1-2-3 Come Do Some Coin Activities With Me

Today's blog features some of my favorite coin activities, which will help your students learn to identify the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar. 

Use them for your coin studies, or plug them in with your Presidents' Day lessons.

In the Poster & Game Packet,  I’ve included pocket chart cards, flashcards, strip puzzles, large posters showing both the front and back of the coin, plus “How Many?” posters, which show how many pennies make up each coin.

There are also cards to play Memory Match and “I Have; Who Has?” games, as well as several “I Spy a Coin!” whole-group game sheets, which can be used as an assessment too.

I've included smaller versions of the posters, plus a bookmark, that students can keep in their math journals to use as a reference tool, plus  a certificate of praise for 4 as well as 6 coins, with two size options.  

Another way to quickly and easily reinforce coins is with the "Coins On A Roll"  Dice Game Bookmark packet.  

You can explain the directions, or hang up the rebus poster.
Afterwards, they have a nice bookmark to keep in their math journals.  

I truly believe that when children really take a look at the various coins, checking out similarities and differences, that they will latch on to information that helps them remember which coin is which.

A visually fun way to do that, at the same time getting in some comparison-contrast writing, is with a Venn diagram.

Children can work independently, with a partner or in small groups to analyze and evaluate each coin using the various Venn diagram worksheets.

For younger students, do this as a whole group activity, where they come up with the answers and you jot them on the worksheet. 

The 45, "Fix The Sentence" cards, are also an interesting way to review coins, and practice reading, as the cards are packed with  Dolch sight words.

They are a quick, easy and fun way to review all sorts of facts about US coins, which will help students differentiate, so that they can remember which coin is which. 

At the same time students are practicing end punctuation and capitalization, along with a few math concepts.

There are a variety of sentences that need a period, exclamation point or question mark.
Proper nouns, as well as the first word, need to be capitalized as well. Have students use a dry erase marker to make corrections.

After you read and correct the sentences as a whole group, have children choose X number of mini cards to fix independently, by writing the sentences correctly.  

Finally, I designed Lincoln's Log Cabin.  It features a brand new, shiny penny to help reinforce the fact that Lincoln's face is on that coin. 

Older students can practice skip counting by 5s or 10s (the logs are numbered), while PK kiddos use the logs that are numbered 1-10.

I’ve also included 4 worksheets, as well as 2 writing prompts, along with blank templates so you can mix math with literacy.

Assign a prompt, give students a choice, or have them make up their own, gluing their completed worksheet to the back of Lincoln’s log cabin.

For a nice hallway display, punch a hole at the top and suspend from the ceiling. 

Today's FREEBIE is a set of "I Spy" a letter worksheets, featuring Abe Lincoln and uppercase letters, as well as George Washington and lowercase letters.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you found something useful here to help enhance your study of coins and Presidents.

"Money won't create success, the freedom to make it will." -Nelson Mandela

1-2-3 Come Do Some Presidents' Day Activities With Me  

Because February is packed with so many special celebrations, I do President's Day throughout the week and tie Presidents in with our study of coins. 

Recognizing a penny, nickel, dime and quarter are part of our report card standards, so I designed some quick, easy and fun ways to practice. 

Here are four of my students' favorities. 

The coin “Popsicle stick puppet paddles” are a simple way for me to review various facts about the coins, as well as whole-group assess.

Students need just two Popsicle sticks, as they glue the penny & nickel back-to-back, and the dime and quarter back-to-back.

Since size is one of the ways my kiddos differentiate the coins, I designed the coins on a background circle.

Children color, cut and glue to the top of two different colored Popsicle sticks.  I’ve included small, medium, and large pattern choices.

They can simply write the names of the coins right on the sticks using a marker, or have them trace, trim and glue the labels.

Teacher reads clues from the poster.  Kiddos hold up their coin “puppet paddle” when they know which coin is being described.  You can see at a glance who is having difficulty.     

Number puzzles are a quick, easy and fun way for students to practice sequencing numbers from 1 to 10, counting backwards from 10 to 1, as well as skip counting by 2s, 3s, 5s & 10s.

