Counting and Adding: Penny For Your Thoughts

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling

• Tell students that in order to count pennies, each one has the value of one, therefore pennies are counted consecutively.
• Place ten pennies where they may be seen by all students.
• Count the ten pennies aloud.
• Allow the student to repeat after you.
• Remove some of the pennies and practise counting together again to determine the correct amount.
• Continue to add and remove pennies, changing the amount.
• Allow the student to count the amount of pennies collectively without teacher support.
• Once the students have mastered counting the pennies, transition to the next section.

Guided practise

• Place students in groups of four to work.
• Give the students a random amount of pennies in each group.
• Assign a scribe, a counter, a checker, and a reporter in each group.
• The counter will count the amount of pennies.
• The checker will recount to verify the amount of pennies.
• The scribe will write down the amount of money using the cent symbol.
• The reporter will stand in front of the class when called upon to report how much money their group had.
• Pennies may be precounted and labeled in snack sized plastic bags to minimize time and increase the speed of verifying the correct answer.

Independent working time

• Give each student the Pennies and Cents worksheet and a pencil.
• Read the instructions to the students.
• Allow the students to complete the worksheet.