Goal-directed Instructional Design Plan - Counting Coins
Author – Allison Scovone
1. A problem or a need – there must be a problem of practice or an educational need that
should be addressed during the lesson.
In first grade in Michigan, students are first introduced to coin values. Students are expected to
be able to count collections of coins, make equivalent amounts of money, and solve (and write
simple) number stories involving money. Many students struggle with counting mixed coins (i.e.
quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies rather than just nickels or just pennies) because they have
to change the value they are counting by.
2. A real-world performance – how the learning objective fit into a real-world activity or need.
When students are shopping, at restaurants, or otherwise trying to purchase goods or services,
they need to be able to count collections of coins in order to ensure that they are paying the
correct amount. If they do not have the exact amount, students need to be able to determine
how much change they should be receiving.
3. An instructional objective – the objectives are based on the final outcome, activity or test.
These objectives will each be different for the four types of knowledge; performing skills,
recalling facts, identifying examples of concepts, and applying principles.
a. Objective: Students will be able to determine the value of collections of quarters,
nickels, dimes, and pennies.
b. Objective: Students will practice their coin counting skills using a game applet.
c. Objective: Students will be able to apply coin counting skills to buy objects in a class
store.
4. A set of essential content – the basic ideas and skills that will allow the learner to complete
the task or understand the content.
In order to be successful, students need to be able to switch the amount they are counting by
(i.e. going from counting by 10s to counting by 5s). Students also need to be able to organize
coins in order by value so that they are able to count like coins all at once.
5. An evaluation consisting of a test or observation – an assessment, observation or
product showing that the objectives can be accomplished in the real-world setting.
The evaluation will be students purchasing objects in a class store. Parents will donate goods for
students to buy. For the month leading up to the store, students will be given plastic pennies,
nickels, dimes, and quarters for good behavior. Students will save these coins to use at the
class store. When students are purchasing items at the store, they will have to provide the exact
change for the object. If a student does not have the exact amount, he or she will have to tell the
“cashier” (teacher or parent) how much change to give. When students are purchasing these
objects the teacher will observe and use a checklist to evaluate student understanding of the
concept.
6. A method to help participants learn – the method to deliver the content; a lesson.
•
Activating Prior Knowledge:
review each coin and their
relative denominations. This can
be done by reviewing a class
chart that organizes this
information (see image at right)
or using Shahi (visual dictionary)
to show the different coins and
their definitions.
To show the relative amounts of
each coin to one another, use
Illuminations Coin Box to show
using an array model how the
coins compare to one another.
This could also be used to help solve the problems during the modeling section.
•
Modeling: Using a split screen with a projector or SmartBoard, I will show two websites:
o Grocery shopping items with prices
o Virtual Manipulatives: coins
I will have a collection of coins on the screen using the virtual manipulatives. I will
model pretending to be at a store to buy different items and going through the change
to determine which coins I need for the exact amount. I will do this for several different
items. For higher achieving groups, I will model buying two or three items at once and
finding the total value before counting the coins.
As I am going through the modeling, I will create a “checklist” poster that shows each
of the steps involved in counting mixed sets of coins. This will be displayed in the room
for students to refer to.
•
Guided Practice: Students will pick items from the list on the board and will explain to me
which virtual manipulative coins I should use to purchase the items. This will be an
interactive discussion among students, particularly if one student gets stuck.
•
Independent Practice: Students will go to the computer lab to complete an online
“shopping” module at
http://www.smarttutor.com/home/lessons/STA_Measurement_Money_L1_V1_t3.swf.
There will be a link to this website on the desktop of the computer for students to navigate
to. This navigation will also be modeled using a computer hooked up to a projector. For
students who have trouble using a mouse, they can use Camera Mouse to control the
pointer with their eyes. This game requires students to select objects they can buy using a
given amount of coins. It starts with a demonstration of counting the coins. If students find
this module too easy, they will be directed to a more difficult one at
http://www.smarttutor.com/home/lessons/STA_Measurement_Money_L2_V1_T3a.swf.
•
Independent Application: students will shop at a class store using the plastic coins they
earned. Students will set goals for the amount of money they want to earn (and be able to
count). Students will keep track of how much money they have earned each week using a
bar graph. This will help students keep track of their progress towards their goal. At the
class store, students will have to pay the exact amount for products (if necessary, they will
be able to trade in coins for equivalencies (i.e. a nickel for 5 pennies)). Students will be
observed during this time as a means of assessment.
●
Motivation:
○
Meaningfulness – content and activities must have meaning for the learner
Students see money being used all the time. Many students earn money from allowance. These
lessons help equip the students to use this money to purchase items.
○
Pleasant consequences – the effects that achieving the goal will have on the learner
Students will be able to go to stores (in real life and in the class store) and purchase items they
want using the correct amount of change.
○
Novelty – an attention-getting, humorous or curious manner that relates to the useful
information in your lesson
Students have the opportuniy to earn their own “money” to buy actual objects in a class store.
To be able to purchase these items, they have to be able to determine what coins they need to
buy the item.
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Socialization - a strong motivator for student learning
Students online modules have user-content and user-expert aspects. The user-expert aspect
comes in when students get a question wrong and the module will model how the problem
should have been solved. The user-user aspect comes in during the guided practice portion of
the lesson when students have interactive discourse about how to solve the problem.
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Audience – For what audience are you designing this lesson? Consider the following:
○
Age: 1st / 2nd grade (6-8 years old)
○
Skill level (including technology skills):
Students’ skill levels with counting coins varies. Some students are quite adept
and are able to switch the value they count by automatically. Other students
struggle just by counting in isolation by 5s, 10s, or 25s. To meet these varying
needs, students are instructed in math groups that are formed based on preassessment data. For higher level students, they are given less scaffolding and
often times more difficult problems (i.e. larger values, more complex skills like
buying more than one item at a time).
Students’ technology skills are very beginning. When asked to type their last
name, several students got stuck on how to delete a letter they mistyped. Few
students know how to go to “FileàPrint”. Students, however, are familiar with
how to use a mouse and when given shortcuts to websites, they are typically
able to navigate to the site. The students who are more literate are able to follow
buttons and links on websites quite well, while students who are struggling
readers have more difficulty.
○
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Prerequisite knowledge (including technology background)
Students need to know the values of quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.
Students need to be able to count by 1s, 5s, 10s, and 25s automatically.
For the technology component, students will need to be able to navigate to a
website by using a desktop shortcut and be able to select objects using a mouse.
Technology Needs – the computers, software, programs (such as Angel or other CMS’s)
printers, equipment, Internet access, time in the computer lab will be needed to successfully
complete your technology-rich lesson.
○ Time in the computer lab so each students has access to a school computer with
internet access and sufficient memory and RAM
○ Computer hooked-up to a projector or SmartBoard (preferred)