Counting Money Lesson Plan for 2nd Grade

Learning objective

• Count collections of pennies, nickels, and dimes accurately
• Add coin values together to find a total amount
• Practice skip-counting by 1s, 5s, and 10s with coins

Materials

• Pennies, nickels, and dimes only
• Pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters - up to 6 coins
• Pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters - up to 10 coins
• The four common coins plus $1 bills
• The four common coins plus $1 and $5 bills
• Money in words (numbers to words)
• Pencils, and whiteboard space for the modeled examples

Lesson steps

1. 1. Warm up together (5 min)

   Count around the circle before anyone sits down, then ask where counting money shows up outside this room. Listen for who counts confidently and who is watching a neighbour's lips.

2. 2. Model it (I do) (10 min)

   Work two examples of counting money where everyone can see, saying each number aloud as you go. Miscount once on purpose and wait: the child who corrects you has it.

3. 3. Practice together (we do) (10 min)

   Work three more problems as a class. Ask a different student to supply each step rather than the whole answer. If a step stalls, drop back to concrete objects or a drawing before moving on.

4. 4. Independent practice (you do) (15 min)

   Hand out "Pennies, nickels, and dimes only". Students work independently while you circulate. Note who is fluent, who is counting on fingers, and who has not started, because that grouping drives tomorrow's small group.

5. 5. Close the loop (5 min)

   Pull the class back. Ask one student to explain a problem they got right and one to name something that is still confusing. End on the confusion, not the success, so students learn that naming a gap is normal.

Check for understanding

Collect the practice pages and sort them into three piles: fluent, developing, and not yet. Any student in the third pile needs counting money retaught in a small group before the class moves on.

Differentiation

Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild counting money with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.

Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own counting money problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand counting money.

Skills covered in this lesson

Pennies, nickels, and dimes only · Pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters - up to 6 coins · Pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters - up to 10 coins · The four common coins plus $1 bills · The four common coins plus $1 and $5 bills · Money in words (numbers to words) · Money in words (words to numbers) · Nickels and dimes only · Nickels, dimes & quarters - up to 6 coins · Nickels, dimes & quarters - up to 10 coins · Nickels, dimes, quarters & loonies · Nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies & toonies