Counting Coins - Lesson 5, Counting the Change Game {Pennies and Nickles}

This game can be played with any coins, but we're limiting it to only pennies and nickels, since that's what we've learned so far.  Fun, versatile, and the child won't know she's learning!  It provides great, hands-on practice at counting out change.

Lesson:  Counting the Change Game, Pennies and Nickels

Objective:  Child will use pennies and nickels to create specific change, up to 10 cents.

Materials:  Coin manipulatives or real coins.  Dice.  Construction paper.  Crayons / writing utensils.

Process:
1.  Review the pocket chart showing coin values you have been building in the last few lessons.  Review that a penny is one cent, a nickel is five cents, and five pennies equal one nickel.

2.  On a sheet of construction paper, create a table with three columns.  Label the first column, 'Penny', the second column, 'Nickel', and leave the third column blank.  I found a cool idea on Pintrest to place a die in a small, lidded, Tupperware-style container (I used a mason jar, because that's what I had handy).  This way you don't have dice flying across the room every time you toss them.  Pretty cool, huh?

2.  Toss the die.  I used a die with numbers written on it, instead of dots, to make the game simpler.  Write the number that comes up in the third column of your chart.  In this case, we got the number 10, so I wrote, '10 cents'.

3.  Instruct the child to create, '10 cents', on the chart.  She will probably use pennies first, because that is what is most concrete and familiar.  Make sure she places all the pennies in the 'Penny' column of  the chart.

4.  Draw a line underneath the pennies, and ask, "Can you think of another way to show '10 cents'?  How about using nickels?"  Write, '10 cents' again in the third column.  Guide the child in placing two nickels in the 'nickel' column.  Count to make sure that it equals 10 cents.

5.  Draw a line underneath the nickels, and ask, "Can you think of another way to show, '10 cents'?  How about using pennies and nickels?"  Guide the child in placing the nickel first in the nickel column, then counting out 5 pennies.  Note the questioning look on Sophie's face.  This will be difficult at first.  Be sure to provide lots of support.  It will get easier as the child gets more practice.

6.  Roll the die again, and repeat the process.  If you need to, add on a second (or third!) sheet of construction paper to continue your chart.  I wrote each new money value in a different color, to help distinguish visually.

Counting Coins - Lesson 4, How Much Is A Nickle?

This is an introductory lesson to the value of nickles, so your child probably won't fully grasp the concept of 'one nickle equals five pennies'.  Don't worry about that, you will have plenty of opportunities to practice making change later.  This just lays the groundwork.  Remember, we're going slow to give the child ample and varied opportunities to completely grasp the concept.  

Lesson :  How Much Is A Nickle?

Objective:  Child will understand that a nickle is worth 5 cents.

Materials:  'Hundred Penny Pie' sheet.  Printout of pennies and nickles.  Construction paper.  Glue.  Crayons.  Scissors.  Money pocket chart.

Process:
1.  Go to the pocket chart.  Review that one penny equals one cent.

2.  Put a card saying, '5 cents' on the next line of the chart.  Instruct child to count out five pennies to make five cents.

3.  Say, "There's another way you can make five cents."  Show a nickle.  Say, "A nickle is worth five cents." Put the nickle on the next line of the pocket chart, with the labels, 'nickle', and, '5 cents'.

4.  Pull out the Hundred Penny Pie sheet you made last lesson.

5.Say, "Now we're going to show how five pennies equals one nickle.  A penny is five cents.  A nickle is five cents.  They're both worth the same thing, five cents."  Have child color and cut out pennies and glue them onto the new Hundred Penny Pie (the one I used had each 5 cent portion cut apart).  Color and glue a nickle over each 5 cent pie piece.  Glue down on construction paper, and label.

Counting Coins - Lesson 3, How Much is a Penny?

Today's activity comes from 'Counting On Coins' by the AIMS Education Foundation.  One of the things I love about AIMS is that it builds slowly, and at the end children have a firm grasp of whatever concept is being taught.  The 'Hundred Penny Pie' activity in this lesson will be revisited and built upon for several weeks.


