Open Wide, Look Inside

INTRODUCTION

The topic is plane geometric shapes and the selected resources listed and briefly summarized below are directly related to accomplishing the learning objectives provided by the VA SOL.  Grade one is the level and the associated SOL are 1.12 and 1.13.  Additionally, solid geometric shapes such as the sphere, cube, cone, cylinder, pyramid, and rectangular prism will be explored to show similarities and differences when comparing, relating, and recalling prior knowledge of plane geometric shapes.

TEXT ANNOTATIONS

The five books included to directly foster student learning of basic geometry are:

• The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns and illustrated by Gordon Silveria
  • A great tool for guiding class discussions on attributes of shapes and enhancing geometry vocabulary, to say the least.  Also, the book is good for captivating students’ interest.  The silly story is full of excitement and colorful fun illustrations.  It’s an even greater resource knowing that Marilyn Burns is the author.  She provides ideas for extending student’s learning at the end of the book.  

• Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes by Grace Maccarone and illustrated by David Neuhaus
  • This book is of a modern day tale of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf.  Students will be pleasantly surprised as the story unveils an interestingly happy ending!  The book is a great resource for exploring geometric shapes, transformations, and understanding that shapes can be made from other shapes.  Interactive tangram ideas are provided in the back of the book. 

• The Silly Story of Goldie Locks and the Three Squares by Grace Maccarone and illustrated by Anne Kennedy
  • In this story, Goldie Locks is the great-great-granddaughter of the fairy-tale Goldilocks.  Throughout her journey, which is very similar to her great-great-grandmother’s, she explores all kinds of shapes and even talks about the “attributes of the shapes”.  These attributes can be reviewed and formalized after story time to ensure students understand the concepts as it relates to geometric shapes. 

• Cubes, Cones, Cylinders, & Spheres by Tana Hoban
  • Throughout this book, photographs of familiar objects found in our everyday lives depict a variety of shapes.  The picture book is great for guiding a class discussion on solid shapes and their attributes.  Vocabulary terms will be reinforced by students through discussion and exploration of other objects found in our environment.  This book is great for all students and especially for LEP students or for those who require additional support. 

• A Cloak for the Dreamer by Sandy Riggs and art by Richard Maccabe s
  • This book tells a story of a tailor’s three sons who make cloaks for the Archduke to keep out the rain and wind.  The sons explore shapes including the rectangle, square, triangle, circle, and hexagon to create the needed cloaks.  A couple concepts explored throughout the story include transformations and making shapes from other shapes.   

WEB ANNOTATIONS

The five websites included to encourage student exploration and learning are: 

Weekly Reader Connections: Grade One, provided by Houghton Mifflin Math:   

The above link is age-level appropriate and allows for further exploration of geometry to occur.  Specific to geometry, there are 3 online activities and the titles are Shape Pictures, All Colors, Shapes, and Sizes, and Pick the Flowers.  The first activity expands students' awareness of shapes found in art or in our everyday lives.  The second relates to identifying how the lollipops are the same based on shape, size, and color.  The last activity entails students to identify the pattern that comes next in a given sequence.   

Harcourt Math Glossary, Grade One

This link provides age-appropriate definitions or illustrations of mathematical terms.  It is easy for students to navigate through and explore different terms.         ·

A Math Dictionary for Kids by Jenny Eather:

The above link is a comprehensive list of mathematical terms.  The provided definitions are wordy but well-described and great for guiding class discussions.  Additionally, pictures are provided to enhance definitions.   

Math Curriculum Guide for On-line Games

The above link is age appropriate and provides a wide range of games for students that enhance knowledge and skills in math.  Games focus directly on geometry for first grade are Four Piece Tangram, Shape Sorter (similar to Concentration), Shape Inlay, Flip It Frenzy, Evan Almighty Arketris (similar to Tetris), and Space Station.   

Shape Concentration by NCTM Illuminations

The above website links to a classic fun game.  Shape Concentration enhances students' creations of mental images by using spatial memory and visualization.  The game is designed for 1 or 2 players. 

Geometric Solids by NCTM Illuminations

This on-line tool allows students to manipulate various solid shapes by size, color, position, and transparency.  Additionally, the number of faces, edges, and vertices is explored.  Identifying plane shapes through solid shapes is further connected.   

