ELED 433 Math Methods

TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON Money with The Penny Pot

CONTEXT OF LESSON Students should have knowledge about the different
types of coins and how they can use that knowledge to determine different
outcomes to reach a certain value. They should know that there are many
ways to use coins get the same desired outcome.
CONCEPTS TO BE COVERED Concepts to be covered consist of a different
number of ways to represent a set value through the use of different coins.
This lesson addresses using coins to create different monetary values.
RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING
2.11 a. The students will count and compare a collection of pennies, nickels,
dimes, and quarters whose total value is $2.00 or less.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
1. Students will count and compare a collection of pennies, nickels, dimes
and quarters whose total value is $1.50 or less.
2. Students will show the same value using at least two different
representations of coins.
ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING
1. To assess objective 1 and 2, I will have each student or group use their
paper to represent different ways of using coins to represent a fixed
value. They must include the amount per coin to show their
understanding of coin recognition, and show how those coins total that
fixed value that is being asked of them to find. Each individual will
share their results and I will keep their papers. (Individual Assessment).
MATERIALS NEEDED
For the teacher:
- Heads and Tails of coins to put on board
- Dollar bill to put on board
- Smart board with lesson
- The Penny Pot book
-

For each student:

A bag of coin manipulatives
Money with The Penny Pot Student Response Sheet

ANTICIPATION OF STUDENTS MATHEMATICAL RESPONSES TO THE TASK(S)

POASED ARE EMBEDDED IN THE PROCEDURES.

PROCEDURES
BEFORE
Some of these students have seen
coins before and are familiar with
how much they are worth. Other
students will not be familiar with
coins or have seen coins but are
unsure of their value. My goal is to
help them recognize pennies, nickels,
dimes, and quarters and know their
amounts.

Anticipated Student Responses

Pass out coin manipulatives (CT will

provide these) to students so that
they can get a more accurate
representation of the coins and later
show their understanding of value.
There will be cut outs of each coins
head and tail. There will also be a
dollar displayed for differentiation.
Display those on the white board to
review the coins. As the students
determine the value of the coin, write
it up above and below the example
coins on the white board.
Can someone identify the penny on
the board?

Can someone identify the nickel on

the board?

Can someone identify the dime on

the board?

Student 1: The brown one is a penny

and it is worth one cent.
Teacher: Class, thumbs up if we
agree, thumbs down if we disagree.
(If disagree ask student why they
disagree and discuss further as to
why they the coin is a penny).
Student 2: The nickel is the medium
side of the three silver coins. It is
worth 5 cents.
Teacher: Class, thumbs up if we
agree, thumbs down if we disagree.
(If disagree ask student why they
disagree and discuss further as to
why they the coin is a Nickel).
Student 3: The smallest of the coins
is the dime and it is worth 10 cents.
Teacher: Class, thumbs up if we
agree, thumbs down if we disagree.
(If disagree ask student why they
disagree and discuss further as to
why they the coin is a dime).

Can someone identify the quarter on

the board?

Does anyone know how many cents

are in one dollar?

Student 4: The largest coin is the

quarter and worth 25 cents.
Teacher: Class, thumbs up if we
agree, thumbs down if we disagree.
(If disagree ask student why they
disagree and discuss further as to
why they the coin is a quarter).
Student 5: There is 100 cents in a
dollar
Teacher: can we make 100 cents in
coins?

Pass out paper that has the poems of

each coin to each student so they
can use that for later use.
Go to Smart board and do Money
lesson review and have students
volunteer to participate for each
activity that is presented (skip 3-2-1
slide).
Show me 25 cents.
Students: *show a quarter*
Can you show me 25 cents using
three coins?

Students: *show multiple ways*

Teacher: *if students have different
ways of making 25 cents, ask them
to share their findings*

Show me 10 cents
Students: *Show a dime*
Is there another way you can show
10 cents?

Which way was fastest to get 10

cents?

