Fun Free Computer Games: Coin Combo

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If you read my blog post last week about activities for counting coins, you know my second graders have been hard at work learning about money.  I love having many resources to pull from when working with kids on a particular skill.  I have also used you tube videos and done activities in morning meeting to help my kids master money.

Today I want to share with you a fun and free computer game that my students have been using to further practice this important skill.

Coin Combo

In this fun and fast paced game, coins fall from above into rows and columns.  Your goal is to try to make a particular amount of money using the coins you have available.  It is a race against time because if any of your columns fill completely with coins, the game is over.  There are three levels to progress through and each gets progressively harder.  Take a look:

Level 1 starts off with just nickles and pennies. The game asks you to make smaller amounts, mostly under 20 cents. This level makes the game accessible to younger children and I often let first graders try this game.  

Level 2 ups the difficulty a bit by adding dimes and asking for higher amounts to be made.  It is still very accessible to younger children at this level and I have had first through third graders like playing this game.

Level 3 is the final and most challenging level.  Quarters are now part of the game and the amounts asked for increase quite a bit.  A first grader would have to have excellent money skills to play at this level.  This is a great level for kids in grades 2 and up to master.  

The pace of this game is fast and it keeps it fun.  If you "lose" you can just click play again and get right back into it.  It doesn't take a lot of time to teach and is ready to use.

Check it out!

This free set of number puzzles make a great follow up to Coin Combo!

Check out these other ideas for teaching money!

Teaching Math With You Tube Videos: Coins

How Much Money? Counting Coins

So Does Mine! Coin Identification

A Game for Counting Quarters

Counting Coins with Second Graders

Math Literature for Teaching Money

Number Puzzle Fun

A Fun Free Tool for Practicing Counting

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If you have ever been in a K-2 math class, you know how important counting is.  I recently posted some of my favorite you tube videos for practicing counting, my favorite counting books, and have written a seven part series on estimating and counting routines that I use in my classroom.  I have also written about interventions I use to help kids learn to count.

Today I want to share with you a great tool to use on your computer, projector or SMART board to help your students practice many important counting skills

Flip Counter

This is a demonstration tool provided by ict games.  You can set it to any number between 0 and 9,999.  You can then count forward or backwards by ones, tens, hundreds or thousands.  It is a great tool to use for counting forward and backward.  here are some pictures of it in action.  

This is the zero screen

Here my Kindergarten students are using it to count forward by ones starting at any number

Here my first graders are working on bridging the century an counting backwards within 120.

Here my second graders started at 814 and counted by 100's.  They get so excited to get into these "really big" numbers.

Here is a screen shot of the directions page.  It takes about 20 seconds to learn how to use and then you are ready to go!

Want to use this with your students?  Click here to head over to ict games!

Looking for more ideas to help your students practice counting?  Check out this post about how I help first graders develop this very important skill.

Solving One Step Equations

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My sixth graders have been hard at work on their Algebra unit and have been using algebra tiles as well as hands on equations to model and act out these equations.  The Common Core Standard we have been working on this week is

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.EE.B.7
Solve real-world and mathematical problems by writing and solving equations of the form x + p = q and px = q for cases in which p, q and x are all nonnegative rational numbers.

After all this great visual modeling and hands on experience, my students were ready to transition to a mental model and solve some problems.  With the nice spring weather we have been having, I was looking for a way to get kids up and moving and engaged in their math practice.  In order to do this, I created several QR code scavenger hunts for them.

I love when students are up and out of their seats!  Kids were super engaged in this and it was easy to see who was struggling and who needed more help.

Students need a digital device with a QR code reader app (there are MANY free ones!)  My students worked in pairs sharing a device.  We used a variety of smartphones, iPads and other tablets.

Students scan the start card, figure out the answer and find it on the next card.  If they get the wrong answer, chances are they won't be able to find it and will know they need to go back and check their answer again.  When the students finish, you know all their answers are right!  Practice for them and no grading for you.  I did make an answer key in case students get off track but I didn't even need to pull it out!

