My Y5’s really enjoyed making flip booklets.

The cutting and gluing were great fine motor skills, and writing facts offered practice in handwriting that prepared them for doing research in upper grades.

They especially liked the secretive and surprise element of something being hidden under a flap.

Here’s how to make a coin flip booklet:

Run off my templates on two different colors of bright copy paper for the booklet and white paper for the coins.

Students color the coins the appropriate color, then cut and glue them to the matching circles on the cover of their booklet.

Children cut on the lines to make flip-up pages.

Write the “Master” template on your board and brainstorm/discuss with students the answers.   Write them on the board so that children can copy them onto their paper.

Make sure to tell them NOT to cut their insert page into individual pages, but to simply glue the whole long paper into the bottom of the inside of their booklet.

Some little ones get scissor-happy and make more work for themselves.

Another “head’s up”: Remind students to write the information in appropriate order, dime first, penny second, etc.

Some students want to start with the penny, but the dime is glued first on the cover, because I want to reinforce smallest coin to largest.

This helps give students another way to compare, recognize and remember the coins.

So that children remember how to make tally marks, Using glue dots, I glue 4 Popsicle sticks of one color on a sheet of construction paper, and then cross the 5^th one over using a different color stick.

I number the sticks and put a magnet strip on the back of this mini-poster that I hang on my white board as a reminder.  It also helps students remember which way to cross the 4 sticks.

You can give your students another opportunity to “play” with these 4 coins and enhance their flip book by having them do crayon rubs of the coins.

Set out  a real penny, nickel, dime and quarter at a TV tray center, along with  copper and silver-colored crayons and scrap paper.

Students put the paper over the coin and rub the crayon over it.

They choose their best picture, cut it out and glue it on the flipped-up page, to match the appropriate coin.

On the front of their booklets students write: It makes “cents” to Diane.  Inserting their name on the end of the sentence and putting one word on the first 2 flaps and “cents to” on the 3^rd flap.

Click on the link to view/download the Coin Flip Booklet

Once your students have learned all of the coins reward them with a certificate of praise.  Click on the link for   Coin Certificates.

I hope you and your students have a cent-sational time learning about coins this way!

If you have a tip you’d like to share, I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com or leave a comment here.  Thanks in advance.

See you tomorrow with another coin idea; an autograph book of the presidents!