Student 1: Yes! You can use 2 nickels

Student 2: Yes! You can use 5 pennies
and 1 nickel.
Teacher: Good! We can see that we
can use many different ways to get
the amount we want!
Student 1: using a dime.
Teacher: Yes! Although we can get
ten cents in many different ways, it is
easier to grab a dime if we need to

pay for something that is 10 cents

rather than counting out 10 pennies.

DURING
Pass out assessment sheet to each
student. Have them put their name
on it. Remind students to listen to
the story before answering the
questions; or answer questions as I
ask them to. They can represent their
coins by drawing circles in
approximate size to an actual coin
and write its value in the center of
the circle. Let students be aware
that they can use their manipulatives
to help solve their problems.
Begin to read The Penny Pot.
Stop on page 7.
Jessie has 3 dimes, 1 nickel, and 4
pennies. Look at your paper now.
How much money does the Jessie
have in her pocket?

Student 1: 39 cents!
Teacher: Great! 3 dimes, 1 nickel, and
4 pennies is 39 cents! Go ahead and
write that down on your paper.

Student 1: No
Does the customer have enough
money to get their face painted?
Have students draw another way to
make 39 cents. The teacher should
walk around and observe the rest of
the students as they make 39 cents
in a different way.
Student 1: 53 Cents!
Stop on page 11.
Miguel has 1 quarter, 1 nickel, 2
dimes, and 3 pennies. How much
money does Miguel have in his
pocket?
Does the customer have enough
money to get their face painted?

Student 1: Yes! They only needed 50

cents!
Teacher: Thats right! How many
more cents does Miguel have to give
to the penny pot?
Student 2: 3 cents.

Stop on page 15.

Sam has 1 quarter, 1 dime, 2 nickels,
and 7 pennies. How much money
does Sam have?

Student 1: 52 cents.
Teacher: Does Sam have enough
money to get her face painted?
Student 1: yes

Have students draw another way to

make 52 cents. The teacher should
walk around and observe the rest of
the students as they make 52 cents
in a different way.
Stop on page 19.
Jonathan has 54 cents to get his face
painted.
Have students show one way to
make 54 cents. The teacher should
walk around and observe the rest of
the students as they make 54 cents.
Stop on page 23.
Annie has 35 cents to get her face
painted.
Have students show one way to
make 35 cents. The teacher should
walk around and observe the rest of
the students as they make 35 cents
in a different way.
Stop on page 26.
Jessie now has 39 cents and there is
11 cents from the penny pot. How
much money does she have now?
The teacher should step back and
walk around the room to observe the
many different ways that were found
to many different amounts of desired
money for each customer. Ask
students why they used certain coins

Student 1: 51 cents!
Teacher: Great! Can you all show me
now how to make 51 cents?

over others and help them remember

that there are many other ways to
make certain amounts through the
use of other coins.
Probing questions to ask during
problem solving:
If you are not sure you or they know
what they are doing.

Explain to me how you are solving

the problem.

If a group or individual has a wrong

idea, but does not realize it.

A penny is worth 1 cent, a nickel is

worth 5 cents, a dime is worth 10
cents, and a quarter is worth 25
cents. Can you tell me how you got
your answer?

If a group or individual wants to

abandon an idea before completely
investigating it
If you are trying to figure out what a
group has done so you can begin
helping from the point of the
problem.
Students who still dont know how to
begin.
AFTER
When students have solved all of the
problems. We will go over the
assessment and determine different
ways of getting certain amounts with
different coins. The challenge is for
them to describe how they got the
desired amount in a different way
that others in the class got, and
prove it!
Students will have the opportunity to
share for each problem how they got
different answers for the same
amount. The teacher is responsible
for making sure the mathematics is
correct and that the students
reasoning matches their findings. (It

Did I hear you say you know 2 times

and a nickel is equal to a quarter?
How did you figure out the total
Jessie has was 39 cents?
What have you tried so far? Lets look
back at the book and see that Jessie
has 3 dimes, 1 nickel, and 4 pennies.
What is one way other than these
coins to get to 39 cents?

