It’s not always easy to teach (or learn!) the value or coins, but this idea by Teresa, a 1st Grade Teacher from Baconton, GA makes it easier. Memorize the poem below to share with your students and watch their coin comprehension and mastery soar!
Coin Values Memorization
“For teaching money, I teach my students to put dots on their coin illustrations,” explained Teresa. “I tell them that each dot represents 5 and to count the value of the coin, you just count the dots by 5s.”
“To help students remember how many dots each coin gets, I made up a little poem:
A nickel gets one dot,
A dime gets two.
A quarter gets five dots,
And now we’re through!”
“I also teach students that a ‘penny doesn’t get any’ because we count pennies by ones,” she said. “My dotty method allows students an easy way to begin learning the amount of any silver coin. As they master the coin amounts, students do eventually drop the dots. However, for my beginning first graders, this approach works great.”
How do you teach coin values to your students? Share with us in the comments below or on the Really Good Teachers forums!
Mary Lou says
I love the dot idea. I have used Mr. R.’s Coin Songs on You Tube. The catchy songs and visual coin displays make learning about coins fun.