I've also pulled in a pocket chart that we will add to as we learn the value of each new coin.  My wonderful library has a kit of coin activities, including coin manipulatives and a pocket chart.  I may have to buy a pocket chart after this unit, because I've really liked using it!

Lesson:  How Much Is A Penny?

Purpose:  Child will identify a penny by name and value.

Materials:  'Hundred Penny Pie' worksheet and printout of pennies from 'Counting On Coins'.  Crayons.  Glue.  Scissors. Coins.  Pocket chart.  Paper.

Process:
1.  Show child a pile of coins.  Ask her to identify a penny.  Place the penny in the pocket chart.  Say, "You're right, this is a penny."  Write, 'penny', on a piece of paper and place next to the coin in the pocket chart.  Then say, "A penny is worth one cent.  We write, 'one cent' like this."  And write '1 c' on another piece of paper, and place in pocket chart. (Yes, it's not pretty.  But it does the job!  You could print the words out, but I didn't want to take the time.)

2.  Give child the printout of pennies, and instruct her to cut them out (she only needs 25 for this activity), and color them.  Then glue them on the 'Hundred Penny Pie' printout.

3.  Ask, "How much is a penny?"  When she answers, "One cent", reply, "That's right.  How much is this penny?  How about this one?  And this one?"  As you ask, point to each penny she has glued on her pie.  Then ask, "How many pennies do you have all together?"  When she counts up 25 pennies, ask, "How much are all of these pennies worth together?"  Answer:  25 cents.

4.  I know this activity seems simple, but it is necessary to establish the value of pennies, before you move on to nickles, dimes and quarters.  The end goal is for the child to understand the relationship between all the coins (one nickle is five pennies, one dime is 10 pennies, or 2 nickles, or one nickle and five pennies, etc), and this is an abstract concept that must be approached slowly.

Counting Coins - Integrating Literature

Whenever I'm planning a unit, I always take a trip to my local library (hi, Ami!) to see what gems I can find among the shelves.  I try to find a good selection of both fiction and nonfiction picture books.  These I use to both build my lessons, and enrich / support the lessons I already have in mind.  For the coins unit I found some great selections:

Nonfiction:

26 Letters and 99 Cents, by Tana Hoban.

I cannot express how much I love this author.  All of her books have minimal (usually no) text, and bright, visually interesting photographs taken from a child's perspective.  If you haven't discovered her yet, I highly recommend you go camp out in the 'H' section of the picture books next time you're at your local library and see what you can find.  This particular book, when you flip it one way, brightly displays coins alongside colorful numbers showing their value.  For example, on '10', it shows 10 pennies, 2 nickles and 1 dime.  A great read-on-your-own-and-discover book.  As a bonus, when you flip the book the other way it shows the alphabet.  Xander's already requested this side to be read to him (he really reads it to me), three times.

Sorting Money, by Jennifer L. Marks

This book is part of a series of concept books, all of them worth checking out.  Sorting Money uses bright pictures of real kids sorting money into different like types.  The money is sorted by rough and smooth edges, by color, and also by value.  It would be a great resource to read along with the 'Sorting Coins' lesson I did a few days ago.

Jelly Beans for Sale, by Bruce McMillan

McMillan is another author in the style of Hoban, but he uses text and his pictures usually include children.  Jelly Beans for Sale introduces the premise that one jellybean is worth one penny (1 cent).  It features bright pictures of kids eating jellybeans, and shows how much in coins the jellybeans cost.

I thought it note worthy to add that I haven't introduced this book to Sophie yet.  She was playing tea party on the other side of the living room while I write this, and upon looking up, saw this book open beside me.  She immediately said, "Mommy, what's THAT book?", and came over to investigate.  Talk about kid friendly!  

The Story of Money, by Betsy Maestro

This book has a LOT of text, but I don't intend on reading it verbatim to Sophie.  The book tells how money has been used through history and across cultures, and has lots of great illustrations.  I plan on using it for its pictures, to integrate a little Social Studies into the unit.

Fiction:

All of the fiction I chose were picture books about saving money.  Since we're doing this unit in conjunction with starting Sophie on an allowance, I wanted to use some picture books as springboards in discussing the ideological value of money.  I'm also pulling in a cross cultural element with these books.