Teacher: Jonathan has 54 cents. How

did you make 54 cents?
Student 1: I used 1 quarter, 1 nickel,
2 dimes, and 4 pennies!
Student 2: I used 5 dimes and 4
pennies!
Teacher: Great! Student 1 made 54
cents using 8 coins and student 2
made 54 cents using 9 coins. Is it

is not necessary for every individual

share if there are similar methods.)

possible for both ways to determine

the same result?
Student: Yes. All of the ways are
correct ways of getting the same
answer. Some ways have fewer coins
and other ways have more. Each
group or individuals equation
represents their groups thinking.

HOMEWORK
Pass out attached Homework
Problem.
MODIFICATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
CHALLENGE Problem: If an individual finishes before others, be prepared
with the following questions and ask students to generate their answer.
Sally went to the store and wanted to buy 6 gumballs. Each gumball is worth
25 cents.
Show 3 different ways to represent the total amount Sally will be spending on
all 6 gumballs.
*If the individual has finished this problem, be prepared to give them the
worksheet with questions below.
-

If I have 1 quarter, 1 dime, 2 nickels, and 4 pennies, how much money

do I have?
If I have 2 quarters, 3 nickels, and 6 pennies, how much money do I
have?
If I have 4 dimes, 1 nickel, 7 pennies, how much money do I have?
If I have 1 quarter, 3 dimes, 2 nickels and 4 pennies, how much money
do I have?
If I have 1 dime, 4 nickels, and 4 pennies, how much money do I have?
Show 59 cents
Show 42 cents
Show 77 cents
Show 67 cents
Show 82 cents

REMEDIAL Problem: For students who struggle with the problem, give the
following problem and ask them to determine the total amount.
If I have 2 dimes and 1 nickel, how much money do I have?

When you figure this out, draw a way to represent that amount without using
2 dimes and 1 nickel.
HOMEWORK:
- You and your friend want to buy something from the dollar store. You only
have coins in your pocket to purchase the item. Make one dollar (100 cents)
3 different ways. One of those ways needs to have the least amount of coins
you can think of (Ex: 10 cents to buy something so you use one coin, the
dime)
REFERENCES
Murphy, S., & Cravath, L. (1998). The penny pot. New York: HarperCollins.
Professor Ann Wallace

REFLECTION
This lesson was such a success! I started off with the coins and asked
the children what the coins were, their worth, and if it was heads or tails that
they were looking at. As they answered I placed them onto the white board.
They seemed to respond to this very well with kids saying, Oh Miss
Dukeman! That side is heads because it has the face on it! One of the
children even noticed the size difference of the coins. He asked, So one of
the coins is smaller and is worth more than the others. I asked him which
one he was talking about. He responded, The dime is the littlest and is .10
cents and the penny and nickel are bigger than it but is worth less! I made
sure to reiterate that to the kids because this was an important concept to
know going into the lesson. After we went over the coins, we moved on to
the smart board lesson plan. All of the kids were very eager to go up and
move the coins into their desired location. I made sure to have each child
tell the class and me what coin they were picking, if it was heads or tails, and
how much it was worth. Every child was able to identify all 3 of those, even
if some of them had to look over at the board where I had put up the coins to
begin with.
Based on the data I had collected, the book I read to them, The Penny
Pot, seemed to really help them understand the concept of money. On the
worksheet I had given them we were able to read the book together and
work on the problems together as a whole group. Students that really
understood the concept would work silently as I walked around the class to
help students that were struggling a little with the concept. Once I explained
to students what was being said they really started to understand what I was
asking them. I would say the amount on the page, for example, they had 3