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The link below provides ample opportunities to assessing student understanding of basic and advanced properties of geometry at the first grade level.  The activities are designed to simultaneously engage and produce evaluation information of student performance and understanding and this is a huge time saver which creates more time for learning to occur.  Rubrics and other assessment ideas are provided.  A few examples of lessons with integrated assessment tools include:  

Lesson 6:   We're The Same!

What do I Really Know About My Shapes?

Shapes, Shapes, Everywhere!

http://www.mcrel.org/pdf/curriculum/5021cm_shapes.pdf

The link below provides various lesson plans for first grade geometry.   Lessons of interest include: 

Folding Shapes: Are the Sides the Same?"The Greedy Triangle"Geometric Shapes using Kid Pix softwareShape SheetShapes found in an African Village 

Most lessons provide ideas for evaluating student understanding.  Additionally, the link offers a collection of Inspirational Teacher Stories submitted by educators and information about the online teaching resource, The HotChalk Learning Environment.  

http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MathK1.htm

The link below provides ample information for first grade geometry.  This website is full of valuable resurces for teachers, students, and parents made available by Houghton Mifflin Math.  Examples of resource items for supporting instruction include vocabulary cards, visual support, e-glossary, e-games, graphic organizers, teaching models, background information, weekly reader connections, and worksheets specific to topic and by any of the following:  practice, reteach, enrichment, homework, problem solving, and English Learners.  A great resource!!!       

http://www.eduplace.com/math/index.jsp 

The link below provides a customizable, downloadable, worksheet generator for supporting geometry activities and more!     

http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=205

The link below is provided by the VDOE and it relates to Elementary Mathematics.  Instructional resources, recommended links to outside resources, and reputable professional organizations are included.  An ample supply of valuable information can be found here 

 http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/elementary_school/math/index.shtml 

Introduction
These the following resources can be used to teach first grade math, specifically geometry and shapes.  The resources could be used to teach children about constructing and modeling plane shapes found in the environment (circles, squares, triangles and rectangles) VA SOL 1.13  This blog will present five children’s shape book annotations, five kids website annotations and three additional resources for teachers to use when teaching about shapes in first grade.

Text Annotations

Ship Shapes written by, Stella Blackstone and illustrated by Siobhan Bell is a wonderful kids book about shapes.  In this adventure children are challenged to explore shapes in the sea and on ships.  The book is creatively illustrated in the style of a patchwork quilt with many shapes cut out of fabric.  I think this book would be a great way to get kids thinking about shapes in their environments.  The illustrations are exciting and fun and the text is written creatively to challenge children about their ideas of shapes.

I Spy Shapes in Art is written by Lucy Micklethwait, the illustrations are reproductions of many famous artists.  The book uses the repeating phrase of, “I spy with my little eye a…rectangle.” and then challenges the reader to find the shape in the famous painting on the next page.  For this example the reader is challenged to find the rectangle in the painting entitled The Snail by Henri Matisse.  The text is simple and would be great for a read aloud and to be put in a center later.  Introducing children to famous artists such as David Hockney, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, Andy Warhol and others is a great way for kids to see the link between art and math.  It also gets kids thinking about shapes in a creative way as well.

Square Head by Harriet Ziefert and illustrated by Todd McKie is a fun simple children’s book about shapes.  “George was a squarehead, a box from cheek to cheek.”  He disliked circles, ovals and spheres.  He had a square room and a square house and George was stuck inside his own squarehead.  In George’s world there were square cats and dogs and birds and he liked it that way.  One night George went to sleep and had a dream that allowed him to experience all kinds of shapes throughout space.  He discovered that the Earth was round and there were other wonderful shapes besides squares.  This book is a funny way to introduce shapes and have a discussion as a read aloud and talk about all the other shapes besides squares that the children have learned about and find in their world.

Triangle for Adaora: An African Book of Shapes written by, Ifeoma Onyefulu.  As two cousins travel through their village in search of a triangle they encounter many other shapes along the way.  Each shape is discussed and the author presents an opportunity to to learn about the shapes and their uses in the village for example the drum (a circle) is used to let people know it’s time to gather for a meeting.  The book presents the images in real color photos and not only does it provide the children with opportunities to learn about shapes in their environment but they also get to learn about cultures and traditions in another part of the world.

