The Teacher's Treasure Chest: Teaching Money

Hey friends! The past few weeks we've been working on counting money. I wanted to share a few strategies that really helped my kiddos!

I gave a pre-assessment from my sweet friend Reagan's Coin Crew Unit.

I started out by introducing the coin value by using this printable read aloud!

We used Cara's unit for the next activity. The kids had hard time understanding how different combinations of coins could equal the same thing. Cara's packet provides a really fun game to practice this!

For another center, I just added coin stickers to a pink pig. The kids LOVED this! I also added dots for touch money. This REALLY helps with kids who struggle with changing how they count money (from 10's to 5s)

Free Pig Templates: Blank Pig Cards

Stickers:

Another strategy I used was the one shown below. I hot glued different amounts of coins to a craft stick. I used these at our teacher table for students to count. Next week, we will use these as a center and they will record the amounts in their math journals. I have about 6 different sets. I color coded and numbered the sticks for center purposes so I would know which stick the student is recording. I would carry these sticks and if we had down time in the hall or waiting for a resource, I'd pull one out and point to a kiddo to tell me the amount. I also ask them to give me another way to make the SAME amount of money.

We also used these dice to play "toss the amount". The students would take turns tossing the dice. Once they land on an amount, they would make the amount with their coins. Then, they would draw or record the amounts in the recording sheet. I just have them draw a circle with the number inside of what each coin is worth showing they know the value of each coin. You can get the recording sheets here for free.