Touch money conting

Have you ever just learned something and thought "WOW, that would have been useful to teach my students over the years... well, that is me today. I just learned about touch money. The three larger coins have dots to represent counting by fives. A quarter has five dots, a dime has two dots, and a nickle has one dot. This is a fantastic way to help the visual kids learn it! I made up desk charts to put on each child's desk. I love this concept! I am sure I will make up posters and worksheets to go along with this.

Each Friday I do a newsletter for parents titled "Munchies for the Mind". It is full of interesting facts, my opinions on things, and links to higher learning for the students. The parents are really supportive on these and enjoy having their child do the weekend writing activity. I think communication with parents is the best thing to establish in a classroom. Yes, some parents do take it too far sometimes, but I am happy to include them into their child's first grade experience.