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Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift: rise by, grow from … to and an increase of

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches prepositions for numbers and change through Benjamin Franklin's 1789 gift to Boston and Philadelphia: loans for young craftsmen, planned to run for 200 years.

Grammar
Rise from … to, grow by, an increase of, at a rate of and double in value: the preposition tells you what each number is.
Topic
Franklin's loans at five percent, the compound interest in his numbers and what the funds became, with words such as loan, fund and in the long run.
Activities
An explainer, a class visit and a voice memo, self-checking drills, then savings advice for a friend: a chat, a model message and a wheel.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: money talks

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the words: money that growsVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a gift on a very long timer

    • Look at the picture: a gift that was meant to growPictureUnlock
    • Read Isaiah's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: savings jar or skills?

    • Listen to Isaiah and NadineListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Milo's voice memoListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: from £1,000 to £131,000

    • Study the scheme: numbers and changeGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the right prepositionFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the table: look at the numbers and complete the sentencesFill in the tableTry it
    • Choose the correct answer: what do the numbers mean?QuizUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Nadine's whiteboardDrag and dropUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: advice for a first raise

    • Choose the right replies: give Dino some savings adviceChatTry it
    • Sort the words into the correct columns: do or don't?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Put the parts of the model message to Dino in the correct orderDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: your own message to a friendChoose the optionUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answer: give some savings adviceSpin the wheelUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the right prepositionFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Isaiah answers MiloChoose the optionUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Edna's message to DinoDrag and dropUnlock

35 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Finance vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • interest
  • loan
  • compound interest
  • fund
  • savings
  • craftsman
  • will
  • budget
  • in the long run

Grammar: prepositions for numbers and change

With numbers, the preposition tells you what the number is: the start, the end, the size of the change or the speed. Franklin's plan is a chain of such figures, from £1,000 to £131,000 at five percent a year, so learners ask one question of every figure and choose from … to, to, by, of or at a rate of.

Numbers and change: grow by, rise from … to …, at a rate of

The preposition tells you what the number is: the start, the end, the size of the change or the speed.

Verbs: from … to, to, by and at a rate of

With rise, fall and grow, from … to gives the start and the end, to the end alone and by the size of the change: My pay rose by $3, from $18 to $21 an hour. The speed takes at a rate of … a year.

The number is…SayExample
the start and the endrise / fall / grow / increase from … to …Each fund was to rise from £1,000 to £131,000.
only the endrise / fall / grow to …By 1887, Boston's fund had grown to $327,799.45.
the size of the changerise / fall / grow / increase / go up by …My pay rose by $3, from $18 to $21 an hour.
the speedgrow / be lent at a rate of … a yearThe money was lent at a rate of 5 percent a year.
× 2, × 3double / triple (in value, in size)At 5 percent, money doubles in value in about 14 years.

Nouns: an increase of, a rise in

After a noun, the size of the change takes of: an increase of £4 million, a fall of 10 percent, a raise of $7 an hour. The thing that changes takes in: a rise in prices, a drop in sales.

Noun+ of + the size+ in + the thing that changes
an increase / a risean increase of £4 milliona rise in prices
a fall / a dropa fall of 10 percenta drop in sales
a raise (more pay)a raise of $7 an houra raise in pay

How to check, and by at the end of a question

Find the number and ask what it is: the start and the end, only the end, the size of the change or the speed. In a question, by moves to the end: How much did it grow by?

How to check

Find the number and ask what it is. The start and the end: from … to. Only the end: to. The size of the change: by after a verb (grew by $300), of after a noun (an increase of $300). The speed: at a rate of. In a question, by goes at the end: How much did it grow by?

Double in value and by a factor of

For × 2 and × 3, say double and triple, with in: At 5 percent, money doubles in value in about 14 years. For bigger jumps, use by a factor of: Franklin's last £31,000 was to grow by a factor of 131, to £4,061,000.