dimes, 1 nickel, and 4 pennies. Show me on your desk, 3 dimes, 1 nickel,

and 4 pennies. 3 dimes, 1 nickel, and 4 pennies. I would walk around to
make sure everyone had the correct coins and then ask how much money
does the customer have? The kids were then able to shout out the answer
as a whole, the class said, .39 cents! we moved on to the next question. I
said, If it takes 50 cents to get your face painted and they only have 39
cents, do they have enough money to get their face painted? I called on
Ryan, he said No. Because 39 cents is less than 50 cents so there is no way
for that person to get their face painted. After Ryan had said that, all of the
kids looked as if a light bulb went off in their head. I asked the next question
of How much money did they put into the penny pot. Everyone shouted
none. I could see then that they were thinking about what was taking place
and how much money the customer had. The last thing I asked the students
to do was to show me a different way of how to make the desired amount of
money the customer had. At this time I walked around the room and had
them show me on their tables the correct amount of coins and then draw it.
All of the kids ended up showing me 1 quarter, 1 dime, and 4 pennies. One
student said to me, I used the quarter because it is the most and then I can
use less coins!. Throughout the rest of the lesson, I continued with the
same pattern I did for the first problem. All of the students were able to
perform the rest of the tasks I had asked. Most of the students were just so
eager to show me their different ways of making a certain amount. Miss
Dukeman! I can make 53 cents so many different ways, look! said Sierra.
And I assured her and the rest of the class that there are many ways to get a
desired amount through different coins. They were really excited when they
were working on this worksheet as we did it together and I made sure no one
was working ahead. None of the children seemed to shy off from the
assignment as I made myself very available if they did not understand. I
never waited for students to raise their hand to ask for help, I made sure to
walk around and assist when I saw fit or ask them how they got to an answer
to understand their understanding.
Looking at the assessment I gave the students, Student A (V - just
reminding myself of which child) understands how to count all of the coins to
get a total, how much more money would be put into the penny pot, and how
to make a certain total in the least amount of coins possible. She is not
confused with anything from this lesson. Some questions I would ask her are
how she determined to use certain coins to get to the desired total I was
asking about and Id also ask if there are other ways she could show me to
make amounts so I know she was thinking about it. Some ideas to work on
next is to work on amounts larger than $1 to see her thinking there. It
becomes more complex and more coins can be involved.
Student B (S) also really understands how to make the total amount in
the smallest number of coins. Each time she always looked to see which was
the largest coin she could use and then work her way down to the smallest
amounts. She is also good at making sure the quarters are the bigger coin
compared to the rest of the coins. There wasnt anything she was very

confused about in this lesson. I would ask Student B if she could show me
amounts in different ways other than using the quarter. Just to make sure
she can do those coins too. I would like for her to work on totaling values
greater than $1 with coins to see how she is thinking about higher values.
Student C (E) understands how to count up the coins to get a desired
value. He is also somewhat good at making a different way to represent a
value in the least amount of coins. He is confused about using nickels and
will resort to pennies instead. I would ask him how to use a nickel and when
would be the best time to use one. I would ask him how 5, 10, and 25 relate
and then take that knowledge and compare it to the coins to see if he would
better understand when you use a nickel instead of adding up so many
pennies. Some things to work on next for Student C would be smaller
amounts but encouraging the use of nickels when we just need to add on 5
cents more or makes the most sense to add on 5 cents more so there isnt so
many pennies and as many coins.
Student D (C) did a really good job at counting up a certain amount of
coins and created the correct amount. He was really confused when it came
time to represent that value in a different way other than the way the book
showed. I had to work with him more one on one to have him understand
what I meant. Once he finally got it he was using random coins to get the
value without thinking what the best method and use of coins to get the
answer. I would ask him what ways are easier to count, with the least coins
or with more coins. I would then go back and talk about the importance of
quarters and dimes and how that is easier to count than nickels and pennies
all combined. I would have him work on the same values on the assessment
sheet and go over the quickest and shortest ways to get to the amount
shown and tell me how that makes the most sense.
Student E (H) really understood how to count the coins and get the
correct value. He was very confused when it came time to resenting a way
to show a certain value. He was just writing down coins without even
thinking of their value and go back and count it and then have to erase if
there were too many or be confused when he didnt have enough. He wasnt
thinking about starting at 0 cents and working his way up to x amount of
cents. I would ask him how we skip count by 5, 10, and 25. Id have him
represent that for me and then relate that back to coins. Id have him work
on and maybe start with just nickels since that is one of the easier skip
counts to work with. After he has mastered that concept, Id have him move
on to using dimes and skip count until he couldnt do anymore dimes and
count from there in nickels or pennies. That way he can better see the
relationship between the coins and numbers and values.
Student F (I) did a great job counting the coins up and getting a
desired value. However, she was really confusing the how much money did
they put into the penny pot question. I had to talk with her one on one
what I was asking by saying how much money was left over if someone had
more than .50 cents. She also was confusing how to make a certain amount
in the least amount of coins. She was also thinking about using just dimes

