Friday, June 15, 2012

Mad over Money: Pictures, ideas, and freebies!

Hey ya'll. I got to thinking the other day...what concepts did my students struggle with most this past year? What could I have done better? What do I want to do different next year? And one came to me - Money!

Am I the only one whose students had a difficult time with this concept? I remember one distinct time, I had 4 pennies in one hand and 1 nickel in the other. I asked my kinders which one was the most (value). What did they all say...the 4 pennies because it has more. I had to explain, "No....the 1 nickel is more because a nickel is worth 5 cents." It's tough for them to get! So - I began searching Pinterest, blogs, TpT, etc. to try to find new strategies for me to approach this concept with next year. Here is what I've compiled/made! 
*Please note that some of these ideas are not original and are gathered from online sources. For those ideas, I have given credit. Thank you!*
This is a great beginning concept: sorting money. I bought this tray at the Dollar Tree and put this activity together in no time. Read more from this previous post {here}.
Thesee are my little coin posters! I laminate them, hang them up, and sing them often. You can download them for FREE at my TpT store
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I found this pocket chart on Pinterest. It's basically my coin poems on sentence strips. But I loved the idea. Students can match the money to the poems, heads/tails, etc. I thought it would be a great interchangeable work station. Source: Under the Big Top
I found these great books on TpT and the best part, they're free! These sweet little books are courtesy of Klassy Kinders. I will be downloading these and using them next year when introducing money. 
Hello fuzzy! I LOVE this idea - super smart. All you need to do is take dollar bills and place dot stickers on top and laminate! Students will place the equivalent coin amount on top! Source: E is for Explore
While we're on that topic, I made coin mats to teach this tricky skill. Just click the image to grab from google docs. You can hold up the mat and introduce the coin, then transition into which coins add up to make other coins. For example, 2 dimes and 1 nickel = a quarter.
What about this one? How many of you all have seen this game? Kathleen's "I like Money!" My students LOVE everything about this. Literally, my students fought over who would play this. ha ha Hop over to her blog and read more about it. You MUST make this and put it on your Summer 2012 to do list! 

So that's just the tip of the ice berg. ha I've found a LOT! How do YOU teach this difficult skill? I hope you enjoy some of my ideas and freebies. Leave me some feedback if so, please. I enjoy reading your comments and appreciate all of my sweet bloggy friends! Have a happy weekend!

13 comments:

Jill said...

I DETEST teaching money. My second graders came in this year counting money like pros and I have no idea how their first grade teacher did it because she retired!

Thanks for all of these ideas! I definitely need to look into them for next year. :)

Marvelous Multiagers!

S said...

I'm in Australia and teaching money is no easier over here! I decided to create individual piggy banks as a rewards system. This has really helped my kids as they have to count different amounts of coins and tell me the total. If they buy something from the class shop, they have to tell me how much money they have left over. It is only one strategy but it seems to be helping reinforce concepts!

Shanyn
Coffee, Kids and Compulsive Lists

beachliesl said...

These are GREAT! I agree about starting money earlier---and our district is switching around the Everyday Math things that we teach, so this will be perfect for both. Thanks for including the download--LOVE them all!!

Liesl
http://wildworldofkindergarten.blogspot.com/

Lisa R. said...

Thanks for the resources on money! Money is such a hard concept to teach 1st graders. I didn't have to teach it for a few years, but now with my friend common core coming into the picture, we do have to teach it in my grade level again. I appreciate any help my blogger friends can give me!
Lisa
Learning Is Something to Treasure

The Colorful Apple said...

I like the idea of putting the dots on the dollar bills. Great visual!

Sara :)
Smiling In Second Grade

Kindertrips said...

This post is fantastic! I will need to come back to it when I teach money.
Thanks for compiling it all in one place.
www.kindertrips.blogspot.com

Katie said...

I just found your blog and I'm glad I did. These money ideas are great. My students struggled so much with money last year. I'm looping with them next year, so this is definitely a concept I want to reinforce at the beginning of the year. I love the "I like Money!" game. I pinned it awhile back and totally forgot about ti!

Katie

Dirty Hands and Lesson Plans

Elisabeth said...

Thanks for the money mats- I love the visual of what equals each coin! One thing that helped me with money this year was introducing the coins the very first week of school through our calendar routine and coin song. The previous year I didn't do this and introduced them mid year. It was pretty rough. Only one of our kindergarten teachers taught money this past year so props to you kindergarten teachers introducing money! :)

Tales of An Elementary Teacher

Vickie said...

I am so glad we started common core last year...money is not a standard now until 2nd grade, which is much more developmentally appropriate. I still do money everyday with my calendar just as an "extra," so they've at least seen it. Definitely going to pass your great ideas along to our 2nd grade team :)
Vickie
Mrs. Plant's Press

Wolfelicious said...

Great post, thanks for sharing these great resources for teaching money.

april
Wolfelicious

Tonya said...

My kids struggled with money too....3rd graders:(

I love your blog and I am your newest follower:) Come check me out when you can!

Tonya
Tonya’s Treats for Teachers

Michelle Rist said...

Great collection of money ideas! Thank you for sharing!

Heather's Heart said...

Thank you so much for these great money ideas! A post on money is on my list this summer...I hope you can get some ideas from me too!

I would love for you to come check out my HUGE Pete the Cat giveaway. There are some really awesome prizes. =)


Heather
Heather's Heart