Lesson Plan: Counting Money

Lesson: Making Amounts Up to 50¢ Using Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, and Quarters & Think, Pair, and Share

Objectives:

·         Students will realize that starting with the coin with the largest value possible will mean that fewest coins will be used.

·         Students will be able to substitute smaller value coins when larger value coins are not available.

Materials:

·         Class set of iPads

·         Count Money Free app set to the appropriate level

·         Socrative Student app with a quiz on making money amounts up to 50¢

·         Interactive white board

Lesson Time: 40 minutes

Procedure:

Before. The teacher sets up the iPad apps so that the will be working on the right level. He/she sets the number of problems the students will work through independently during the lesson. On the day of, he/she sets up the interactive white board and makes sure the touch screen feature is working.

During. The teacher introduces the class to the lesson, stating that the class will be practicing how to make money amounts using pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. The class starts out using the app on the interactive white board first so they can see how it words. Students make suggestions and the teacher drags the appropriate coins together for the first problem. Together the class tries an alternate way to make the same amount. The students then begin to work individually on their iPads. The teacher circulates to check on students’ progress.

Once the students have finished their problem sets, students divide into pairs. The teacher poses a question through the app on the interactive white board and the individual partners must first think of a way to make that amount separately, then share their method with their partner. Each group must come up with two ways to make this amount.  Once the groups are finished, the teacher asks several groups to demonstrate on the interactive white board how they make the amount. Students explain the strategies they used and the teacher may interject with questions to guide students toward noticing patterns (starting with coins with high value means few coins used). Below are some questions that are useful.

·         Why did you start with this coin?

·         How many coins did X use to make this amount?

·         Could you use more/fewer coins to make this amount?

·         What if you started with a different coin?

For each new amount the groups find several ways to make that amount and then share with the class, offering explanations and demonstrating how to count up to the amount. Throughout the process the students and teacher ask questions and make suggestions. As the student become more proficient, the teacher will ask students to identify the method that requires the few coins, the method that requires the most, and what methods work when some coins are unavailable.

After. Students return to their individual iPads to complete a quiz through Socrative. The teacher monitors each student’s progress through Socrative, checking on students who are taking longer than others and analyzing the results. Kids Coin Fun will be available for students to use over the next few weeks.

1.