MONEY SMART GRADES PRE-K–2: Educator Guide

Lesson 1: Counting Coins

TOPIC: Understanding Money

OVERVIEW

This lesson helps students learn the basics of money while having fun with coins. Students will read children's books, solve story problems, and do hands-on activities like naming, sorting, and counting coins. This helps them connect real coins and bills to the idea of using money to buy things. Teachers can keep exploring money all year long with fun activities students can do alone or in small groups.

OBJECTIVES

1. Explain what money is used for
2. Look at and talk about the history of money
3. Explain different ways money can be used
4. Name, sort, and count coins and bills

HANDOUTS

• Play Money

TEACHER PRESENTATION SLIDES

• Timeline: The History of Money
• Mixed Coins
• Story Problems: Counting Coins

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• What is money?
• What does money look like?
• How long has money been used?
• How is money different today than it was in the past?
• Where can I use money?
• Where does money come from?
• How is money different in other places?

ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

Before the Lesson:

• Activity: Talking About Money
• Activity: The History of Money

After the Lesson:

• Handout: Play Money
• Story Problems: Counting Coins slide
• Activity: Class Reflection

Time: 65 minutes

Supplies:

• One penny
• Chart paper
• Art supplies (crayons, colored pencils, markers, scissors, tape, glue)
• Projector (for teacher slides)
• Internet access (optional)
• Suggested books (optional):
• One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money by Bonnie Worth
• The Penny Pot by Stuart J. Murphy
• The Coin Counting Book by Rozanne Lanczak Williams
• If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz

Getting Ready:

• Make copies of the student handout
• Set up the projector with the slides

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Start by finding out what students already know about money.

Ask students: What is money?

After students share their ideas, explain that money is something we use to buy things (like food, books, and toys) or services (like haircuts, doctor visits, and movies).

Show students a dollar bill and ask what it could buy. Then ask what $10 or $100 could buy. Ask students what things or services they would buy, and how much each item might cost. Make a list on chart paper of their answers, such as games or food. Ask for specific examples.

MONEY SMART TIP!

Many young students see money being spent digitally today. They often watch adults use debit or ATM cards, or buy things online. Because of this, kids sometimes think a coin's value depends on its size. Learning to tell coins apart by their look, size, name, and value helps students connect real objects to numbers and value. This will help them understand money better later, even digital money.

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Instruction Steps

WARM UP

Talking About Money — 5 minutes

The History of Money in the U.S. — 10 minutes

Optional game: Give each student one sticker or crayon, using different styles or colors. Tell them they have two minutes to keep their item or trade with classmates. Then ask: How many of you traded your item? How did you decide what to trade for? If you traded, do you like your new item more?

TEACHER TIPS:

• Look for ways to adjust activities for your students' grade level throughout this lesson.
• Connect ideas like borrowing and lending to things that already happen in your classroom. This helps young students understand money ideas using things they already know.
• Make time to explore the books and websites mentioned in this lesson.

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Show the Timeline: The History of Money slide. It shows how money has changed over time.

Explain that long ago, people traded goods and services directly. This is called bartering—trading one thing for another instead of using money. Give students an example: in the past, people might trade fish for rabbits, or baskets for blankets. Bartering lets people trade for what they want or need, but each person has to agree the items are equal in value.

Ask students: Have you ever traded with a friend?

Explain that money has changed a lot over time. Bartering could take a long time. If someone didn't want what you had to trade, it was hard to get what you needed. So people started trading common items that everyone agreed had value, like beads, shells, metals, or gems. Money used to come in many sizes, shapes, and materials. If people traded metals or gems, they had to weigh and measure them. Today, we don't have to do that—everyone uses the same kind of money. In the U.S., dollar bills are made of paper, and coins are made of metal. Paper money has pictures of past presidents and other important people from history. Banks keep our money safe so we don't have to carry a lot of cash around. People can also use debit and ATM cards to get money from their bank account, or buy things online.

Grade Level Tips:

Pre-K–K: Sort real objects from the History of Money slide by how they are alike or different (shells, coins, play money). Students can explain their reasons for sorting, like grouping by color or material. You can also talk about how things in the classroom or community change over time.