By featuring a penny, nickle, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar coin on the puzzles, they are also a way to reinforce differences, to help students identify and remember the various coins.

Print, laminate & trim and use as an independent math center.  I've also included trace & write ones as well, so that students can color & cut up their own puzzle. There are 42 coin puzzle options in all. 

Next up, is the "Money Matters Mobile".    There’s nothing like a “hands on” craft to get my students excited about learning something new.  This craftivity will help your kiddos learn to identify the fronts and backs of coins.

I’ve also included coin templates for the half dollar and dollar, and scanned in a real dollar bill, then adjusted it to use as a header for our mobile, giving our “dangler” a bit more color. 

Finally, the "Flipping Over Coins" is another crafty option.  I truly believe this visual helps students differentiate, helping them to remember which coins are which.

I not only wanted my kiddos to be able to identify the coins, but tell a little bit about them. In so doing, they have additional ways to remember each one.

I've included a variety of options for you to choose from, including a 4-coin flip up, as well as one with 5 coins.

Students color, cut and glue the coins to the front, then snip on the dashed lines to make a "flap" which they flip up to reveal the name, color and value of each coin, as well as which president appears on the coin.

Finally, they tally how much it's worth, as a fun way to get in a little more math practice.  

Today's featured FREEBIE is a sweet "You are cent-sational" craft, which would be fun for students to make after they have learned to identify all of the coins.  

To add some writing, have students write why they feel they are "cent-sational" on the back.  To tie the craft into Presidents' Day, have them choose a President that they felt was awesome and write why they think he was the best.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  The wind is howling outside my office window, but the sun is shining in; so I might venture out in this 2 degree weather, or not . . . Wishing you a super-duper day.

"Believe you can and you're half-way there." - Teddy Roosevelt

1-2-3 Come Study Coins With Me

I'm always looking for quick, easy and fun ways to study the various standards and still include my theme. 

With that in mind, I designed this Christmas tree craft, that's decorated with coins. (penny, nickel, dime & quarter).

Run the tree template off on green construction paper, or use white and have students color.
Children pick a partner and take turns rolling the dice four times.

Their 1st roll equals how many penny ornaments they will glue to their tree, the 2nd roll is for nickels and so on.

Students color, cut and glue the matching number of coins to their tree.
This way, each tree will be trimmed differently.

After they are done “decorating” their tree, older students complete their math worksheet by adding up the total value of their tree, writing that on the star or trunk.

I’ve also provided a worksheet where students break down the total of each coin.

For more advanced math practice, have everyone share their total, write them on the board, and figure out how much all of the trees are worth.

Also included, are several worksheet options for different levels of study, including one that reinforces color words.  The photographs of completed samples help clarify things.

Completed projects make an awesome bulletin board too. Caption: "Cent-sational Math Work".  

Click on the link to zip over to my TpT shop to have a look: Christmas Money Tree

The other money activity that goes hand-in-hand with this one, is my "Christmas Cookie Dough" packet. 

The packet includes an emergent reader, with several options for you to choose from, including 2 sizes.

The first one is a “cut & glue” the appropriate coin to the page, the other version already features a picture of the coin.

Students read the simple sentences, filled with 20 Dolch sight words. I’ve switched up the pronouns for that teachable moment as well.

They trace & write the coin words, as well as the values, and color words, then color the cookies accordingly.

I’ve also included a “Sum Cookies” craftivity, which makes an awesome interactive bulletin board, or wall display.

Children choose which cookies they want, then color, cut and arrange them on their aluminum foil “cookie sheet”. When they are satisfied with how things look, they glue their cookies down.

Using the “cookie key” or referring to the pocket chart cards, students figure out the price of all of the cookies on their cookie sheet, writing an equation showing the price of each cookie, then adding to solve the problem.

I’ve included a spatula to show their work, which is attached to their cookie sheet.
When everyone is done, collect and number the cookie sheets, then display them, along with the spatula answers.

For more math practice have children figure out how much the various sheets of cookies cost, writing their equations and solutions on the worksheet.

