I've said it many times before: the SINGLE most difficult skill I teach in first grade is counting combinations of coins up to $1.00. As a first grade team, we have determined it to be our goal for the last three years, and we've purchased big magnetic money to help teach it. We've also added smartboard lessons and activities to help, and added a title 1 math paraprofessional. However, it is still the most difficult thing we teach and many student still struggle with this skill. (I have noticed that there is no sign of teaching money during 1st grade in the upcoming common core content standards, but until now it has been our curriculum so we have done our best to help students learn it.)
Think about it: what do you need to know to fluently count coins together? Many abstract concepts put together at once!
-the value of each coin
-how to sort them and count them in order of value from highest to lowest
-how to count on from a value by 25, by 10, by 5, or by 1 (in your head!)
By the way, it is also very confusing for 5 and 6 year old students that a dime is physically smaller than a nickel, yet it is worth more!
Think about it: what do you need to know to fluently count coins together? Many abstract concepts put together at once!
-the value of each coin
-how to sort them and count them in order of value from highest to lowest
-how to count on from a value by 25, by 10, by 5, or by 1 (in your head!)
By the way, it is also very confusing for 5 and 6 year old students that a dime is physically smaller than a nickel, yet it is worth more!
About four years ago, I discovered this model of teaching money, and it has helped with the teaching of coins. Students take tiles that are physically the number of square of the value, place them on a number chart, and pull them off one at a time as they count. This example would be:
Pull first quarter off: number 25 is exposed, so say "25" then the next quarter, "50" then a dime for "60", and three nickels for "65, 70, 75", and finally three pennies for "76, 77, 78."
The visual representation (model) matches the counting we are asking them to do. It makes more "cents!"
Pull first quarter off: number 25 is exposed, so say "25" then the next quarter, "50" then a dime for "60", and three nickels for "65, 70, 75", and finally three pennies for "76, 77, 78."
The visual representation (model) matches the counting we are asking them to do. It makes more "cents!"