using money

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Home : 2005 : May : 9

using money
By Alicia

You probably want to start with the value of the coins and what they look like. I would think if they are working at a 5th grade math level they should know the values, but it's a good idea to review. I use fake money that
came with our district's curriculum. The following ideas are what I've used with my 4th graders. For all it's a good idea to use money (fake money), and maybe all of some of the students can get away from using money to figuring it out without the money.
I think it's always a great idea to relate it to the real world, which is easy to do with money! With my students we set up a little

"store", and I put a price on the items. They had to practice "buying" 2-3 items, adding the total, paying with $1 or $2 (whatever amount you chose) and then making change.

Another idea would be to get a few restaurant menus. Have them pretend that they are going to a restaurant and they have $5 to spend (or whatever amount). They must buy at least 2-3 items but not spend over $5. They need to figure out how much they are spending, and how much change they will get back.

You may also want to pose this- "I have $.60. What coins could I use to make $.60?" They can come up with multiple answers that you can list. You could challenge them a bit more by asking, "I want to make $.55. What is the least amount of coins I can use to make $.55?" YOu can relate this to going to a store-"When I go to the store, the cashier isn't going to give me 55 pennies. I don't want to carry around that much change. What coins could they give me?"

Good luck!