No Worksheet Wednesdays!

Happy Wednesday! I'm linking up with my Chalkie brothers and sisters for our monthly linky party, No Worksheet Wednesdays! We all know that as teachers, worksheets are a necessary evil that we sometimes use. I am guilty of this practice. It is not my first choice but I admit I have pulled a worksheet or two. 

So today, I wanted to share with you a worksheet free activity I did! We are working on money! I mean, we have been working hard on money: identifying it, counting it, and now ways to make a dollar. I wanted a hands on experience for my class to find ways to make a dollar. 

I bagged up some coins (more than what they would need) and discussed how much was in a dollar. We also sang this great song from Jack Hartmann to review coins and basic counting. Then I passed out bags of coins and assigned a student to open the bags. I only used pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. 

Students had 5 minutes to work together to make 100 cents or a dollar. They were to check their math and be prepared to show their math during our math walk about. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly they worked and all before the time limit. So I gathered them around and we walked to every table and had groups talk about how they made their dollar and we counted together to verify it. 

At the end of our activity, we took out our journals and students wrote the 4 ways we made a dollar. 

I was super proud of their journal entries. They wrote the correct amounts and showed the coins used. Authentic learning at it's best! Love it! 

I hope you will link up with us this week! I cannot wait to see what ideas you have!