Students can do one a day, or however many you want them to do. They check their work, by flipping up the spatula flap.

Finally, there’s a cookie matching game. Depending on ability, students simply match a cookie to a cookie.

Older kiddos can match a cookie with its value, to the matching coin card, and/or the coin word card.

There’s also a certificate of praise as well: “When it comes to coins, you’re one smart cookie!” 

Today's FREEBIE also features coin identification.   It's a set of poster-poems. I hope you find them useful.

Well that's it for today. All this talk of cookies, brought on the cravings. 

Time to grab a mug of milk and dunk my favorite--chocolate chip . . .  Wishing you a delicious December.

"Never spend your money before you have earned it." -Thomas Jefferson

 1-2-3 Come Do Some Coin Activities With Me!

Since President's Day is in February, I did a lot of coin related activities with my students during that month.  We learned a bit about our US presidents at the same time practicing coin identification.

I made up a set of coin anchor chart posters that you may find helpful. Print them off; mount on a variety of colors of construction paper; laminate and then affix a real coin using a glue dot.  They make a nice bulletin board, as well as giant flashcards.

The packet also includes entire sheets of each coin, so that you can make manipulatives, games, and math centers. 

There are also separate templates for each coin featuring the head and tail side. Simply fold, cut, glue and laminate.  Punch a hole at the top and suspend them from the ceiling. 

Several coin conversion posters are included as well.  i.e. How many pennies make up each coin?  This anchor chart is a fun way to practice skip counting by 10s, as I made lots of groups of ten pennies.

Another visual that I use is a coin Venn diagram.  I believe that if a child has to compare and contrast the coins, it will help them identify them as separate units. 

You can do these as a whole group, as an independent worksheet or partner activity.  I pass out real coins for children to examine.  Completed projects make a nice bulletin board.  Making a coin Venn diagram also helps reinforce descriptive writing, as children use lots of adjectives while comparing.

Since putting a puzzle together, was one of our Y5's standards, as well as counting backwards from 10 to 1 and skip counting by 10s, I designed these coin-themed number puzzles. 

Print and laminate for an independent center, or run them off and give children a choice.  They color, trim, mix up their pieces and then put their puzzle together.  For an interesting mosaic craftivity, have students glue their pieces to a sheet of construction paper, leaving a small space in-between each piece.

Ten frames are also wonderful for visual learners.  With that in mind, I designed a set of 10 frames for pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, plus extra tiles of each, so you can run them off and use them as manipulatives. Click on the link to view/download the 10 Frames Coin Packet.

There's nothing like saying "Would you like to play a game?" to grab your students' attention.  I used dice to help my Y5's  subitize, (Quickly identify how many in a group, without having to count.) so I designed the Coins On A Roll dice game. 

Simply run off the coin bookmarks.  Students pick a partner and take turns rolling the dice.  If they roll a one they color in the penny.  If they roll a two, they color in the second coin, which is a nickel and so on.   However, if someone rolls a six, they lose their turn. 

The first child who colors in all of the coins on ther bookmark is the winner.  The game is also a nice opportunity to review ordinal numbers as well. Before the game starts, ask children what the first coin is, the last coin, third coin etc. is.  Later, when children are done playing the game, for a quick whole-group assessment, have them cover the names of the coins and ask them to: "Point to the penny."  "Now point to the quarter." and so on.  Click on the link to view/download the Coins On A Roll dice game.

If your school requires you to send homework home, or if you need some coin-themed worksheets for early finishers to do, click on the link to view/download the 10-page Coin Worksheet packet. These are also great for Daily 5 word work or a sub folder.  

For a more advanced activity, students can make a Flip For Facts File Folder. They are a simple and effective way to introduce research to early elementary students.  Children search for interesting facts Online, choose their favorites, and then put them into their own words. 

As with my other flip for facts file folders, I've included several pages of how to explain citations to your kiddos. Helpful links are also provided.  The Flip For Facts File Folders are a nice pre-cursor to writing a report. 

