Materials needed: Real or play pennies, small candies or toys for kids to buy, tape to hide coins
Assessment: Closure: Math Journal: Students will write and/or draw about what they purchased with their pennies.

Activities

1. In advance hide pennies throughout the classroom along with other coins, hide enough coins that each student will find at least 5 coins in places that are their space such as under their chair, in their cubby, under their table space, taped near their coat hook, and in other places that will allow them to get up and move around.

2. Students will gain a better understanding of money’s purpose.  If students are using real money to purchase candy or a small toy, it will give them meaning to their learning.

3. As a class, review the penny, poem, and characteristics that were presented in lesson 4. Then have the kids go on a penny hunt in the classroom, allow them time to discover the coins that are pennies and choose to take only the pennies. Students should not grab the other coins, only the pennies.

4. After the penny hunt, the students will look through the candy selection and/or toy selection and purchase an item with their pennies that they get to keep.  This lesson will focus on the identification of the penny and the purpose of money.

Questions to Ponder:  Why is money important?

Differentiation

Support: Could use the Counting by 1’s (Pennies) to reinforce adding pennies and how to reach a sum.

Extension: This may also be used for the higher thinkers or visual learners who need that extra visual reinforcement for understanding. This could also help with the “shopping” part of the lesson to reinforce the visual coins for purchasing.

Resources
Counting by Pennies

Lesson 7: The Nickel
Duration: 35-45 minutes

Materials needed: overhead money, plastic and real nickels with a variety of the newer coins

Assessment: Informal Assessment: Nickel worksheet to review and identify the difference between the nickel and dime. Closure: Math Journal:  Have children draw a nickel and a group of 5 pennies. Ask them to label each as 5 cents.

Activities

1. Review the penny and dime by identifying them in an assortment on the overhead.

2. Review the name and value of the penny and dime.  Then use an assortment of nickels for the students to look at and manipulate.  Use only the nickels for this task because of the variety of new nickels; it may be confusing to add more coins.  Ask the students to look at the coins and share with a friend the similarities and differences in the variety of the nickels.

3. Read the nickel poem and talk about how poem relates to the coins they’ve been sorting.  Ask kids:  If I wanted 3 cents, which coins would I use?  If I wanted 5 cents, which coins could I use?

4. Give each pair of students a set of number cards to 10 cents, and then the pairs will have to match the coins to the value on the cards. This will be an observation of who understands and who needs more help.

Nickel Poem from The Mailbox Math for PreSchool and Kindergarten

Thomas Jefferson will be found

On a nickel, shiny, smooth, and round.

His home, Monticello, is on the other side.

A nickel is worth five cents.  Say it with pride.

Questions to Ponder:  Would you trade a nickel for 3 pennies or 5 pennies?  Why? 

Differentiation

Support: Could use the Counting by 5s (Nickels), 10s(Dimes) and 25s(Quarters) to reinforce adding nickels, dimes, and quarters and how to reach a sum.

Extension: This may also be used for the higher thinkers or visual learners who need that extra visual reinforcement for understanding.

Resources
Coin Count

Counting by Nickels, Dimes, and Quarters

Materials Needed: The Coin Counting Book, circle map from lesson 1

Assessment: Closure: Math Journal: Write about your favorite part of the book and why its your favorite. Allow time for students to share their learning with the class.  

Activities:

1. The students have all been introduced to 4 coins that we use.  Review the questions from lesson 1 as a whole class, recording answers on the circle map from lesson 1:

What is money?

What is it used for? 

How do we get money? 

Why do parents need money?

What does it mean to spend money?

What does it mean to earn money?

What jobs can people do to earn money?
 

    2.  After reviewing these questions and answers, compare them to lesson 1’s answers.  How much knowledge have the students gained from learning about the coins?  Read the story, The Coin Counting Book, by Rozanne Lanczak Williams to give students a better understanding of money.  The following is a book review that may help you in preparing for this lesson.
One of the things that all children are aware of is money. Everyday of their lives they are exposed to coins. This unique book offers the young reader the opportunity to see the coins in detail and to appreciate their value. The book begins with counting pennies in relation to a nickel and then to a dime. Then nickels and dimes in relation to quarters; all denominations in relation to a fifty cent piece; and finally how many coins does it take to make a dollar. Every option for pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters is illustrated in words and numbers. The coins are written in words and numbers next to their "realistic" portrayal. The end of the book puts the coins in vertical stacks with their value. This book is a good way to introduce simple math to children. To make the book even more appealing, it is written in rhyme. I would recommend this as a good tool for elementary teachers. 2001, Charlesbridge Publishing, $6.95. Ages 6 to 9. Reviewer: Karen Werner.
ISBN: 0881063266

Materials needed: book A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams, small piggy banks (baby food jars or Ziplocs to hold earned money), play money, small toys/stickers/books for students to purchase with their money

Assessment: Closure: Math Journal: What is your classroom job to help you earn money?  Draw you and your job with the money you earn.