Shapes, Shapes, Shapes written and illustrated by, Tana Hoban is a great children’s book about shapes.  Some say this is the best of her many books written for children.  This book is great because it has pictures of real things where children can become more familiar in recognizing shapes in their environment.  Tana Hoban has a fun simple style about her books which makes them useful for a wide range of ability levels and good for class discussions and center activities.

 Web Annotations for Kids

• Egypt Matching Game – This is a great game by Scholastic where kids can play an interactive matching game.  It is related to Egyptian artifacts and different shapes.  It’s a good activity for students to recognize items in their environment as shapes.
• Super Shape Building – This game allows students to build things interactively with shapes online.  Students are challenged to go on a shape scavenger hunt through Umi City with Geo and then help him find all of the super shapes to build their own umirrific vehicle.
• I Love Shapes – This game from PBS kids features Curious George and his love for shapes.  Another great interactive site that allows kids to familiarize themselves with various shapes while playing with Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat.
• The Kids Page – From Radio Disney, this matching game could be used to differentiate with lower ability level students or to reinforce shape recognition.
• Shapes Cave – Here’s another website with interactive games.  Kids have to follow the directions and and click on the correct shapes.

Additional Resources

• Math Active – This is a great site for teachers with tons of lesson plans and interactive games about shapes and other math content areas that could be extremely helpful in planning lessons and having games for students to play independently or at centers.
• Scholastic for Teachers – This site is great for teachers to use for teaching math in grades K-2.  It includes games, links to assessment resources, learning activities and national standards correlations.
• Illuminations – Here is another website that links to a student activity but is an excellent resource for teachers to use in finding activities and games, lessons and other web links.

Students will use basic addition and subtraction facts everyday for the rest of their lives, so it is extremely important they have a good foundation of knowledge on which to use and further build upon. Included below are books, online games, and other websites and resources available to enrich the learning experience of this crucial topic. The Virginia Standards of Learning covered include: 2.5 The student will recall addition facts with sums to 20 or less and the corresponding subtraction facts;  2.8 The student will create and solve one- and two-step addition and subtraction problems, using data from simple tables, picture graphs, and bar graphs, and 2.9 The student will recognize and describe the related facts that represent and describe the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction.

Book Suggestions

• Red Riding Hood's Math Adventure
• Written by Lalie Harcourt and Ricki Wortzman
• Illustrated by Capucine Mazille
  In this interactive math tale, the reader plays a role in choosing how many cookies Little Red Riding Hood gives to the fairy tale characters she meets on her way to Grandma's house. On each page there is a wheel that the reader can turn to change the dialogue and number of cookies to be shared. Readers are encouraged to use copies of the dozen cookies Little Red Riding Hood starts out with to help keep track of the subtracted cookies so some will remain for Grandma!

• 12 Ways to Get to 11
• Written by Eve Merriam
• Illustrated by Bernie Karlin
  This story starts out by counting to twelve, with the number eleven missing from the list. Throughout the rest of the book, twelve different ways to add to eleven are showcased. Examples of the objects used in the number sentences include the pinecones and acorns on the forest floor, items found on a sailboat, babies, and a mother hen and her hatching chicks. Readers are exposed to a variety of number combinations that all add up to the missing number eleven.

• Panda Math: Learning about Subtraction from Hua Mei and Mei Sheng
• Written by Ann Whitehead Nagda in collaboration with the San Diego Zoo
  Real photographs of the panda cubs Hua Mei and Mei Sheng grace the pages of this informative non-fiction book. Readers have the option to read only the story of the baby panda cubs or they can learn more about pandas, and subtraction, as they explore the real life math issues on the left-side pages of the book. Some of the interesting math problems include how much less time pandas in the zoo spend eating bamboo compared with those in the wild or how much weight Hua Mei gained in three months. The adorable pictures and engaging facts will surely keep readers interested in both the life of the baby pandas and the math that goes along with it!

• Lights Out!
• Written by Recht Penner
• Illustrated by Jerry Smath
  The narrator of this story is a little girl who not only has to go to bed before everyone in her family, but as she notices by the lights on in all of their windows, before everyone in the apartment building across the street. One night she convinces her parents to let her stay up until all of the thirty-two lights across the street have gone out. Throughout the night the narrator describes both some of the fun things she sees, a pillow fight and a parrot for example, as well as the steps she takes in subtracting the lights that go off, until one stubborn light remains.

