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Count Collections of Coins

Students count groups of mixed coins by sorting from greatest to least value and using skip counting strategies. Students express totals using the cent symbol and determine whether they have enough money to buy something.

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Count Collections of Coins

Grade 2 · Money · question 1 of 3

0 of 12

12 rungs. A star at the top.

Value of the coins shown?

Count the coins.

How it is taught

0:00 of 3:46

Sort coins from greatest value to least.

Count on from that total.

Read it: Count on from the biggest

Priya has two quarters, a dime and a penny on a tray. Counting them as four cents is tempting. Start with the biggest coin instead.

  1. Start at the biggest coins: twenty-five, then fifty.
  2. Count on the dime from fifty: sixty.
  3. Count on the penny and name the total: 61c.

Counting four coins as four cents works if they are pennies, but it is wrong the moment a quarter is in the pile.

Two quarters make fifty at a glance, so you start from a number you already trust and only count on the small coins.

The dime adds ten and the penny adds one, so fifty, sixty, sixty-one is the money, not the number of coins.

Count on from the biggest coin; each coin adds what it is worth, not one.

Counting the four coins as four cents, because there are four of them.

A quarter is twenty-five, not one. Start at fifty, then sixty, then sixty-one.

A quarter is 25c, a dime 10c, a nickel 5c and a penny 1c. How many cents is 5c + 1c? — 6. Count on from the biggest: 5, 6.

1 quarter + 2 dimes + 1 nickel + 3 pennies

Imagine you reach into your pocket and pull out a handful of coins. How much money do you have?

Here's our handful — a quarter, two dimes, a nickel, and three pennies, all jumbled up.

Grade 2 · Sort greatest to least, then skip count

First, sort the coins from biggest value to smallest: quarter, dimes, nickel, then pennies.

Start with the quarter. A quarter is twenty-five cents.

A dime is ten cents, so skip count by ten. Twenty-five plus ten is thirty-five.

Another dime — keep skip counting by ten. Thirty-five plus ten is forty-five.

A nickel is five cents. Forty-five plus five is fifty.

A penny is just one cent. Fifty plus one is fifty-one.

Plus one more penny — fifty-two.

And the last penny — fifty-three.

Fifty-three cents in all! Sorting biggest to smallest makes coin counting quick and easy.

Now you try. Count these coins and type the total in cents. How many cents in all?

What you see

While they climb, your page writes one true line to ask about tonight, and a short note each Sunday.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics
Did you know?

A chessboard has 64 squares — share them out between the 8 rows and each row holds exactly 8.

Today’s goal
1 star — one skill mastered, every rung of its ladder climbed
Climbing now
Divide within 100

An example student.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics

Maya earned 2 stars this week — Interpret multiplication as equal groups, which took 6 answers over 3 days before its star landed 3 days ago and Multiply by 6, 7, 8 and 9. Next up: Divide within 100.

An example week.

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