For Younger Students

Identify the coins - ask to make sure your students know which ones are pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.

Establish the values of each one. Ask to make sure your students know how much is coin is worth. A penny is 1 cent. A nickel is 5 cents. A dime is 10 cents. A quarter is 25 cents.

Give each student 4 quarters, 10 dimes, 20 nickels and 25 pennies. Review counting by five and by tens using the nickels and dimes.

Establish the relationships among the coins. Ask how many pennies make a nickel, a dime and a quarter. Count them out with the manipulatives. Ask how many nickels make a dime and a quarter. Ask how many quarters make a dollar. How many dimes make a dollar, how many nickels. etc.

Working with a partner, have one child give a number between 1 and 100 (from 1 penny to 1 dollar) and have the other student show that with the money. Challenge them to see how many different ways they can make the amount. For example, one student says 37 cents. The other student can use 1 quarter and 1 dime and 2 pennies or 3 dimes and 1 nickel and 2 pennies or 7 nickels and 2 pennies. Have the students take turns.

Give each student 4 quarters, 10 dimes, 20 nickels and 25 pennies. Have the students partner up and ask one student to pretend he/she is buying something with a value between 1 and 100 (from 1 cent to 1 dollar) and paying for it with a dollar bill. Have the students make change. For example, if the first student says he/she is buying a pen that costs 37 cents and he gives a dollar to the other student, ask the other student to use the money in the pretend cash box (the manipulatives) to count back his change which would be 3 pennies (38, 39, 40) and 1 dime (50) and 2 quarters (75 and 100). You may need to model "counting back". Have the students take turns being the "buyer" and being the "cashier".