Here is a students' record sheet from the Addition and Subtraction QR Code Scavenger Hunt

The kids had so much fun and got such great practice with solving addition and subtraction equations that I created another one for multiplication and division equations.  I also created a third one that combines all 4 operations into one scavenger hunt.

If your students are new to solving one step equations, this is a great place to start!

When your students are ready, here is a great way to practice multiplication and division equations

This scavenger hunt combines all 4 operations and is a great way to review for the unit assessment or standardized testing.  

To save you time and money, I have bundled all three scavenger hunts into one product!  Check it out here!

How do you make solving 1 step equations fun for your students?

Teaching Math with You Tube Videos: Addition Facts

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Recently I posted some of my favorite songs and videos about shapes, counting, multiplication, coins, time, fractions, teen numbers and area and perimeter.  Today I want to share with you some videos about addition facts

When you Add with a Pirate

This video does a great job of introducing addition terminology such as sum.  It also shows the connection between a story problem and an addition equation.  Between the story problems, there is fun music and kids love pirates!

I Can Add Doubles (6-10 version)

This is a great song for adding doubles. 

I like to use this doubles video when students have doubles and neighbors number puzzles at workstations!

The Friends of 10

This is a great song for a very important topic!  I have written many times about easy activities to practice combinations of 10!  Check out this game or this one for free and fast ideas!

Addition Song For Kids

This one has some movement involved which is always good!  It also presents addition in the context of simple story problems. 

Doubles Song

You can't have to many ways to practice doubles!

Add 'Em Up

We are having a great time adding even move movement into our addition fact practice with our new Movin' It Math Cards

Looking for more ways to practice addition facts?  Check out these iPad apps or this computer game!

Monday Math Literature Volume 39

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If you missed last week's post about The King's Commissioners you can check it out here!

This week I want to show you a few books I used recently with my first graders.  First graders need to learn to tell time to the hour and this is a great book to help get them there.  Here are some other ideas for working on time to the hour with your first graders!

Bats Around the Clock

This story is written by Kathi Appelt who has quite a few books that I love including several I have as part of my math literature collection.  The bats each do a different dance and have a great time.  Some of the dances are old time things like the jitterbug and the hokey pokey.  It is a great way to expose kids to these other dance types while reinforcing and practicing telling time.

What Time Is It, Mr. Crocodile?

This book offers a great way to connect analog and digital clocks.

The Clock Struck One: A Time-telling Tale

Another great one for time to the hour!

My students work on their time to the hour and half hour number puzzles

Counting Coins with Second Graders

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My second grade group has been working on counting coins and the symbolic notation of money recently.   Here is the Common Core standard for money in grade 2

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.C.8
Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, using $ and ¢ symbols appropriately. Example: If you have 2 dimes and 3 pennies, how many cents do you have?

Here are some of the activities my students are doing to practice these skills.

Money Bags Board Game

This is a game I purchased several years ago and my students love it!  I show 4-5 kids who are leaders in the classroom how to play it and they in turn teach it to other kids.  I have 4 of these games because each year, I decided I need another one!  This gives me almost enough for everyone to play at the same time which I love.  When I just owned 2 of these, I used them as part of math stations which I still do in addition to the times where most kids in the room are playing.

Here is how the game works.  Students roll the dice which often puts them on a spot where they get money.  They spin the spinner to see which coins they are NOT allowed to use to show that amount.  

This student landed on 12 cents and when she spun the spinner, landed on no nickles.  She had to make 12 cents using anything but nickles.  This is a great time to talk about different ways to make 12 cents and which is most efficient.  

This student had to take his money using no dimes

The other part of this game I love is the bank exchange spaces.  When a student lands on bank exchange, they get to trade in their coins for equivalent amounts.  It is a great way to give them practice with fair trades and counting mixed coins.

