Just after the earthquake in Haiti our school decided to do a penny drive. This is a school with about 65% of our students receiving free/reduced lunch. The money poured in for the week and a half we ran the drive.
Lucky for us, this happened just as we were studying coins. So we brought in donations from other classes and figured out how much money was there. We started by sorting the coins (great practice for those students who were still struggling with identifying the different coins). Then we counted each type. We used hundreds charts to figure out how many of each coin was there. Students then had to figure out how to count (by 1s, 5s, 10s). It was an interesting challenge for some.
The few quarters were saved for groups up for the challenge!This was an amazing learning experience for my class. Eventually they did count groups of pennies, nickels, and dimes. I was quite impressed with them.
Also, the school brought in about $2,200 for the relief efforts in Haiti!
(The penny drive was suggested by a third grade class and my first grade daughter. Honestly, I couldn't be prouder.)
2 comments:
I believe that the most inspiring part about this post was the fact that it connected to the class lesson. At such young ages, children learn how to help, how to share, and how to care. The key is to incorporate these three "how to's" into our school learning, and that's exactly what your class did. Now, as your class grows older they wont moan and grown while questioning why they have to learn something, but instead they will question how what they're learning can help others. In English, they will learn how to properly write so they can write a letter to someone who's having a rough day. In Gym, they will learn how to play a game of kickball, so they can get to know and become friends with the new, shy student. And In your Math class, they learned how to count, so they could help people who are less fortunate. And that is the beautiful thing about learning.
Sarah Castellano
www.sarahf09.edublogs.org
Great Job, regards, elementary school teacher
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