Activities

1. Read the story of A Chair for My Mother then have a class discussion about the importance of saving money, earning money, and spending your money wisely. 

2. Save Your Money will be a lesson that rewards students for good behavior.  They will get to keep their money in a safe place and then save their money to make a purchase at a classroom store.

3. Students will be asked to decorate their “piggy banks” to keep their earned money.  They will then be asked to store their money in a safe place in the classroom such as a cubby.

4. The teacher and the class can determine how money can be earned in the classroom such as through behavior, completing their classroom “Jobs”, turning in their work, etc.

5. They can earn specific coins for each method of earning money. Their earned money will be kept in their “piggy banks” to spend at the class store.

Questions to Ponder:  How does the story relate to you as a student?  How does the story relate to you as a member of your family?  Do you have chores at home that help you to save money?
 

Lesson 11: Collage of Coin Uses
Duration:35-45 minutes

Materials needed: magazines, small poster board or construction paper, coins real/play money, overhead money
Assessment: Money Poster
Activities

1. To start this lesson, review the coins you have learned  by holding up a coin and asking students to name the coin and then tell the value (putting the overhead coins up may be helpful to see it better).  Then ask students the following questions:

   1. Why have we been learning about money?

   2. What do we use money for?

   3. How do our parents use money everyday?

2. After discussing these questions as a class, students will be asked to use magazines, markers, etc to create a poster that show the many ways that we use money in everyday life.  They will need to have 5 pictures and the 4 or more samples of money that they have learned (the 4 or more samples could be pictures of coins or dollars, real or play money glued to their poster, or other ideas from home).

Lesson 12: Money Centers
Duration: 35-45 minutes

Materials:
Assessment: Closure:  Math Journal:   Write and draw your favorite money center.
Activities

1. Centers: Teacher will need to plan on one teacher driven center, another adult run center, and two independent centers. These centers can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour to get all the kids through the rotations.

• The Money Man (20 Instant Math Learning Centers Kids Will Love) This center can be done independently with directions.

• Purchasing Power (20 Instant Math Learning Centers Kids Will Love) This center can be done independently with directions.

• Coins For grades K-2 (Mini-lessons for math practice, K-2), this activity will need an adult to supervise and guide questions.

Resources
Coins for Grades K-2
The Money Man
Purchasing Power

Lesson 13: Book Store or Classroom Store
Duration: 2 class periods

Materials needed: Note to parents to donate supplies, play money or money from piggy banks
Assessment: Closure: Math Journal: Write about the classroom store. How will running a classroom store help us with our math?

Activities

1. Explain to students that they are going to set up a classroom store.  As a class they will need to brainstorm the things needed for a store to be successful such as money, items to buy, cashier, salespeople, etc.

2. Students will write a note home explaining donation needs for their store, then they will be asked to bring in things from home to have in their store.

3. After the items come in, preferably after a weekend of gathering donated items for the store, students will need to put prices on their items that are for sale. These prices should be in the cents range.

4. The prices will be written by the students and purchased by the students. To determine prices, kids should sort them by value…erasers may be cheaper priced than pencils, books may be more expensive depending on their size, bears may be cheaper if they don’t have clothes, etc. 

Resources
Best Books Store

Lesson 14: Final Assessment
Duration: 35-45 minutes/3 days doing same activity

Materials needed: Store, play or real money, Pennies Payment Form, Nickels and Dimes Payment Form, Multi-Coins Payment form
Assessment: Final Assessment K-Final assessment rubric.  This assessment will be completed three days in a row to show their understanding. Closure: Math Journal:   Students will write about what they learned about money and its uses.
Activities

1. Students will do this same lesson 3 days in a row.  By doing this hands-on, and concrete assessment the student will be able to show their understanding in a concrete way.

2. Students will go to the store they have helped to set up and go shopping with a paper “wallet” or the coin payment forms.

3. The students will need to choose an item to buy, and then color in the coins needed to purchase that item.

4. They can use any of the paper payment form options that they are comfortable with and understand.

Resources
Final Assessment
Payment Forms