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Rafe Esquith: Five Tips to Help Children Develop Their Natural Gifts

#1326. Money Trading Song

Mathematics, level: Elementary
Posted Wed Sep 29 07:29:20 PDT 1999 by Linda Wilson (Linda_Wilson@whps.org).
Wolcott School, West Hartford CT 16110
Materials Required: large laminated paper coins and 1 dollar bills
Activity Time: 5 minutes
Concepts Taught: Value of coins and 1 dollar Bill. Trading concepts of money.

Sung to the tune "Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat"

I sing this song every morning with the children before we
talk about how many days we've been in school. Here it is:

5 pennies trade a nickel
2 nickels trade a dime
2 dimes and a nickel trade a quarter every time
4 quarters trade a dollar
And that is quite a lot
And a dollar in my pocket is exactly what I've got!

After singing the song, we say how many days we've been
in school and add that to our "bank". (I use a music stand
and place magnets on the back of the money) For example,
the first day of school, we put up a penny. When we got
to the fifth day, we had five pennies. The children traded
the 5 pennies for a nickel. And so on! It's a fabulous
way to teach money concepts all year long!