Handful of Pennies

The student rolls a die and places that many pennies in the blue hand.  She rolls the die again and places that many pennies in the red hand.  Next, the student writes a number sentence for the number of pennies in each hand.


Students may work independently on this activity to practice their math facts.  Students enjoy both dice and money so it's a great way to provide practice in basic facts.  Students who need concrete practice may simply count the pennies, then write the corresponding sentence.

MATERIALS:  

• Students create their own mats by tracing their hands onto a piece of oaktag or card stock.  Students may elect to color the hands blue and red, as pictured.  
• Insert the mat into a page protector and use dry erase markers for easy cleaning and re-use.
• Create a blank template for the overhead.

EXTENSIONS:  

• Ask the student to write the other three number sentences for each number family.
• Challenge students to complete this activity with 3-4 handfuls of pennies by linking together 2 mats.
• Have students roll 2 dice instead of one die and place that many pennies on the hand.  Repeat for the other hand.