Reading a Restaurant Menu: Functional Reading and Money Math for Life Skills, High School

Reading a Restaurant Menu: a functional reading and math set for high school life skills, special education, and transition programs. Find the section, read the price, add it up, and order.

Why I made this: Ordering food is one of the first places students use reading and math out in public, and one of the first places they get nervous. If a student can find the right section, read the price, and add two items before getting to the counter, ordering gets a lot easier. These menus look like the ones students will see in town, so the practice carries over.

How it is different from my Money Math Task Cards: those cards drill next dollar, change, better buy, and receipts as single problems. This set is about reading a whole menu: sections, sizes, combos, and add ons, then pricing a real order. No Money Math cards are repeated.

What's included:

• A teacher page: why I made it, how to use both levels, and the skills covered

• Words to know: 10 key words, each with a picture

• 3 pages of practice documents: a sit down diner menu, a pizza menu with sizes and specials, and a counter menu board with combos. All businesses, names, and numbers are made up.

• 12 Level A questions, each with a picture and three answer choices

• The same 12 questions at Level B, with open answers and room to show the math

• A real life task: plan and price a lunch order with $15, then practice ordering out loud

• An answer key that shows where to find each answer

How I use it: Read through the practice documents together, then give each student the level that fits. Both levels ask the same questions, so the whole class can check answers together. I use the real life task as a wrap up or right before a community outing.

Skills covered: finding sections on a menu (breakfast, sides, drinks, kids); reading prices, sizes, and what an item comes with; reading menu words: combo, item only, add, served with, special; adding two or three items; making change from a bill; staying under a set amount of money; ordering out loud.

Part of the Functional Life Skills series: every set uses the same layout (words, real looking documents, two levels of the same questions, and a real life task), so students know the routine when you move to the next set.

Who it is for: high school life skills and special education classes, transition programs for ages 18 to 21, and adult education. Grades 9 to 12 and adult transition.

What you download: one printable PDF, 11 pages, US Letter. Answer key included.

Made by Jeremy D. Gooch, special education teacher and transition coordinator. Drafting and layout had AI assistance; every page was checked by me.