then realized later she could use quarters to get to the total faster. This took
her awhile to figure out. A question I would ask her would be to tell me how
25 cents is better to work with when you have a larger number to get to. By
using just 10 cents it takes a lot longer and Id like for her to tell me this to
help her determine this to be true. Ideas to work on for her would be to have
her work on her quarters if she sees a value greater than 25 cents. That way
she can see that it is much easier to use quarters other than just dimes.
I tried really hard to keep to my lesson plan. One thing I did differently,
that I think really helped the kids, was I would sometimes represent a way to
get a certain value to show them how else to think about the problem or how
to get them started thinking abut a problem. I made sure to walk around and
check answers before I moved on, something I didnt anticipate to happen
but once I saw their faces and confusion I realized I needed to step in and
walk around some more than I thought. I ended up running out of time half
way through the lesson so I had to continue it in small groups the following
day which worked out even better! I was able to work more one on one with
the students and show them ways on the table of how to make values in
different ways. It was more engaging and fun for the students and me. I
really tried my best to stick to the lesson plan, and because of its immense
detail, I was able to carry out the lesson just as I had expected. There was
just a few minor changes to add to the validity and ease of the lesson.
For this activity I might pull a set of coins up on the smart board. That
way I could work with the entire class to see what I was saying to many
individuals. This way I could address everyones questions and all students
could hear what I was saying to help them figure out the problem. Also,
during the smart board initial review lesson, I would have students sitting at
their desk working on a paper alongside the smartboard lesson. That way
students werent sitting in their seat anxiously waiting to come up to the
board to move the coin. This way they are actively engaged the entire time
and are ready to be called on when needed. To incorporate DAP, I would
really enjoy doing small group. Having a glimpse of the small group the
following day to complete the lesson, the children seemed to understand the
concepts so much more. They had more one on one time with me and were
able to ask questions without fear of being judged. I was then able to finish
the lesson and have them work on problems without any limitations. They
were able to show me their thinking and I could question them on how they
got the answer. They were given a sheet with varying amounts and I asked
them to show me a way to make that amount. I did not ask for the smallest
amount of coins or anything. They all were able to produce different answers
and we went over it as a small group. They were able to see different ways
and understand that everyone was right but in their own way. This
encouraged their confidence and realization that they can be right and have
a different method than their friend that makes more sense to themselves.
Children catch on to concepts very quickly. They are able to infer from
what you are asking and able to determine an answer based on prior
knowledge. In ELED 434 we go stress the importance of prior knowledge and