A Chair for My Mother, by Vera B. Williams

This is a sweet story about a little girl and her single mom who overcome the obstacles of poverty in the big city and an apartment fire (with the help of their neighborhood), and save coins in a jar to buy a coveted, rose splattered chair.

The Berenstain Bears, Trouble With Money, by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Brother and Sister Bear treat Ma and Pa like an ATM, demanding money for video games and sweets.  Pa finally puts his foot down, and Brother and Sister turn to creative ways to earn money together, learning the value of money, saving, and hard work along the way.

A New Coat for Anna, by Harriet Ziefert

Set at the end of WWII, Anna needs a new coat but her mother can't afford it.  Together they use possessions to barter for materials, eventually ending in a beautiful, new coat.

Alexander Who Used to Be Rick Last Sunday, by Judith Viorst

All kids identify with Alexander, a kid who sees the world from his own, egocentric viewpoint. In this installment, Alexander receives a dollar from his grandparents, and intends to save it to buy a walkie talkie.  Instead, he give in to temptation throughout the week and spends his money on other things.  

Counting Coins, Lesson 2 - Graphing Coins

There's something about money.  Kids love playing with it.  So it wasn't hard to get Sophie to do this next activity.  She already knows the names of all the coins, and has done many sorting activities like the type I did with Xander in Lesson 1.  I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce the concept of graphing while we had something fun (coins) to work with.  


A note on graphing.  While I was teaching in Texas, I had an opportunity to attend a week long workshop on the AIMS method.  Let me tell you. It was the BEST, and most useful, workshop I ever attended.  I walked away from it with tons of resources (a box full of manipulatives, several books, and a zillion ideas).  AIMS stands for 'Activities for Integrating Math and Science'.  The program is built around teaching math and science holistically, integrating it into the wider classroom curriculum.  Instead of teaching a 'graph unit', as most math curricula do, AIMS encourages fitting in graphing exercises with other content, which makes the activity concrete for the child and connected to real learning.  


Note that the following activity can be done with ANYTHING:  a leaf or rock collection, heights of students in the classroom, eye color, snack preferences, types of fruit on the counter... 

Lesson:  Graphing Coins

Purpose:  Child will create a pictograph and a bar graph representing a selected number of coins.

Materials:  A pile of assorted coins (make sure you have a selection of pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters, and half dollars if you wish).  Two pieces of construction paper.  Markers or other writing implements.

Process:
1.  Give the child a pile of coins.  Across the bottom of a piece of construction paper, write, 'P, N, D, Q'.  (or write out the entire coin name.  I was lazy).  Instruct the child to sort the coins in lines corresponding with the correct label.

2.  When the child has sorted all her coins, explain that she just made a special kind of graph called a 'pictograph'.  Ask her what word she hears in 'pictograph' (picture).  Tell her we call it a 'pictograph' because it is a graph of pictures of things.  In this case, coins.  Tell her we will now make another kind of graph called a 'bar graph'.  Draw out a simple grid on the second sheet of construction paper, with the same labels at the bottom as your pictograph (make sure the grid has enough spaces for your number of coins), and set it beside the pictograph.  Ask the child, "How many quarters do you have?"

3.  Guide her in counting the number of quarters, and coloring in the corresponding number of bars on the bar graph.  Repeat the process for the dimes, nickles and pennies (and half dollars, if you're doing them.  We didn't because let's face it, who uses half dollars?  If she were in second grade or older, I'd probably use them, but I'm trying to keep it concrete to her world right now.)

4.  When child has completed the bar graph, compare the two graphs.  Point out that both graphs show the same information (number of coins), but display it in different ways (pictures vs. bars).

Counting Coins, Lesson 1 - Sorting Coins

We're starting Sophie on an allowance when she turns 5 next month.  I thought it would be good to start teaching her the value of money - both literally and ideologically.  So for homeschool the next few weeks we'll be focusing on coins.  Sophie already knows all the coins and their names, so this lesson is actually with Xander, who I'm trying to include as much as his attention span allows.  Of course he's not ready to learn the coin's names, but he is right at the perfect age to start sorting activities (if I was a good mommy I would have already been doing this with him - but, like many second born, he has been sadly left to his own devices educationally.  I was doing sorting activities with Sophie when she was a year!).  Kids love this activity because they're human and love to play with money.  Who doesn't??