• Math Fables Too
• Written by Greg Tang
• Illustrated by Taia Morley
  This beautifully and colorfully illustrated book provides readers with fun science facts as they read about different animals. The animals, ranging from one sea horse to ten seagulls, are described through playful rhymes that portray the animals' behaviors done in smaller groups. By breaking down the larger number of each animal, readers are exposed to a variety of different addition facts that add up to the sums one through ten, as they also learn fun facts about a variety of creatures!

Web Suggestions

• A Day at the Beach Subtraction – In this activity, an ocean scene is the background for the demonstration of subtraction using colored balls. A group of the balls are crossed out and separated from the original group and students must choose which of the two number sentences provided matches the balls. After selecting it students are then prompted to answer the fact before moving on to the next sentence.  After about five of these, one beach-themed word problem is given, and at the end students can color in a fun beach scene.
• Alien Addition – This game can be modified for ability levels by entering in the highest sum the facts provided will go to. In the game, students are instructed to use the cursor to move the laser beam that has the desired sum written on it below the UFO with the corresponding number sentence. They have one minute to get as many of the correct UFOs as possible before moving on to the next stage where the game continues to get harder.
• Addition Chart Surprise – Students are directed to drag the given number to a spot on the chart where the row and column add up to the sum. When they drop the number in the correct spot, the entire diagonal of facts that add up to that sum is uncovered and pieces of a larger picture are shown, which can help students visualize addition patterns.
• Number Jump – For this activity students use the calculator buttons, either to add or subtract, the number of spaces the green ball should jump to be able to smash the flies that are resting on a number. Students need to switch back and forth between the operations in order to get from one level of numbers to the next as they try to smash all of the flies in the least number of moves possible.
• Ten Frame – Available from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, this online ten frame allows students to choose whether they want to use the manipulative to answer how many?, build, fill, or add and a variety of fun counters are available for the students to choose from. The ten frame lets students work in terms of fives and tens, two very important numbers in our number system, which can help them develop stronger addition and subtraction understanding and skills.

Additional Teacher Resources

• Grapher – This online grapher can be used within the classroom to create bar graphs which students can then analyze. It is a great way to get students involved and connected with the subtraction facts they are working on!
• It's a Fact! – This website provides teachers with a variety of different types of activities to teach students addition patterns including counting on, doubles, doubles plus one, fact families, and combining ten.  It has lists of the materials needed for each activity, including the PDF files for any forms or necessary worksheets, and step-by-step directions for each activity. There is also a list of books that go along with the topics being covered.
• Numbers Away – Very similar to the addition site above, this website provides many ideas on how to teach subtraction throughout the year. It gives activity ideas for lessons that teach subtraction using a number line, subtracting from 10, subtracting doubles, and counting up. Included are downloadable forms, step-by-step instructions, background information for teachers, a related book list, and assessment ideas.
• Manipulative Templates – This site provides teachers with templates for a wide variety of manipulatives. There are printable base-ten block sets, Cuisenaire rods, and colored tiles which would be very useful in the teaching of addition and subtraction.

Introduction:

Under the Geometry section of the SOL’s for kindergarten there is a focus on plan figures. Within this category students k.11) should be able to identify, describe, and trace plan geometric figures (circle, triangle, square and circle).  Being able to identify these shapes is an important aspect when students begin to learn more advanced geometric terms. Students need to be able to identify theses shapes when they begin to learn about area and perimeter. In addition, having the knowledge of the shapes characteristics will help students in their everyday lives. Shapes is an important aspect that begins at an early age.

These literature connections will help children improve their shapes knowledge:

Mouse Shapes: a very first bookby Jim Arnosky is  a great reference tool for students to have. The book demonstrates what all of the shapes that kindergartens must know look like. In addition, there are various other shapes that students can begin to look at. Even though these shapes are not part of the core four, it provides an opportunity for students to expand their knowledge. In addition, this book could be used as an extension for those students who are surpassing grade level expectations.

There’s a Square: A Book About Shapes by Mary Serfozo, illustrated by David A. Carter takes children are an adventure of what the different shapes look like. First they are introduced to a description of the shape then they several forms of a the shape; they see what the shapes looks like in different sizes. Finally the readers are asked to find the shape in a picture. This would be a great way to introduce shapes to students or could even be used as a review. With the picture look, student are given an opportunity to practice their skills. At the end, students are given time to review what the shapes look like. They are shown again what the shapes look like with the shapes name underneath the shape. This is a book that could be read to the class and be available to students if they would like to learn about other shapes other than a circle, square, triangle, and rectangle.

