Beat the Bank

Summary

Students will play a coin identification game to familiarize themselves with coin values. They will add coin values to determine the game's winner.

Objectives

  • Students will compare numbers between 1 and 100 using manipulatives.
  • Students will recognize and express the value using cent notation of penny, nickel, dime, and quarter.
  • Students will add coin amounts together.

Subject Area

  • Math

Grades

  • K
  • 1st
  • 2nd

Class Time

  • Total Time: 0-45 Minutes minutes

Materials

For each team you need:
  • 1 small tackle box or similar sectioned, covered box with labels in each section reading 1, 5, 10, and 25 cents
  • Separate (sectioned) containers of coins for the “bank” (one container for each team of 2 or 3 players)
  • A handful of play coins of each denomination (1, 5, 10, and 25 cents) for each “bank”
  • Counters (such as marbles, small building blocks)
  • Math journals

Lesson Steps

  1. Introduce this activity to the students by reviewing the coin amounts of 25 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents, and 1 cent. Tell the students they will be working in teams and playing a game together.
  2. Explain the following rules to the students: A player puts a counter into the box and shakes the box so that the counter lands in one of the coin slots. The player opens the box and reads the amount on the slot aloud. The player then takes a coin or coins equal to that amount from the bank and adds it to his pile. Play rotates clockwise and continues for four turns. Then the players count the total amount of their coins. The player who has the greatest amount wins.
  3. Divide the class into teams of two to three players and distribute the materials to each team.
  4. The students can play the game several times. At the end of each game, the students can record their total amounts in their math journals.

Differentiated Learning Options

For more advanced students, label the tackle box with amounts that require the students to assemble different coin combinations.

Assess

  • Evaluate the day's math journal entries.
  • Observe students when they are adding their money together.

Common Core Standards

Discipline: Math Domain: 1.OA Operations and Algebraic Thinking Grade(s): Grade 1 Cluster: Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction Standards:
  • 1.OA.1. Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart and comparing with unknowns in all positions, eg, by using objects, drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.
  • 1.OA.2. Solve word problems that call for addition of three whole numbers whose sum is less than or equal to 20, eg, by using objects, drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

National Standards

Discipline: Mathematics Domain: K-2 Number and Operations Cluster: Compute fluently and make reasonable estimates. Grade(s): Grades K–2 Standards: In K through grade 2 all students should
  • develop and use strategies for whole-number computations, with a focus on addition and subtraction;
  • develop fluency with basic number combinations for addition and subtraction; and
  • use a variety of methods and tools to compute, including objects, mental computation, estimation, paper and pencil, and calculators.

Discipline: Mathematics Domain: K-2 Number and Operations Cluster: Understand meanings of operations and how they relate to one another. Grade(s): Grades K–2 Standards: In K through grade 2 all students should
  • understand various meanings of addition and subtraction of whole numbers and the relationship between the two operations;
  • understand the effects of adding and subtracting whole numbers; and
  • understand situations that entail multiplication and division, such as equal groupings of objects and sharing equally.

Discipline: Mathematics Domain: K-2 Number and Operations Cluster: Understand numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems. Grade(s): Grades K–2 Standards: In K through grade 2 all students should
  • count with understanding and recognize "how many" in sets of objects;
  • use multiple models to develop initial understandings of place value and the base-ten number system;
  • develop understanding of the relative position and magnitude of whole numbers and of ordinal and cardinal numbers and their connections;
  • develop a sense of whole numbers and represent and use them in flexible ways, including relating, composing, and decomposing numbers;
  • connect number words and numerals to the quantities they represent, using various physical models and representations; and
  • understand and represent commonly used fractions, such as 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2.