Big jumps: by a factor of

For × 2 and × 3, say double and triple: The house doubled in value. For bigger jumps, say grow / increase by a factor of: £31,000 × 131 = £4,061,000, so the money was to grow by a factor of 131. You know the more…, the more… (the longer money grows, the more it earns); these prepositions give the exact numbers.

Franklin's numbers and ours

  • Franklin's money was lent at a rate of 5 percent a year.
  • Each fund was to rise from £1,000 to £131,000 in 100 years.
  • The last £31,000 was to grow by a factor of 131.
  • My cousin's pay rose by $7 an hour, from $15 to $22.
  • That's an increase of $7 an hour.
  • How much did your savings grow by last year?

Common mistakes

Four slips: grew with 5 percent (say by), rose from $50 until $60 (numbers take from … to), an increase from 10 percent (say of) and doubled of value (say in value).

  • The fund grew with 5 percent.

    The fund grew by 5 percent.

    the size of the change after a verb: by

  • Prices rose from $50 until $60.

    Prices rose from $50 to $60.

    numbers go from … to, never from … until

  • It went from $100 to $110: an increase from 10 percent.

    It went from $100 to $110: an increase of 10 percent.

    the size of the change after a noun: of

  • The house doubled of value.

    The house doubled in value.

    double / triple in value or in size

More lessons on this grammar: Prepositions lessons and exercises

Try the prepositions for numbers and change exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

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What's in the lesson

  • 21 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say where a number starts and ends: Each fund was to rise from £1,000 to £131,000. By 1887, Boston's fund had grown to $327,799.45.
  • give the size of a change with by after a verb and of after a noun: My pay rose by $3. That's an increase of $7 an hour.
  • describe speed and big jumps: lent at a rate of 5 percent a year, doubles in value in about 14 years, grow by a factor of 131
  • ask about a change, with by at the end: How much did your savings grow by last year?
  • give a friend savings advice with exact numbers: Save $50 a month, and your savings will grow from zero to $600 in a year.

Lesson 23 is the third lesson of Money and smart choices, unit 6 of English B2.1 · How the World Works. It puts exact numbers on the more…, the more… from B1.1 lesson 13, and it keeps until for time, as in lesson 2, never for numbers. Lesson 24 closes the unit with it's time and would rather. A will that planned to turn £1,000 into £131,000 needs a preposition for every figure.

Students open boxes of money questions, then learn twelve words, from rise and double to compound interest and in the long run, with pictures and audio. They read Isaiah's explainer on Franklin's gift and its math, then hear Isaiah argue saving against skills in Nadine's personal-finance class and Milo, a young electrician from Massachusetts, defend the loan that bought his tools; both are AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a table of before-and-after numbers to describe. The speaking task is savings advice for Dino, a friend with a raise: a chat, tips sorted into do and don't, a model message to order, gaps in a message of one's own and a wheel.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, a gap-fill and a memory game; then prepositions to choose and to type in new sentences, sentences to order, a quiz on correct sentences, Isaiah's newsletter answer to Milo and a message from Dino's sister Edna with words to drag in.

Grammar:
prepositions for numbers · describing change · grow by, rise from … to · at a rate of, an increase of · double in value
Topic:
Benjamin Franklin · Franklin's gift to Boston and Philadelphia · compound interest · saving money · personal finance · money and smart choices · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

  • Write two numbers on the board, such as $15 and $22 an hour, and ask for three sentences: It rose from $15 to $22. It rose by $7. That's an increase of $7.
  • Ask what five percent does in a century before the reading. Students guess what £1,000 becomes in 100 years, then read to check Franklin's figure against the math.
  • Play the class visit twice: first to decide who puts saving first and who puts skills first, then to note every number with its preposition, from a rate of five percent to from fifteen to twenty-two dollars.
  • Use invented numbers for the advice task: the tips in the lesson are the speakers' opinions, not financial advice. Students argue for saving or for skills with figures they make up.

