Australian Money

Preparation

Students are expected to:

• Have previous experience using the CoSpaces app to view Merge Cubes
• If students have not viewed Merge Cubes using CoSpaces before, it is recommended to spend a lesson learning how to do this, or to allow extra time during this lesson for students to learn it.
• Have had previous experience using coins through play.
• Understand the meaning of ‘least’ and ‘most’ value. 

Teachers should make sure that:

• A ‘surprise box’ has been prepared with various items for students to explore to introduce the lesson content e.g.:
• Purse/wallet
• Shopping bag
• Price tag
• Real coins
• Photos of different shops
• They are familiar with accessing CoSpaces QR codes on the student devices.
• All hardware has been charged and sanitised.
• The Australian Money Teaching Deck has been checked and the teacher has accessibility.
• The CoSpaces app is up to date.
• Students have been divided into pairs / groups depending on how many Merge Cubes are available. 
• Play coins have been organised into small bags / baskets to ensure each student will have one of each coin for their task.
• See ‘Adaptations’ on page 4 of this lesson plan for differentiation ideas.
• OPTIONAL: the following Australian Money Word Wall Cards have been added to a word wall for students to refer to:
• coins
• money
• value
• dollars
• cents
• least
• most
• worth 

Learning Sequence

Introduction

• Take out the ‘surprise box’ and tell students that there are clues inside which will help them figure out what today’s lesson is about. 

• Shake the box around and ask them ‘Who wants to guess what might be inside?’ Ask 2 or 3 students to share what they think. 

• Take out each clue from the box (you may wish to ask individual students to do this) and have a discussion about what the items are telling them about today’s lesson.

• Ask the students ‘What do we use money for? Has anybody used money to buy something?’ and invite them to think / pair / share with a partner.
  
• Watch the Australian Coins song on slide 3 of the Australian Money Teaching Deck and encourage students to join in.

Development

• Explain to students that they will be learning more about Australian coins using a Merge Cube. Then they will be showing what they have learnt by putting a collection of coins in the correct order. 

• Play the video on slide 4 of the Australian Money Teaching Deck to show students how to access the CoSpaces app and scan the QR code to view the Australian Coins Merge Cube. 

• Distribute the Merge Cubes to each student / pair / group and give time to explore. Display slide 5 of the Australian Money Teaching Deck as a visual aid for students to follow.

• If students tap the picture of each coin, audio will play which explains the coin in more detail (e.g. its value, image, shape).
• Once students have had the opportunity to explore the Australian Coins Merge Cube, invite them to collect a group of coins and spend time ordering them in the following ways:
  – from least to most value,
  – from most to least value.

• If SeeSaw / Class Dojo is used in your classroom, students can take a photo of their ordered coins and post it to their journal with an audio recording explaining their task.
• This link takes you to a pre-made activity on SeeSaw that teachers can save and add to their class.
• If time permits, students can also find a partner and play a racing game to see who can successfully order their coins the fastest.
• Players place 7-10 coins in a basket / cup
• Say ‘ready, set, go’ to begin
• Tip the coins out of the basket / cup and arrange them from least to most value
• The player who completes this first wins the round

Conclusion

• Display slide 7 on the Australian Money Teaching Deck and ask a student to put the coins in the correct order, and to explain their thinking as they go.

• Invite students to discuss the questions on slide 8 of the Australian Money Teaching Deck:
• What did you do well?
• What did you have trouble with?
• What was your favourite part?

Download the PDF for more information