Young bankers and storekeepers practice counting money and making change. They keep their money in this recycled-box bank.

• 1.

  In many countries, coins come in several different denominations. Each coin has a specific size and design that makes it distinct. Examine a U.S. penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and half-dollar closely (or similar coins in any currency). With Crayola® Colored Pencils, write and draw the pictures and words you see on each coin. Find out about the presidents or other images on the coins' faces.

• 2.

  Each coin represents a specific amount of money. Place a penny on the table. Next to the penny, place one Crayola Crayon. Place a nickel on the table, with five Crayola Crayons, and so on for each coin. Show that you know the relationship between one coin and another by trading five pennies (five crayons) for a nickel (five crayons) and making similar exchanges.

• 3.

  Trace your coins with Crayola Metallic FX Crayons, and write the correct denomination on the front and back of each coin (10 cents for a dime, 25 cents for a quarter). Make several coins of each denomination. Use Crayola Scissors to cut out each coin.

• 4.

  Decorate an envelope with Crayola Washable Markers to hold your coins. Use numerals, symbols, and pictures for money.

• 5.

  Find a recycled shoe box to make one or more class banks for your coin envelopes. Cover the box with construction paper. Cut paper decorations or draw symbols of money on the bank. Use a Crayola Glue Stick to attach the cover and its decorations. Label the box lid with the name of your bank.

• 6.

  Set up a pretend business, such as a store, restaurant, bank, or outdoor market in your classroom. Use your coins to pay for your purchases and make change.

Standards

• LA: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
• LA: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
• LA: Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.
• MATH: Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
• MATH: Read and write numbers to 1000 using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
• VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

Adaptations

• Possible classroom resources include: Ancient Coins Were Shaped Like Hams: and Other Freaky Facts About Coins, Bills, and Counterfeiting by Barbara Seuling; Pigs Will Be Pigs: Fun with Math and Money by Amy Axelrod; The Coin Counting Book by Rozanne Lanczak Williams