Counting Coins

Procedure

Objectives

  1. The students will be able to identify a quarter.
    • The students will be able to state the value of a quarter.
    Blooms Taxonomy Level: Understanding

  2. The students will be able to count by 25s.
    Blooms Taxonomy Level: Remembering

  3. The students will be able to count different combinations of quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies.
    Blooms Taxonomy Level: Remembering

  4. The students will be able to make exchanges between coins.
    Blooms Taxonomy Level: Applying

Activate and Assess Prior Knowledge

  • The teacher shows the students on the overhead one combination of coins which add up to 25¢. An example is a dime, two nickels and five pennies.
  • After distributing a half sheet of paper to the students, the teacher asks the students to record two different ways to make 25¢ using pennies, nickels and dimes. This also serves as the pre-assessment to determine how well the students can make different combinations of coins.

anticipatory set

  • As the students sit on the reading rug, quarters and magnifying glasses are distributed to each student. They use the magnifying glass to look closely and identify various features of the coin.
  • After the students identify various features of the quarter, the teacher asks them to share their findings which are listed on chart paper.
  • At this time, the teacher shares interesting facts about the quarter with the students:
    • George Washington first appeared on the quarter in 1932 to commemorate (define for the students, to commemorate means to honor) the anniversary of the former president’s 200th birthday.
    • Quarters minted (define for the students, minted means to create) before 1998 have an eagle on the tails side. Quarters minted in 1999 and later have one of the 50 states represented on the tails side.
      • Ask the students to raise their hand if they’re holding a quarter which has an eagle on its tails side.
      • Ask the students to raise their hand if they’re holding a quarter which has one of the 50 states represented on its tails side. What kinds of things do they see which represents a state? Which state is that quarter representing?

quarters

direct instruction & modeling (whole group instruction)

  • In order to demonstrate counting by 25s, the teacher instructs each student to hold up their quarter. To begin counting the teacher posts the number grid at the front of the room and points to the 25, 50, 75 and 100. The count begins at the front of the room and moves throughout the tables. As the teacher points to each student, the count increases 25¢ more. The counting is done chorally.
  • In order to demonstrate counting a variety of coins, the teacher instructs ten students to come to the front of the room. Two students hold a large paper quarter, three students hold a large paper dime, one student holds a large paper nickel, and four students hold a large paper penny. They line up with the “quarters” on the far left, followed by the “dimes,” “nickels,” and the “pennies.” The teacher walks behind the students and as she taps each child on the head, the class counts the amount together. The total amount is 89¢. 89¢ is written for the students as 89¢ and $0.89 to see the different ways amounts of money can be written.
    • To practice this skill, each student is given a whiteboard and a whiteboard marker. The teacher uses the overhead to depict various amounts of coins, and the students write the amount in either notation; 89¢ or $0.89, on their whiteboard. Each student holds up their whiteboard before the teacher reveals the answer.
    • To give the students a challenge, ask them to show which coins they would use to show 46¢ using the fewest number of coins possible.

guided practice (small group instruction)

To practice the skills from this lesson, the students break up into three different groups and participate in math centers. Each center is headed by the special education teacher, classroom teacher, or teacher aide. After 15 minutes, the students rotate centers until they’ve had a chance to participate at the activities from each center. The math centers include:
  • Playing Coin Top-It – The students play this game in partnerships. Using a Coin Top-It deck (see appendix 2, page 5)  the students each draw one card, count the totals which are depicted on each card, and the student with the highest total on their card takes both their card and their partner’s card. This is repeated until one student’s cards are all gone. The student who has all the cards is the winner.
  • Completing Math Boxes 6-9 and “Counting Coins” journal pages – Math boxes are a review of skills which have been learned earlier in the unit. The Counting Coins journal page is a review of counting different combinations and writing them in the ___¢ format.
  • Playing Quarter-Dime-Nickel-Penny Exchange – The students play this game in partnerships. Each partnership has a"bank" which consists of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. The students go back and forth rolling dice. Whatever number is on the dice is how many pennies the students count out. Once the student begins collecting a larger amount of pennies, he can begin exchanging. Examples of exchanges include; 5 pennies for 1 nickel, 3 nickels and a dime for a quarter and 2 nickels for 1 dime. When a student makes an exchange, such as 5 pennies for 1 nickel, the student puts the pennies back in the bank as they take a nickel out of the bank. At the end of the game, each student totals up the amount of money.

independent practice

  • The students complete the “More Counting Coins” worksheet (home link 6-9) for homework. The math problems on this worksheet parallel the ones from the “Counting Coins” journal page which was completed in the math centers.

closure

  • While the students are still in their final center, the teacher (or teacher aide) heading the center asks the students to chorally count by 25s to 200. The teacher chimes in with the students, and assists them by displaying and pointing to eight quarters as they count 25 more.

technology

  • The website http://www.hbschool.com/activity/counting_money/ published by Harcourt allows the students to practice counting different combinations of coins and to check their answer instantaneously. The students are instructed to use this activity to practice counting money at home, with the guidance of a parent or guardian.