Shape Capersby Cathryn Falwell is kind of laid like a game. Each shapes begins with a “shake, shake, shake” then the shape is introduced. Following the introduction of the shape there is a brief description of what the shape looks like, with various examples of the shapes in different colors and sizes. After all shapes have been described the reader is introduced to the shapes again with various forms of the shapes appearing near the name. After that, the readers are taken on a tour of various things that can be made by the shapes such as a car, spaceship, dinosaur, and ship. This allows the reader to see that shapes are in our everyday lives. At the end of the book, students can look at the pictures they provide and see if they can identify the triangles, squares, circles, and rectangles. This is a great book to introduce the concept of shapes and can also be used as a review with the ending of the book. In addition, it allows those students who are excelling at the concept to explore other shapes, furthering along their knowledge. The last page provides a brief explanation of an activity that can be completed using shapes.

Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stohl Walsh takes students on a journey through the world of shapes.There are mice that are being chased by a big cat. When running from the cat, the mice come into contact with a cluster of different looking shapes. They are now learning what these shapes look like. In order to fool the cat, the mice begin to make objects with the various shapes.
Students see how the shapes can be used in real life while also seeing what the shapes look like.

A Circle Here, A Square there: My Shapes Books  by David Diehl is a beginning book for students to use. Students see what the shapes name look likes in big letters then they see what the shapes look like in various forms. These various forms based upon what children would see in their real lives, such as a present for a square and a scoop of ice cream for a circle. This book would best used as a reference for students if they need a reminder on what the shapes look like. Also, it provides a spelling opportunity for students by having the name of the shapes in big print.

Web Annotations for Students:

In I Spy Shapes students are shown various pictures and asked to find all the triangles, etc in that picture. There is a number counter at the top of the page to help students keep track of how many of the shape they have found.  Students are allowed to keep going until they have found all the shapes.

Fun with Shapes is a webquest that studnets can complete after learning about shapes. In this webquest students are first review what each of the shapes look like. With this story, there is a desciption of what the shape looks like with a picture following. In addition, the story allows the students to review the colors. After reading the story, they have various activities that they are to complete relating to the shapes they read about in the story. With this webquest, the teacher can read the story aloud with the student then pair students up to complete the webquest.

Story of Shapes is an online story of shapes that students can either read or listen to. The storyteller describes the shape and sometimes provides an example of what it may look like. This a visual and oral story for the students. They are seeing the description as it is being said. It provides an opportunity for students to see other ways that the shape can be formed and other descriptions that might make it easier for them to remember the shapes.

Buzzing with Shapes is a two player game that has studnents pick the shape that matches the description that is given to them. If they chose the wrong shape they are given an explanation of why that shape is wrong ( a desciption of what their shape looks like). This could be used as a review game and can even be used as an expanding on the knowladge allowing studnents to explore other shapes besides the circle, square, triangle, and rectangle.

Identify Shapes I students are given a description or picture and asked to choose the correct answer.

Additional Resources for Teachers:

ABC Teach provides various coloring pages for the different shapes that will be taught to our studnets. Other shapes are included but these can be used as an extra thing for students when they are all done with their work.

DLTK’s Growing Together provides different activities that teachers can used during shapes lesson. to help enhance students knowladge.  There are different games, a poem and various worksheets to help children understand the topic.

 Hummingbird Educational Resources is a great tool to find different lesson plans and activities that can be used in the classroom. In addition, there songs that can be recorded that teachers play to their students or place at listening stations. All of the activities are grade appropriate and it is a great tool to use if having trouble coming with a cute way to introduce or teach the concept of shapes.

Shapes is a great site for various worksheets, ranging from extra practice to assessments. These sheets are great tools to have available in the classroom if students are done with an assigment and would a little extra practice. In addition, there are tracing pages that can be used to help students grasp one part of the SOL which is being able to trace the shapes.

The following books and online resources have been assembled to help support 2nd grade math instruction pertaining to money. Many of these resources can be integrated into lessons on identifying and comparing money value, counting and exchanging coins, and making change.