Lesson:  Sorting Coins

Objective:  Student will identify the similarities and differences between pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters, and will sort them into like groups.

Materials:  An assortment of coins (pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters).  1 piece construction paper.  Marker.

Process:  
1.  On the construction paper, draw four large circles.

2.  Instruct child to observe the coins, and place one in one of the circles.  Ask:  "Can you find another one like that one?" and when he does, guide him to put that coin with the first.

3.  Continue the process, until all the coins are sorted.  Try to keep from telling the child where to put the coins, but instead, ask leading questions to help him think out the problem.

The Learning Lifestyle - Practice Counting

One of the things I love about homeschooling is the lifestyle.  Almost anything can become a learning opportunity.

We took an excursion to the auto parts store, and I spent a lot of time standing around with the kids, waiting for my hubby to pick out exactly what he needed (no complaining here!  The man has the patience of a saint when I insist on trying on every style of jeans that Old Navy has on sale).  Sophie's been getting better at waiting in stores in the past year, but Xander is a different story.  He's a wiggle worm and gets bored very easily.  BUT.  He loves anything that has to do with tools (oftentimes of a morning I hear strains of 'Booooob the Builder, yes I can!!' coming from his room), so I decided to turn what could have ended in me pulling my hair out in frustration, into a learning experience.

Lesson:  Counting Practice

Objective:  Child will practice counting items, building a grasp of one-to-one correspondence (identify that each number corresponds with each single item counted)

Materials:  Any store!

Process:

1. Find a set of like items (a display of wrenches, for example)
2. Instruct child to point to (or touch), each item as he counts them
3. Repeat!

The boy was a counting machine!  He didn't want to stop!  He counted for 15 minutes straight!  He counted:

screwdrivers

oil jugs

baskets

oil pan thingies

floor mats

I think we entertained pretty much everyone else in the store.  

Introducing Place Value - Tens and Ones Game

After introducing the place value chart (PVC), we mixed it up a little with a fun 'game'.

Lesson:  Place Value Game

Objective:  Child will recognize the value of digits in two-digit numbers.

Materials:  PVC chart.  Base-10 blocks.  Squares of paper with 1 - 20 written on them.  White board.  Dry erase marker.

Process:

1. Review place value by filling in the PVC chart, from 1 to 20.  Let child be the 'teacher', and tell you how many ones and 10s to put in each place.

2.  Draw a PVC chart on the white board.  Shuffle the number cards, and instruct child to pick one.  

3.  Guide child in re-writing the number on her white board PVC chart.  

4.  Say, "How many ones are in your number?  How many tens?"  Instruct child to count out the appropriate number of one units and 10-sticks, and place them on the PVC chart.

5.  Have child pick another number card, and repeat the process.  

Oops!  If she makes a mistake (and even if she doesn't), have her re-count the units in order make sure she got it right.  Practice self-check habits now, so that they will be instinctive later on!  (Algebra, anyone?)

Oooo, that's better!

Introducing Place Value - Tens and Ones (pt 2)

I'm debating as to whether Sophie is ready for this, or not.  I am beginning to think it might be a little over her head - either that, or she's decided she doesn't want to do it, and is resisting me.  That's the problem with schooling your own child - the parent/child dynamics sometimes get in the way!  (Hence, the pouty face in the pics)  I've decided to press on for a few more weeks, however, and see if she 'gets it'.  If it continues to not sink in, I'll move on and come back to place value when she's a little older.

Lesson:  Introducing Place Value - Tens and Ones

Objective:  Student will recognize the value of two-digit numbers

Materials:  T-Chart from last lesson.  Base-10 blocks.  Writing utensil.

Process:

1. Review from last time, filling in your chart from '1' to '10'.  
2. Instruct child to count out 11 one units.  Line up a 10-stick next to the units.