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The whole course: English B2.1 · How the World Works

32 lessons for adults at B2 in American English, each answering one question about how the world works. The team of The Why Desk, a small online magazine in Pittsburgh, takes on one question a week, from the day a computer beat the world chess champion to eight people sealed inside Biosphere 2. Learners tell stories with narrative tenses, speculate about the past and the future, and report what experts claim. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 AI and the future of work

    narrative tenses, by and until, be bound to and be likely to, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 1Checkmate: the day a computer beat the championNarrative tenses: past simple, past continuous and past perfect
    2. Lesson 2The robot car that crossed the desertTime prepositions: by, until, within, throughout, in time and on time
    3. Lesson 3Can a chatbot fool you?Probability about the future: be bound to, be likely to, the chances are
    4. Lesson 4By 2035, what will AI have designed?The future perfect simple: will have + past participle

  2. Unit 2 Health breakthroughs

    the third conditional, the past perfect and past continuous passive, have something done, the passive with two objects

    1. Lesson 5The moldy melon that changed medicineThe third conditional: if + had done, would have done
    2. Lesson 61.8 million Polio PioneersThe past perfect passive and the past continuous passive
    3. Lesson 7One clinic, many doctorsHave / get something done
    4. Lesson 8A kidney from a twinThe passive with two objects

  3. Unit 3 Moving people

    the past perfect continuous, the passive infinitive and -ing form, it's worth and there's no point, the future in the past

    1. Lesson 9Six years to the golden spikeThe past perfect continuous vs the past perfect simple
    2. Lesson 10Riding a pod with no driverThe passive infinitive and the passive -ing form
    3. Lesson 11The town that painted bike lanes firstIt's worth, there's no point and it's no use + -ing
    4. Lesson 12The highways that were supposed to take 13 yearsThe future in the past

  4. Unit 4 Wildlife comebacks

    reporting verbs with a that clause, with an object and infinitive and with -ing, verbs of perception

    1. Lesson 13Did wolves really change Yellowstone's rivers?Reporting verbs + that clause
    2. Lesson 14Bringing a parrot back from the edgeReporting verbs + object + (not) to + base form
    3. Lesson 15The beavers that came by parachuteReporting verbs + -ing and verb + preposition + -ing
    4. Lesson 16Fifteen bison take the trainVerbs of perception + object + base form or -ing

  5. Unit 5 Pop culture goes global

    comment adverbs, wish and if only for the present and the past, have someone do and get someone to do

    1. Lesson 17The party that started hip hopComment adverbs: apparently, supposedly, undoubtedly
    2. Lesson 18Slide to the left!Wish and if only for wishes about now
    3. Lesson 19If only they'd kept SupermanWish and if only + past perfect for regrets
    4. Lesson 20The hit factory on West Grand BoulevardCausative have and get: have someone do, get someone to do

  6. Unit 6 Money and smart choices

    -ever words and no matter, should have and could have, prepositions for numbers and change, it's time and would rather

    1. Lesson 21The bank that never closed-ever words and no matter
    2. Lesson 22One marshmallow now or two later?Should have, shouldn't have and could have
    3. Lesson 23 · you're hereBenjamin Franklin's 200-year giftPrepositions for numbers and change
    4. Lesson 24Why buy a drill you'll use once?It's (high) time and would rather + past simple

  7. Unit 7 Language and communication

    must have, might have and can't have, verb prefixes and suffixes, past modals in continuous and passive forms, agreement with quantities

    1. Lesson 25How did one man write down a language?Past modals of deduction: must have, might have, can't have
    2. Lesson 26Why do Americans write “color”?Verb prefixes and suffixes: misspell, rewrite, simplify, shorten
    3. Lesson 27The joke that needed a smileyPast modals in continuous and passive forms
    4. Lesson 28Can preschoolers save a language?Subject-verb agreement with quantities and collective nouns