Books: 

Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday, written by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz, tells the story of Alexander, a young boy who is given a dollar from his grandparents. After wasting the money on candy, bets, and toys, he decides to try to make money instead of spending it. He looks for loose change, recycles bottles, and even tries to pull out a tooth in an attempt to get money from the tooth fairy. None of Alexander’s ideas work and he his left with a deck of cards, a melted candle, a one-eyed bear, and some bus tokens. 

Pigs Will Be Pigs: Fun With Math and Money, written by Amy Axelrod and illustrated by Sharon McGinley-Nally, chronciles the adventures of some very hungry pigs in a house with no food. Mr. Pig wants to eat out but the Pigs have no money. So the family searches the house, looking under beds, carpets, and even the washing machine. Soon they’ve found enough coins and bills to head out to the Enchanted Enchilada. 

The Go-Around Dollar, written by Barbara Adams and illustrated by Joyce Audy Zarins, tells two stories. One story follows a one-dollar bill as it is passed from person to person. The bill eventually ends up being framed as the first dollar earned at a new store. The other story provides factual information about dollar bills and features labeled pictures of a dollar bill with explanations of its various numbers and symbols. 

26 Letters and 99 Cents, by Tana Hoban, is actually two books. The first half of the book is dedicated to letter and initial sound recognition. But the second half of the book uses a variety of coins to demonstrated counting from 1 to 99. In addition to vivid photographs that can help young learners with coin identification, the book also illustrates the concept of monetary equivalency grouping.

A Quarter from the Tooth Fairy, written by Caren Holtzman and illustrated by Betsy Day, tells the tale of how a young boy spends a quarter he got from the Tooth Fairy. First he buys a monster but later returns it, getting 2 dimes and a nickel. He continues to buy and return things, receiving different combinations of 25 cents with each exchange. The book can serve as an excellent introduction to the idea that different coins can produce the same value.

Websites: 

H.I.P. Pocket Change is facilitated by the U.S. Mint. It offers a variety of games and puzzles that promote knowledge of money value and money counting skills. This site also provides lots of factual and historical information about money that is presented in engaging and interactive formats. 

Discovering Coin Values is an entertaining and visually stimulating money counting game provided by toonuniversity.com. The game challenges students to reach specific amounts by selecting the appropriate coins and sliding and flipping them into a container. If the student makes an error, the game offers feedback to help them select the correct coins. This game is an excellent medium in which to practice money counting. 

KidsBank.com is sponsored by Sovereign Bank and offers some fun stories and comic strips that teach children about money. Some of these stories involve money values and equivalent exchanges as well as general information about how money is used. Students can also take quizzes in the site’s game room to test their money knowledge. 

Practical Money Skills for Life provides valuable money education for children and adults alike. The site offers a variety of games geared for different ages and skill levels. The game Ed’s Bank is a great tool for 2nd graders to reinforce their knowledge of coin values and compare money set values as they save to buy items from a store. The game is entertaining and is ideal for capturing a 2nd grader’s attention. 

Learning to Use Money offers detailed information about money value and equivalent monetary exchanges. It has excellent images of coins and dollar bills, demonstrates how money is added and combined to make different amounts, and offers a game in which students can practice adding coins to reach specific totals. This site does a terrific job visually representing the relationship of coins and bills or varying values. 

The Money Page is another great resource for practicing money skills. This site offers a variety of word problems pertaining to money as well as games that promote coin counting skills. Problems are presented in a visually stimulating manner and incorporate realistic coin images.

Additional Resources: 

The Moneyville page, sponsored by the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, provides a history of money, details about strange currencies of the past, information about the artwork found on coins and bills, interesting facts about money, measurement facts regarding money, and generally fun facts about currency. This wealth of information can inspire a variety of creative money lessons.

At Euro Kids’ Corner, students can get a chance to learn about the currency of Europe. In addition to providing an abundance of information about the Euro, this site also provides a history of money, information on early currencies of Europe, and describes different european currencies that were used throughout the 20th century. The site is complimented with great photos and visual imagery.

The money page at A to Z Kids Stuff is a great resource for teachers. This page has a money poem, book recommendations, and categorically sorted links to a variety of money education activities. There are also craft suggestions and lots of other cross-curricular activities that can enhance an instructor’s money lessons.