Finally, to help review coin facts as well as grammar, I designed 30 coin-themed grammar cards. Students circle letters that should be capitalized and add end punctuation. 

You can do this with a pocket chart and call on students, or pass one card out to each child, to correct with a dry erase marker. 

After eveyone has shared their card, have students choose 3-6 cards and rewrite the sentences correctly.  This is a great Daily 5 word work activity.

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting. I hope you found a few things to help make learning about coins a bit more fun. 

For all of my FREE coin activities, click on the link to zip on over to the money section of TeachWithMe.com

The wind is howling outside my window, so it's time for a well-deserved hot cocoa break.  Wishing you a warm and snuggly day.

"Money isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen, on the 'gotta have it' scale." -Zig Ziglar

1-2-3 Come Do Some Coin Activities With Me

Since our money features US Presidents, and Presidents Day is in February, I started our study of coins during this time.  Our week of President-themed activities, particularly Washington and Lincoln, made them aware of these famous individuals, so they could then recognize them on our currency.

Being able to identify coins and their value, was one of my Y5's report card standards.  This was not all that easy for some of my kiddos.  I think one of the reasons things were confusing, is that they felt the nickel should be worth more than a dime, simply because it was larger.

I found that the best way to help my students identify coins, was to plan a variety of activities that immersed them in hands-on activities.

Through discovering and explaining the differences when they "played" with the coins, (sorting by size and color; making patterns, flipping them and making tally marks, playing games, singing songs, as well as making crafts) the light bulb eventually came on.

To help my students with recognition, I designed a set of coin posters that show the front and back of the coin as well as how much they are worth.  Print them off and mount them on construction paper and then laminate.  Gluing a real coin to the posters is also helpful.

I've included several pages of coin conversion worksheets, as well as a template of each coin, so that you can run off manipulatives for your students.

Another set of anchor charts are the Coin Poster Poems .  My students quickly learned the chants with just a few repetitions. 

These really helped them remember the value of the coins. Click on the link to view/download the Coin Poster Poems

Making a Venn diagram is also a quick, easy and fun way for students to compare coins. I've made one for each type of combination for a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar.  Click on the link to view/download the coin Venn diagram packet.

To be able to use size as a comparison, I had my students make the small-medium and large "sorting coins" craftivity.

Another way for them to see size differences was by making a Coin Flip Booklet. 

Each month my Y5's enjoyed making a flip booklet of some sort.  I think it was the secretive and surprise element of discovering something hidden under a flap that they found intriguing. 

The Coin Flip Booklet, helped them see the size differences of the coins as they colored, cut and glued them to the front, arranging them from smallest to largest.

We'd discuss the other attributes of the coins , jot the answers on the board, and then students would write these facts underneath the appropriate flap, referring to the board for spelling help.  

I also wanted to review tally marks as an easy way for children to practice the value of the coins.  To help my kiddos remember how to make tally marks, I made a visual for them and hung it on our white board. 

Using glue dots, I glued 4 Popsicle sticks of one color on a sheet of construction paper, numbered them and then crossed the 5^th one over using a different color stick.  I demonstrated this in front of them and then left the poster up.

The coin "flip" book activity, was an excellent segue to flipping a coin and keeping track via tally marks, so once again, I'd refer to the Popsicle stick tally mark poster. 

Students chose a partner and flipped a penny as many times as they could for 30-seconds, making tally marks each time they flipped heads, and each time they flipped tails, then we'd review our results.

Click on the link to view/download the "It makes 'cents' to _________ " Coin Flip Booklet.

I also used Popsicle sticks to make coin "puppet paddles."  I find that students learn so much better with manipulatives, all the more if they make their own, because they are reinforcing concepts as they put their projects together. 

Not only will your kiddos enjoy making their coin paddles, they'll have fun playing the "What am I?" coin game.  It's interesting for them, and a quick and easy way for you to whole-group assess as well. 

Run off the coin templates on white construction paper.  Students color, cut and glue their paper coins to the top of a Popsicle stick.  Have them glue the penny and nickel back-to-back and the dime and quarter back-to-back. 

