Drawing on Texas: A State of the Arts Coin Social Studies Lesson: Grade K-Three Overview In this lesson, students will learn to recognize the U.S. penny, nickel, dime, and quarter by design and denomination and learn about the historical figures depicted on the coins. They will also be introduced to simple Texas symbols and choose one to draw in a design for a Texas Quarter. Objectives Students will: Communicate interpretations of the meaning, symbolism, and value of U.S. coins, supported with compelling reasons. Demonstrate an understanding of how coins reflect the time, place, and culture in which they were created. Demonstrate an understanding of how visual symbols found on coins represent ideas of patriotism and pride. Draw upon Texas symbols to express personal art making in original designs of coins that represent the state of Texas. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), Social Studies, Grade K-Three (1.13) Citizenship. The student understands important customs, symbols, and celebrations that represent American beliefs and principles and contribute to our national identity. The student is expected to: (A) explain selected national and state patriotic symbols such as the U.S. and Texas flags, the Liberty Bell, and the Alamo; (B) recite and explain the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Pledge to the Texas Flag; and (D) explain how selected customs, symbols, and celebrations reflect an American love of individualism, inventiveness, and freedom. Materials and Resources Actual pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, one set per table or group, each set in an envelope Replica coins or overheads borrowed from classroom teachers Plastic coin sets, heads and tails coin stamps, coin matching money cards, and overhead coin sets, available from ETA Cuisenaire, www.etacuisenaire.com/index.htm (optional) Classroom money kit that includes a large assortment of replica coins and bills, available from Lakeshore Learning, www.lakeshorelearning.com (optional) reproductions of artworks that depict profile portraits design template printed from Texas Quarter Educational Project & Exhibition, one per student Black crayons or pencils Thin white drawing paper, 4 x 6, one per student
Drawing on Texas Social Studies K-3-2 Recommended Books Axelrod, Amy. Pigs Will Be Pigs: Fun with Math and Money. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994. Barabas, Kathy. Let s Find Out About Money. New York: Scholastic, 1997. MacCarone, Grace, Burns, Marilyn, Hartelius, Marge. Monster Money. Cartwheel Books, 1998 Russell, Margo. Start Collecting Coins. Philadelphia: Running Press, 1989. Talbot, Jim. Coin County: A Bank in a Book. Innovative Kids, 1999. Web Sites H.I.P. Pocket Change, The U.S. Mint s Site for Kids, www.usmint.gov/kids The 50 State Quarters Program, www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/50sq_program/index.cfm?action=factsheet The 50 State Quarters Program Lesson Plans www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/index.cfm?action=educational_initiative KidsBank.com: A Fun Place for Kids to Learn About Money, www.kidsbank.com/ Vocabulary Culture: sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings Symbol: an image, idea, or object that stands for or represents something else Patriotism: devoted love, support, and defense of one s country, national loyalty Money/currency: gold, silver, or other metal in pieces of convenient form stamped and by government authority and issued as a medium of exchange and measure of value. Coin: a piece of metal stamped and issued by the authority of the government for use as money. Quarter: a silver U.S. coin equivalent in value to one-fourth of a dollar; 25 cents. Penny: a U.S. coin equivalent in value to one-hundredth of a dollar; 1 cent. Nickel: a U.S. coin equivalent in value to one-twentieth of a dollar; 5 cents. Dime: a silver U.S. coin equivalent in value to one tenth of a dollar; 10 cents. Portrait: picture of a person. Planning and Preparation Become familiar with background information for teachers. Assemble sets of actual pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, one set per table or group, with each set in an envelope. In addition, have on hand a dollar bill and four quarters. Borrow or obtain plastic coin sets, heads and tails coin stamps, coin matching money cards, or overhead coin sets, if possible as larger images of the coins are especially helpful for young students. Download and copy template for entry for Texas Quarter Educational Project & Exhibition, one per student.