linked learning. The things children learned in prior classes carries over for
years to come. For example, the children knew how to count by 5s and 10s
and we have coins in 5s and 10s and with that knowledge they were able to
easily (MUCH EASIER THAN I REALIZED) count the coins to get the value of
the coins combined. I figured it would take them a longer time to master the
values, but because of the prior knowledge we talked about before, these
kids already had it mastered before they even realized they mastered the
concept of counting coins! In READ we discuss the importance of literature in
lesson plans. I had always known that but didnt really think of it too much
until teaching this lesson. While reading the Penny Pot to the kids and
seeing their excitement and engagement, I realized how important it was as
an introductory lesson to have literature for them to engage and understand
how these customers were using money to get the things they wanted. The
children, I believe, were much more connected than I would have ever
known, and were able to make connections and able to easily produce
correct answers because they had a picture in their mind of what it all is
supposed to look like because of the literature I read to them. Literature is a
powerful tool that helped immensely in this lesson plan.
One major thing I learned about teaching is that you have got to walk
around the classroom if you are teaching a whole group lesson. There are
going to be kids who shy away from asking a question if the rest of the group
is fully understanding what is going on. By walking around the classroom
you can ask students who understand completely how they thought about
the activity, or you can even ask kids who are struggling to explain their
thought process without them feeling afraid to ask about something. By
walking around the classroom, you can visually observe how these students
are thinking about the problems and it is so important to do that then rather
than reading their papers and not understanding where they are coming
from later. It is also so incredibly important to be 110% prepared for lessons.
While writing this lesson plan all I kept thinking was, is this 8 page lesson
plan seriously worth it or am I wasting me time?! after my lesson I
couldnt thank my 8 page lesson plan any more. It was the most helpful tool
in the entire lesson. I was able to go back to it when I needed to and figure
out what I needed to be saying next. It helped me help kids so that they
werent struggling and I never felt rushed or unprepared. The kids were
always on and not bored at all. Being over prepared was the best part of this
lesson. I will take these two great learning experiences and apply them to
every single lesson I teach. In whole group it is important to walk around to
help students and in small groups its important to do that same but to just
ask them one on one while other students are working. Lessons being so in
detail is great for if there is ever an instance of needing a sub. The sub can
be right on track and you come back knowing the students did what they
needed and will be able to bounce right back to the next lesson. With these
two aspects, the children were able to follow along the whole time and feel
comfortable with me and know that I was their teacher and could ask me for
help and confide in me when they didnt understand.

I learned from this lesson that I am very passionate about getting them to
understand how money works. I am passionate about relating money back
to the basics of regular counting. Money is so important and something that
is typically pretty hard for students to pick up. With the different levels of
students in the class I learned that I have a lot of patience when it comes to
the students that just really did not understand what I was asking or how to
get a different answer. I learned that I need to speak on a more basic level at
times for them to understand me better. Overall I found that I was super
passionate and patient when it came to money. We turned it into a fun
lesson and had them itching for more.

Name:_____________________________________
Money with The Penny Pot Student Response Sheet
How much
money does
the customer
have in their
pocket?

Does the
customer have
enough money
to get their
face painted?

How much
money did
they put in
the penny
pot?

Show a different
way of how
much money the
customer has to
get their face
painted

Page 7
3 dimes, 1 nickel,
and 4 pennies
Page 11
1 quarter, 1
nickel, 2 dimes,
and 3 pennies
Page 15
1 quarter, 1 dime,
2 nickels, and 7
pennies

Page 19

Show one way to represent 54 cents

Jonathan has 54 cents to

get his face painted.

Page 23
Annie has 35 cents to get
her face painted

Show one way to represent 35 cents

Page 26
Jessie now has 39 cents
and 11 cents from the
penny pot. How much
money does she have
now?

Show one way to represent how much money

Jessie has

Money Lesson Extra-Time Problems

If I have 1 quarter, 1 dime, 2 nickels, and 4 pennies, how much
money do I have?

If I have 2 quarters, 3 nickels, and 6 pennies, how much money do

I have?

If I have 4 dimes, 1 nickel, 7 pennies, how much money do I have?

If I have 1 quarter, 3 dimes, 2 nickels and 4 pennies, how much

money do I have?

If I have 1 dime, 4 nickels, and 4 pennies, how much money do I

have?

Show 59 cents

Show 42 cents

Show 77 cents

Show 67 cents

Show 82 cents