Teacher Tuesday - Coin Recognition

Today is my day Teacher Tuesday. Teacher Tuesday is about implementation of assistive technology tools you have in your classroom. Since we are talking assistive technology remember that we have a wonderful continuum to utilize so this will not be all about the fancy shiny technology tools. In each blog post I will give strategies, mid tech tools and high tech tools.

First topic, let’s talk about MONEY. We all love it. We never have enough of it and students need to learn about it. Over the past few years, I have noticed that general education students are struggling with the concept of money just as much as the special education students. My hunch is that individuals are handling money less so we have less practice with money. When parents go to the store often it is the plastic that is taken out.

Here are some of the activities that you may be able to incorporate into your classroom:

Coin Recognition: Low Tech

1. Use real coins not plastic. Nothing beats the real thing. I know the plastic coins can look realistic but they don’t feel the same. For some individuals everything is in the feel. Ask parents to send in a penny, dime, nickel and quarter.
2. Color Code: Using nail polish, paint around the edge. As the student becomes more confident about identification of the coin, start to remove the nail polish until it is all gone. You can also paint the first letter of the coin or the value.
3. Coin soring wallets that you can sometimes get at the dollar store or on ebay. The coin sorting wallet allows the student to insert coins left to right value (penny to quarters). Sometimes giving the student a way of physically sorting the coins helps with identification.

Coin Recognition: Mid Tech Tools

1. Hot dots pen and math cards. What is great about the hot dot pen is once you make the cards (if you want to customize) it is finished. A hot dot pen cost about $10 and a set of pre-made cards cost $10. When you purchase the pen it comes with hot dots so the possibilities are endless of what you can dream up with this pen. http://amzn.to/hotdotpen
2. Magic Board: We have all used the Magic Board before they are the boards that you use a plastic pen to write on it and then slide a little piece to erase. You can pay $8 for the board and $80 for the overlays or you can purchase the Magic Board for $8 and utilize clear transparencies to put over the board. http://bit.ly/magicboard
3. Sorting banks – the bank that you put the coin and you see it move to the correct tube. They sort and count the money. Students can practice counting their change and using the bank to see if they are correct. A bank can cost about $6 and go up. My favorite one is: the Electric Money Jar it is a lid that counts your coins. The trick is teaching the students to reset it each time.

Coin Recognition: High Tech Tools now high tech tools just means that we need to utilize a computer or other tool to access the information.

Web2.0 tools

1. http://www.hbschool.com/activity/counting_money/ is premade activities that you launch right into. You have no control on what the students sees in the way of counting coins or money.
2. http://www.vectorkids.com/vkcoincount_content.html excellent website for students that need help with coins or needs an alternative to ditto work. The student drags the coins into the correct column and then deposits the coins. Can be used with a mouse or touch window.
3. The US mint has a great website for money. The website includes games and cartoons. User friendly. http://1.usa.gov/hM5lwL
4. Which coin http://bit.ly/whichcoin money word problems that the student needs to figure out.

Itouch - iPad apps

1. Time, Money & Fractions On-Track is an App from school zone. Some of the pages are very busy so it may not work with students with special needs.

I look forward to hearing how others are helping students with money facts. The above are just a few suggestions; there are many more creative ideas that I have seen being used.

Please feel free to suggest a topic; I am always open to ideas, please feel free to email me at jvanhouten@advopps.org . Have a terrific Tuesday.