Drawing on Texas Social Studies K-3-3 Background Information for Teachers Portraits on U.S. Coins Denomination Portrait One cent: Abraham Lincoln Five cents: Thomas Jefferson Ten cents: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Twenty-five cents: George Washington A Short History of the Quarter: Two hundred years ago, one of the most widely used coins throughout the United States and the Western hemisphere was the Spanish 8-reale or Piece of Eight. It was often split into eight bits or pieces to make change; each part was worth twelveand-a-half cents. Half a reale was four bits and a quarter reale was two bits, a term we still use today for the U.S. quarter-dollar coin. Initially the quarter was made of silver but it was changed to a combination of nickel and copper in 1965. Last year the United States Mint produced nearly two billion quarter dollars. The quarter-dollar was one of the first coin denominations authorized by Congress in 1792, though it wasn t produced until 1796. The Mint Act of 1792 decreed that one side of the quarter had to include the year in which it was minted, an image that symbolized liberty, and the actual word Liberty. The model for the first Lady Liberty may have been a socialite named Ann Bingham. Around her portrait on the front or obverse side were fifteen stars, one for each state in the Union at the time. The back or reverse of the quarter featured a young eagle and the words United States of America. Interestingly, the numerical indication of the quarter s value was somehow overlooked. For more than 115 years, liberty was symbolized on the obverse side of the coin by allegorical female figures of Lady Liberty in the form of a bust or a full-length figure. The depictions of Lady Liberty and the eagle were changed many times during the late 18 th and early 19 th centuries to keep up with the varying designs of other coins. Over time, the eagle was altered to become grander and more patriotic. In 1932, in honor of the bicentennial of George Washington s birthday, Lady Liberty was replaced by a silhouette of Washington s head. In 1976, a colonial drummer replaced the eagle on the back of the coin for the 200 th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Over the next decade, the quarter will now undergo fifty changes to acknowledge each state in the U.S. Each state will be honored on an individual coin to generate the public s interest in coin design and State history. Hopefully this program will encourage people to take more careful notice of the design of their pocket change. Texas Symbols: Texas flag lone star cowboys and cowgirls longhorn cattle horses
Drawing on Texas Social Studies K-3-4 bluebonnet mockingbird Alamo armadillo horned lizard Monarch butterfly cowboy boots cowboy hats Pledge to the Texas Flag: Honor the Texas Flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one and indivisible. Act of the 59 th Texas Legislature Instruction Arrange students in small groups and pass out sets of coins. Display other coin images as available to help display and compare the value and heads and tails sides of each coin. As a group, discuss the coins, identifying the name, denomination, and historical figure on each. Discuss the images on both sides of the coin. Have students feel the edges of the coins and compare their relative sizes. Distribute pieces of drawing paper and crayons and demonstrate how to make rubbings of the coins: Lay the piece of paper on top of a coin, hold it still, and rub the side of a crayon over it, back and forth, until the image appears. Have students make rubbings of all the coins, both heads and tails. To help students remember specifics about the coins, share this poem with them: Penny, penny, Easily spent Copper brown and worth one cent. Nickel, nickel, Thick and fat, You re worth five cents. I know that. Dime, dime, Little and thin, I remember, You re worth ten. Quarter, quarter Big and bold, You re worth twenty-five I am told! www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/99-1/lesson0025.shtml Addie Gaines, againes@netins.net. Seneca Elementary School, Seneca, MO Focus on the quarter. Show four quarters and the dollar bill and explain their relationship. Ask students if they can identify any of the symbols on the quarter that represent the United States. Explain that George Washington, our first president, is on the heads side, and the American eagle, our national bird, is on the tails side. Explain that students will be designing a quarter that pictures Texas symbols to honors for the Texas Quarter Educational Project & Exhibition. With students, brainstorm a list of symbols of Texas. Have students draw Texas symbols for the heads (obverse) and tails (reverse) sides, using black crayon or marker. Students can also write short mottos to add to the coin designs. The Pledge to the Texas Flag offers some possibilities.
Drawing on Texas Social Studies K-3-5 Assessment See unit assessment rubric in the introduction. Extensions Celebrate National Coin Week the third week of April. If students have individual access to the Internet, bookmark The Changing Face of Money, available from the National Council on Economic Education at www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.cfm?lesson=em179 Have students work individually or share it with the entire class if you can project the image on your computer screen. The lesson is available in both a student (K-2) and teacher version. To approach money from a multicultural perspective, adapt the lesson Dollars to Doughnuts: Everyone Uses Money, a K-2 AskERIC Lesson Plan available at ericir.syr.edu/virtual/lessons/interdisciplinary/int0122.html