or midterms so you have a large pool of characters to pull from. You can also flip it and have students create their own receipts to try to stump one another!
I have a few I’ve already created available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
2. Creative Writing
Write out receipts with random objects and have students create a short story based on what is listed. They need to think about what type of person would buy the items listed and what would be going on in their lives that they would need those items. Or, have the students write out their own random receipts and then swap with someone else.
3. Breakout Clues
Use a fake receipt as a clue to open a lock in a breakout or escape room game. It can be a mathematical code encrypted in the receipt costs or some hidden message in the items purchased. Create the receipt to match your topic for the breakout. For example, write out different receipts for different purchases throughout a text. The students would have to find the receipts and put them in order to get the right clues to open the lock. Maybe Holden Caulfield first buys a bus ticket (and a few other random items) and later is buying Phoebe’s favorite record.
For more information on how to create your own breakout, check out one of my earlier posts by clicking here.
More ideas? I would love to hear about them! Leave me a comment and I promise I will get back to you : )
