Financial Awareness for Students

 Since April is Financial Awareness Month, we've pulled together some lessons on money, coins, dollar bills, and finances for you to use with your students.



On April 2, 1792 the U.S. Congress passed the Coinage Act to regulate the coins of the United States. The act authorized $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle, 2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins, silver dollar, dollar, quarter, dime, and half-dime to be minted.

In Excel Math, we teach students how to add dollars and coins, become financially literate and make sense of monetary calculations. Here's a coins worksheet you can use with your students to help them recognize coins from a penny to a dollar. Click here for a larger version.

Coins worksheet from Excel Math

Give a page of coins to each of your students. Have each student cut out the coins along the broken lines and stack them according to their value (all pennies in one stack, nickels in another, etc). Use the rectangle of coins at the bottom of the worksheet to talk about each coin, its distinguishing features, and how much it is worth.


Let your students place the stacked coins on top of their matching pictures. Now have them find the one coin worth 25¢. Next have them find three coins whose sum equals 25¢ (two dimes and a nickel). Continue practicing any skills your students need to review (making change, adding and subtracting coins of various values, etc.). Point out the presidents shown on the coins: Lincoln - penny, Jefferson - nickel, Roosevelt - dime, Washington - quarter, Kennedy - half dollar. Read more lesson ideas with on our post: Making Cents of the Coinage Act.html. Shown above are some Washington dollar coins with George Washington's face on the obverse side.

Pictured below is a Guided Practice page from the Excel Math Second Grade Teacher's Edition. See if you can solve these problems without looking at the answers. Section E uses coins of various values. Can you recognize them? (We've provided the answers so you can check your work.) Read more about various U.S. coins: Whose-Head-Is-on-That-Coin.html

Excel Math Grade 2 Student Lesson Sheet

The first time that a woman (other than a mythical figure) appeared on a circulating coin was not until 1979, when the U.S. Mint issued the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin. Read more about Susan B. Anthony and the Dollar Coin Act of 1997 on our post: Counting-All-Coins-Dollars.html.

According to some sources, even toddlers and preschoolers are not too young to begin traveling down the road toward financial literacy. Here are some tips for helping children of all ages begin to learn to manage money: http://www.ajc.com/news/business/personal-finance/for-financial-literacy-its-never-too-early/nW2Gt/. How do you teach financial literacy to children? Leave your suggestions in the comments section below.

To develop confident, successful math students, use Excel Math lessons for Kindergarten through Grade 6. Much more than just worksheets, these math lessons really work! Learn more and take a look at samples at www.excelmath.com.