Once one player gets to the finish line, everyone counts up their money and the person with the most wins.  I have my students count their money and write their money amount on a nearby white board.  This gives them practice with the symbolic notation of money.

Here are the final totals for the five kids playing the game.  If students at grade 2 use just cents notation, I make them try it again using the dollar sign and decimal point.  This is a great opportunity for them to get comfortable with this new notation.

Getting to $1 seemed to be a big goal for this group so we finished up by figuring out how far away everyone was from $1.00.  I think second graders knowing combinations of 100 is super important and this gave them one more way to practice! 

Number Puzzles

I recently finished making a bunch of number puzzles for first and second grade and one of them is all about coins.  We have been using this during math center time and it has been a great way for kids to practice.

Students put out all the cards with numbers written on them.  They then take the cards with coins on them, count the coins and find the matching number card.  The puzzles are self checking because if kids get it wrong, they won't fit together!

A pair of students works to finish up their coin puzzles. 

Also included with the number puzzles is follow up formative assessment that I used to asses students' current understanding of counting coins.

Two students show what they know about counting coins

Want to try these with your students?  You can grab these coin puzzles for FREE by heading to this page and clicking on preview.  The preview file is free to download and includes everything you need to make the coin puzzles for your students as well as the follow up formative assessment.

If you love the idea of doing number puzzles with your students, you might want decide to purchase the full set which includes number puzzles for Canadian coins, addition facts, subtraction facts, telling time, recognizing numbers to 1000, matching numerals to base 10 pieces, adding double digit numbers, finding 10 more and 10 less and using arrays.  In all there are 11 number puzzles with follow up assessments and they will be 20% off for the next week!

The full set is over 60 pages for one low price!  Save an additional 20% when you purchase it today!

How do you work on counting money with your students?  Please respond in the comments below!

Working on Equality

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If you have spent any time teaching math to young kids or have spent any time in a middle school setting, you are probably familiar with the idea that kids really do not know what the equals sign means.  Many students see it as operational meaning here comes the answer.  It is so important for kids to be exposed to ideas of the equals sign meaning equality from a young age.  I have written before about how I have worked on equality here and here if you are looking for ideas to get started.  Today, I want to share with you a recent experience with first graders.

We were working on this Common Core Standard
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.D.7
Understand the meaning of the equal sign, and determine if equations involving addition and subtraction are true or false. For example, which of the following equations are true and which are false? 6 = 6, 7 = 8 - 1, 5 + 2 = 2 + 5, 4 + 1 = 5 + 2.

Understanding this standard directly supports this one and the development of good solid strategies for addition and subtraction facts.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.C.6
Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. Use strategies such as counting on; making ten (e.g., 8 + 6 = 8 + 2 + 4 = 10 + 4 = 14); decomposing a number leading to a ten (e.g., 13 - 4 = 13 - 3 - 1 = 10 - 1 = 9); using the relationship between addition and subtraction (e.g., knowing that 8 + 4 = 12, one knows 12 - 8 = 4); and creating equivalent but easier or known sums (e.g., adding 6 + 7 by creating the known equivalent 6 + 6 + 1 = 12 + 1 = 13).

I get out my trusty math balance for this activity and start by having kids make some equations that are true.  We then jump into making other equations, recording them on the board and deciding if they are true or false.  I then ask kids to come up with a true equation or come up with a false equation and we test their idea together.  As you can imagine, kids love making up equations that are false.

Here is the start of our equation list.  Students write them on the white board and record T for true or F for false.  

Look at all the different types of equations kids have come up with!

We use the math balance to check out ideas and verify if equations are true or false.

After we have done this whole group activity, it is time for partner work.  I used my Frog and Flower Equality cards to differentiate this partner work for kids.  These cards are offered at 4 different levels so I can make it easier or harder for kids depending on their own levels.  I can also offer kids who are ready more of a challenge or a second set to do when they are ready for it.

Students read the equations and sort them into true or false!

How do you work on equality with your students?