Saturday, September 13, 2014

Changing Curriculum & Coin Stamping

 Every year my classroom has a little shift in the students I spend my day with. Last year I had a lower academic group of kids join us, even to the point that I had to go out and purchase a few Melissa and Doug items for them since we weren't much above counting and colors. The information we get from the high schools that the kids are coming from is not always accurate so where they get placed is sometimes a little off. Occasionally we can make small shifts at the beginning of the school year but other times I just like to think there is a reason I was chosen to spend the year with them. This year brings me a couple new kids who are a bit higher then those I have had in the past. So, I am needing to change up my curriculum to adjust to them. 
 I am changing out some of my activity boxes to add ones that are a bit more challenging for these guys. Here is one I added this week. Since I will put a huge emphasis on money I thought these coin stamps, (which by the way have gone down in price since I bought them a week ago!) would be a great addition. I made up a couple worksheets for them to use the stamps with and so far the kids have really enjoyed working with them. If you can see in the picture, it says the coins and the amount needed (ex. 2 dimes, 2 nickels, 3 pennies) and the kids stamp the correct coins then add the total to the page. 

I am on the lookout for more, so if you know of any other good money activities please share.

Have a great weekend!

2 comments:

  1. Love this idea!
    I understand having to change things up each year. I had a very high functioning group last year (money skills, reading comprehension, etc) and this year have kiddos who are at the matching same level. It can be a challenge to swap your activities so quickly. Here are a few money things I did with my kiddos last year:
    Dollar Plus work boxes - provide an item with a price and dollars of all denominations and have them place the item/price card and the correct amount of dollars (rounded up) into the bag.
    Counting exact change - I figure the only real time most people have to be able to count out change is if they are running a cash register. I had one kiddo who wanted to do just that, so we set up a "cash register" station where she would have money amounts on cards and be required to count out that exact amount of change (including dollars and cents). After she got pretty good at the skill, we just gave her prices on a notecard, fake money, and baggies. She would have to count out the money and place it into the bag so we could check her work later.
    I have a ton of other ideas, but am coming up blank at the moment. I will look on Monday and see if anything else I used to do was good.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great ones Erin! Totally going to "borrow" some. Looking forward to more!

    ReplyDelete