March already? Currently, money, and a freebie!

My friends ... I know you're just as shocked as I am that it's MARCH already! Seriously, weren't we just decking out our classrooms in hearts, candy, and cupids for Valentines day?! But.. I'll take it! March means SPRING is around the corner! It also means, time to link up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for another adorable Currently!

 

 

Well, my class has been knee deep in money throughout all of February... If only it weren't plastic money! We've been working *so* hard on this whole money thing!  My kids have been counting coins like crazy and becoming serious money problem solvers.  P.S. Money word problems are HARD!  I have enjoyed teaching money because you can get really hands on with it. My kids loved using the coin manipulatives to explore the concepts we learned.  Here's some fun stuff we've been doing!

 

We started our unit by exploring a coin a day - Penny through Half Dollar! They learned the little poem/song that goes with each coin to help them remember the attributes and they got to do some detailed exploration of each of the coins using manipulatives!

 

 

At the end of the week, we made this flapbook to review what we learned and to have as a study tool for the rest of our unit!  They wrote the value of each coin, colored in the Heads and Tails , told whether or not the coin had ridges, and finally practiced counting them!

 

Once we had a good grasp on recognizing coins and their values, we were ready to start counting coins in a set!  My kids *LOVED* this game!! They roll the dice and land on a coin.  They then have to NAME the coin and COLLECT it!  At the end of the game, they have to count up their coins and the person with the largest value is the winner.  Seriously big hit in our room!

 

 

And then today, we practiced (Hands-on, might I add!) using the least amount of coins to make an amount!  I wrote an amount up on the Promethean Board, and the kids have to sift through a huge pile of coins and bills to make that amount using the smallest number of coins possible!  It was a good way for me to see who gets it and who needs a little more help before next week's test! 

 

 

 

Wish you could see that little guy's face! He is so adorable! 
If you would like to use any of the activities above in your classroom -- Click the picture below to check out the pack in my TPT store!  It's got lots of other goodies that I didn't get a picture of (Word Problems, Matching Games, Sorting Mats, Craftivities, and More!)

 

 

 

OKAY, whew! Last but not least, I wanted to let you guys know that I finished up my March Math Journals (I blog about math journals... uhh... all time time! I still haven't gotten tired of them!) These are ready to be copied, cut, and glued into notebooks! :) We are starting ours next week!! Click the Picture below to check them out.

 

 

  Here's a freebie from these journals all ready for you to use with your kiddos! :)