Money is a necessary life skill. We all like money. We all spend it. So it’s a MUST teach skill in our classrooms. And because it’s so tangible for our students, the engagement happens naturally. And it’s money, so it’s fun. In our classroom we use our Math It Up: Money creation for our money lessons and activities.
For our money unit, each child creates a money journal. This is where they do their independent work following our whole group mini-lessons. This money journal is very much like our research journals for our our TKS Research Projects which the students obsess over! So it made sense to do a money journal as well!
Money Lessons
We start off the money lessons by reading Alexander Who Used To Be Rich Last Sunday and talk about all the reasons we need money!
Please note….we need money “to pay taxes!” KIDS ya’ll!
For each coin we do a bubble map or word web to identify the name and value of the coin as well as other characteristics of the coins.
We also do a tree map identifying the name, value and both sides of the coins.
The students then make their own tree chart in their journals
Money: Independent Work
Students also do independent work with sorting coins and coloring coins and coin values.
Here is a video of a whole group lesson using an activity and manipulatives from our Math It Up: Money resource!
For more math ideas, check out these posts:
For more math resources, check out these creations:

Join Our Newsletter
Subscribe to get our latest content by email.
3 comments
These are Very simple and effective ideas to teach about money.
,Neha
Love the idea of a Money Journal. Are all of the resources needed for the journal in the Math it up: Money unit?
Yes!