Grades 1–2: Have students make their own timeline of money's history using items from the slide. For a challenge, students can look at the "Story of Money" from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta for more examples to add to their timeline (www.frbatlanta.org/about/tours/story-of-money.aspx).

TIMELINE: The History of Money

• Past: Tea, spices, shells, beads
• Then: Gems, precious metals, coins
• Present: Money today

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Next, show the Mixed Coins slide so students can look closely at modern coins. Ask them to describe how the coins are different in size and picture.

Grade Level Tips:

Pre-K–K: As a class, name the coins shown on the slide (pennies, nickels, dimes, and so on). Students can use bags of real coins and hold up the matching coin.

Grades 1–2: Circle or highlight two or more coins on the slide and have students figure out their total value. Students can also look at money from other countries and compare it to U.S. money. It's interesting to notice that in some countries, bills are different colors and sizes.

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GUIDED EXPLORATION

Discovering the Purpose of Money — 15 minutes

After learning about money's history, tell students they will create their own story about money. Give each student a piece of construction paper and have them fold it in half. On the top half, have them finish this sentence: "I would spend money today on ___________." On the bottom half, have them finish this sentence: "I would like to save money for _________."

Grade Level Tips:

Pre-K–K: Help students by cutting out magazine pictures for them to glue on instead of writing. They can also tell their story out loud while a teacher or volunteer writes it down.

Grades 1–2: Have students write a short story using the sentence starters, plus this extra question: What would you do if you found $10? What about $100?

Optional: Read the book One Cent, Two Cents, Old Cent, New Cent: All About Money by Bonnie Worth. While reading, ask students what the Cat in the Hat learns about money. Students can also compare the pictures in the book to what they saw on the History of Money slide.

Ask:

• What does money look like in different places?
• What did people use as money in the past?
• How does money look different today?

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Using Coins and Bills — 20 minutes

Play a whole-class game called "I Am Going on a Shopping Trip" to help students connect coins and bills to their value. Each student takes a turn saying, "I am going on a shopping trip, and I am going to buy _________."

Grade Level Tips:

Pre-K–K: Write each student's answer on chart paper, showing them how writing works.

Grades 1–2: Repeat each student's earlier answer to add a memory challenge to the game.

After the game, give each student a Play Money handout. Provide art supplies so they can design their own bills. This handout can also be finished at home. When done, students can cut out their bill and coins to use for pretend shopping trips at home. Explain that saving money is another way to use it.

Short video: Designing Money (PreK–2). Kids design, create, and name their own money, and decide what it's worth. Also try Read a Good Book: Currency, from Iowa Public Television's KIDS Clubhouse Adventures.
https://whut.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/a8879ce0-5c0d-420a-8e11-72adf8f9adf0/read-a-good-book-currency-iptv-kids-clubhouse/

Grade Level Tips:

Pre-K–K: Let students practice cutting skills as they cut out the coins and their own bill. They can describe the coins and bill while cutting, comparing them to real money.

Grades 1–2: Have students look at examples of U.S. bills and bills from other countries, noticing the colors and pictures. You can find pictures of different money online. Bills often use warm colors (red, yellow, gold) or cool colors (blue, green, purple). Encourage students to decorate their bill with pictures of people or places that matter to them, using warm or cool colors.

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WRAP UP

Class Reflection — 5 minutes

Ask students: What do you now know about money?

Let students share their answers. Check that they understand the lesson, and consider adding more activities about money later.

Counting Coins — 10 minutes

Students can use small bags of real or play coins to solve pretend shopping problems, like making small purchases. You can repeat this activity throughout the year so students get comfortable counting cents and dollars. Play coins should be bigger than 2 inches across to avoid choking hazards.

Grade Level Tips:

Pre-K–K: Practice sorting coins by size and color. Ask students to show you a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a quarter. Have them count their pennies and share the total with a partner.

Grades 1–2: Practice sorting coins by value. Imagine shopping for an item, and have students make that amount of money or figure out change from a purchase.

Example: You had 50 cents and spent 30 cents. How much money do you have left? Try showing different amounts using coins or bills. For example, if today is the 16th, use coins to show the number 16.