  8. Unit 8 Exploring the extremes

    dimension nouns, the future continuous and future perfect continuous, compound adjectives, only, even and just

    1. Lesson 29A walk on the ocean floorDimension nouns and phrases: depth, width, height
    2. Lesson 30Six months of night at the South PoleThe future continuous and the future perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 31Flying on pedal powerCompound adjectives with numbers and participles
    4. Lesson 32Two years under glassFocus adverbs: only, even, just and at all

Questions about this lesson

Which prepositions do you use with numbers and change?
Ask what the number is. The start and the end take from … to, the end alone takes to, the size of the change takes by after a verb and of after a noun, and the speed takes at a rate of: Each fund was to rise from £1,000 to £131,000. The money was lent at a rate of 5 percent a year. The B2 lesson Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai teaches all of them.
What's the difference between rise by and rise to?
By gives the size of the change; to gives the new number. My rent rose by $50 means it is $50 higher, and My rent rose to $850 means it is $850 now. Together they give the whole picture: My rent rose by $50 to $850, so it was $800 before. A quiz in Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai asks exactly this kind of question.
Is it “an increase of” or “an increase in”?
Both, for different things. Of gives the size of the change: an increase of 10 percent, a raise of $7 an hour. In names what changes: an increase in prices, a drop in sales. They can go together: an increase of 30 percent in the number of riders. An increase from 10 percent is the common mistake, and the scheme in Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai lists it.
Is it “grew by 5 percent” or “grew with 5 percent”?
It's grew by 5 percent: after a verb, the size of a change takes by, never with. The same goes for rose by $3, fell by $10 and went up by $5. Another frequent slip is from $50 until $60: with numbers, it's from … to. Most wrong replies in the chat of Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai are slips like these.
How do you say a number doubled or grew ten times?
Say double for × 2 and triple for × 3, with in before value or size: The house doubled in value. For bigger jumps, use grow by a factor of: £31,000 × 131 = £4,061,000, so Franklin's money was to grow by a factor of 131. Doubled of value is wrong. Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai practices both with his own figures.
What did Benjamin Franklin leave in his will?
In a codicil to his will, dated June 23, 1789, Franklin left £1,000 sterling to Boston and £1,000 to Philadelphia, to be lent at five percent a year to young married craftsmen under 25. After 100 years, most of each fund was to pay for public works, and £31,000 was to be lent for another century. By about 1990, the funds were worth a few million dollars, far below his plan. Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai tells the story.
How do I teach prepositions for numbers to B2 students?
Start from a before-and-after pair of numbers and ask what each figure is: the start, the end, the size of the change or the speed. Then add the nouns (an increase of) and the question How much did it grow by? Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai moves from Isaiah's explainer and a class debate to the scheme, a before-and-after table and four more drills.
What's a good game for practicing rise by and fall to?
Play “Guess the start”: a student thinks of a change, such as a ticket going from $12 to $15, and gives one clue at a time: It rose by $3. It rose to $15. The class names the first number. For speaking, the wheel in Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai gives money situations, such as a rent that went up by 10 percent.
What's good homework for prepositions with numbers?
Good homework lets the numbers decide the preposition: a choice between by and to when the sentence also gives the start and the end, prepositions to type, and a quiz on which sentence is correct. All ten homework tasks in Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai check themselves, ending with a big sister's message full of savings tips.
How do you practice prepositions for change one-to-one?
Compare then and now: the student picks three numbers from their own life, such as the price of a coffee, the length of a commute or the size of their town, and describes each change with from … to, by and an increase of. The chat in Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift on edio.ai needs no partner: Dino got a raise, and the student gives him savings advice.
Are there interactive exercises for prepositions for numbers and change?
Yes. This page plays three parts of Benjamin Franklin's 200-year gift, a B2 lesson on edio.ai, with no account: Isaiah's visit to Nadine's personal-finance class, a table that turns before-and-after numbers into sentences and a chat giving Dino savings advice. You need an account for the rest.
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