The photo shows the front as well as the back of the coin sticks.  This way you can review all 4 coins, but your students only have to manipulate 2 paddles. 

I made a set with real coins for me to use, so that students were able to see the real coins as we played the game.  I used 4 different Popsicle sticks.

After I gave the clues, I would hold up the appropriate coin paddle and ask: "Do you have the penny paddle showing?" so that students could self-correct before moving on to the next coin.

I've included a page of clues that you read one at a time.  When students think they have identified the coin, they raise their coin paddle, so that the correct coin faces the teacher.

As the teacher continues to read the clues, students can change their mind one time, but not after the teacher reads: "What am I?"  With just a glance, you can see who has the correct answer.  Play continues 'til you have given all of the coin clues.   

Have students keep their coin sticks in their desks/cubbies, so that you can play the game daily/weekly. When the novelty has worn off, or when students can identify the coins they can take them home.

You can also use the coin paddles to help students with spatial directions.  i.e. "Hold the penny paddle in your left hand. Show me the quarter stick in your right hand. Put the dime beside the nickel etc."

Likewise, you can review body parts and have children put the penny on their thigh, the nickel on their wrist, the dime on their hip etc.  Click on the link to view/download the Coin Popsicle Stick Puppets. 

Finally, once your students can identify all of the coins, reward them with a certificate of praise.  Click on the link to grab it.

Thanks for visiting today.  Be sure and stop back tomorrow for lots  more coin FREEBIES.  Feel free to PIN away.

"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years." -Abraham Lincoln

Learning About President Lincoln, President Washington and Money All Rolled Into A Few Fun Art Activities

February 20^th is just around the corner when government agencies will be closed for President’s Day.

After Valentine’s Day I take a few days to study Washington and Lincoln, and add the color blue to our red and white décor for a patriotic look.

It’s also the time I launch our coin studies, as these two famous gents are on our money.

Making mobiles is an easy and fun center activity, that quickly creates a great hallway decoration, as they dangle from the middle of the ceiling or twirl as a border against the wall.

They help reinforce shapes, listening and following spatial directions and are a wonderful way for students to learn facts, as they compare and contrast the lives of these legendary presidents.

All of these mobiles can be found in my February Art and Activities Book.

Click on the link to view/download it.

The Money Mobile is one of my personal favorites and a terrific way for your students to review all of the coins at once.

I find if children do hands-on projects where they can compare and contrast coins, they are able to identify them more easily when they are assessed.

Arranging them from smallest to largest also helps them get this fact in their mind.

Little ones seem to think that because a dime is worth 10 cents, it should be larger than a nickel and penny.

Cutting, gluing and then coloring the “Coin ID Sort” helps them with this.  Click on the link to view/down load Coin Identification Sort

The Lincoln and Washington Information Mobile, helps students learn a few facts about the presidents; Lincoln is on one side, Washington is on the other side.

The same is true of the paper chain mobile, which helps reinforce patterning.

I’ve made money poster-poems that you can put up in your room/read to your students.

I found the poems all over the Web so I don’t know who to give credit to.   If you know the originator, please drop me a line so I can credit the source.

I revamped the 50 cent one as fries are no longer that price, and also changed the dollar because of ITunes.

Click on the link to view/download the Coin Poster Poems

I've also made coin certificates when your students have mastered identifying them as well as being able to name them.

Since these are two different standards, I've made certificates for both. 

Our Y5's do not have to identfy the quarter, but I've included  certificates with the quarter on them as well. Click on the link to view/download them. Coin Certificates

For your convenience I’ve posted last year’s President’s Day article after this one, so you don’t have to hunt through the archives for more tips.

If you're looking for coloring pages of the presidents,  Lil Fingers has all of them! Click on the link to check out their selection. 

They also have coloring pages for all of the coins too. 

I use coloring pages to make a variety of skill sheets like Pinch and Pokes, bingo dot a pattern, dot-to-dots, I Spy a Number etc.

Be sure and pop back tomorrow for more fun teaching tips.