3.  Point out that the 10-stick is the same as 10 one units, and substitute the 10 stick for the one units.  

4.  Put the 10 stick in the 'T' column, and the one unit in the 'O' column.  Say, "How many tens do we have?"  When child answers, "1", put a 1 in the 'T' column.  Say, "How many ones do we have?"  When child answers, "1", put a 1 in the 'O' column.  Then recount to reinforce that you do have '11'.  

5.  Repeat the process, going up to 20.  

Notice the better attitude in the last picture!  We quit at around 13, and came back to it later.  It's still a pretty advanced concept for her, I can tell, but frankly, it's good for her to be challenged.  Most things come pretty quickly to Sophie, and it's good for her to not understand something, and have to press through the frustration in order to figure it out.  I'm walking a fine line here between challenging her, and pushing too hard.  

Introducing Place Value - Tens and Ones

After a week of practice with the Base 10 blocks, Sophie had skip counting by 10's down.  It's now time to move on to place value, or, the understanding of what's in between 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50.

Lesson:  Introducing Tens and Ones Place Value

Objective:  Student will recognize the value of digits in two-digit numbers.

Materials:  Paper.  Glue / tape (to connect papers if you need a longer chart).  Crayons/markers/pen.  Base 10 blocks.

Process:  

1. Draw a T-chart on a piece of paper.  Label one side 'T' and one side, 'O'.  Explain to child that the 'T' stands for 'Tens', and the 'O' stands for 'Ones'.
2. Instruct child to count one unit, and place it on the 'O' side of the chart.  Ask child, "How many ones do we have?"  When child answers, "One", write a '1' next to it (I wrote in a different color, so it would stand out).
3. Instruct child to count two units, and place them on the 'O' side of the chart beneath the 1.  Ask child, "How many ones do we have?"  When child answers, "Two", write a '2' next to them.  
4. Instruct child to count three units, and place them on the 'O' side of the chart beneath the 2.  Ask child, "How many ones do we have?"  When child answers, "Three", write a '3' next to them.  

5.  When you get to 10, instruct child to count 10 units.  When she does, ask, "How else can you show, '10'?"  Get a 10-stick, and line it up next to the 10 one units.  Agree that they show the same amount.  

6.  Discard the 10 one units, and say, "This is one 10.  It doesn't go in the Ones place.  It goes in the Tens place."  Move the 10-stick to the Tens column.  

7.  Ask child, "Now how many ones do we have?"  Write a '0' in the Ones column.  Ask, "How many tens do we have?"  Write a '1' in the Tens column. 

By this time, Sophie was tired out.  She saw that we had just written, '10', but it was a new concept, and shut down on me.  I stopped the lesson here, and will continue repeat the process several times this week until it's easy for her to change from one units to 10-sticks.  

Counting By 10's With Base 10 Blocks

I love, love, LOVE Base 10 blocks.  So simple, so diverse, so easy to use from beginning counting all the way up to multi-digit multiplication and division.  It follows that I LOVE my library, because it provides a set of Base 10 blocks patrons can check out - free!

Lesson:  Skip Counting By 10's

Objective:  Child will identify groups of units of 10, from 10 to 100.  (two 10's are 20, three 10's are 30, etc)

Materials:  A set of Base 10 blocks (1's and 10's).  Sticky notes.  Marker / pen.

Process:

1. Review that 10 one units equal one 10-stick
2. Write '10' on a sticky note.  Child matches one 10-stick to the sticky note.  (If you put the sticky note on the table 'upside down', it will stand up facing you like a little flag)
3. Write '20' on a sticky note.  Child matches two 10-sticks to the sticky note
4. Repeat the process until you get to 100.  
5. Keep reviewing as you add each number, encourage child to guess what comes next.  Point out the pattern:  '10' has a '1', and uses one 10-stick.  '20' has a '2', and uses two 10-sticks.  '30' has a '3', and uses three 10-sticks, etc. 

And here's how Xander kept himself occupied.

One 10-stick was the bad guy.  It kept knocking all the other 10-sticks off the table.  

One last observation:  I love that none of us has to be really dressed in the morning before we start school. Sophie's garment of choice (in case you haven't noticed in the last posts) is a bathing suit.  Xander goes by the philosophy of less clothing is more.  And I just like having less laundry to do at the end of the day.