Money: Pennies

Contributor: Samantha Penna. Lesson ID: 11673

When a parent or friend buys something at a store, do they take coins out of their pocket or get coins back? What are those coins? Learn about pennies and what they are worth while learning to count!



learning style
personality style
Grade Level
Primary (K-2)
Lesson Type
Quick Query

Lesson Plan - Get It!


What type of coin do you see above? What can you do with it?

In the United States of America, people use paper money and coins to buy items from stores.

Have you ever used money to buy something? What did you buy? Share your story with your parent or teacher.

The coin you saw at the beginning of the lesson (also pictured below) is called a penny. Do you know who's on the front of the penny, and what special monument is on the back of the penny? Tell your parent or teacher.

Abraham Lincoln is the president that is on the front of the penny. The Lincoln Memorial is on the back of the penny. Can you see Lincoln sitting between the columns of the Lincoln Memorial? Show your parent or teacher.

Pennies are a form of money. They are worth one cent. There are many ways to write how much a penny is worth. Look at how it is written below:

All pennies are worth one cent. If you take multiple pennies and add them together, you add by ones. Groups of pennies add up to however many pennies are there. For example, if you had five pennies, you would have five cents. If you had ten pennies, you would have ten cents. The numbers of pennies you have always equals the number of cents those pennies are worth, because a penny always equals 1. Look at the examples below:

Did you know you would need one hundred pennies to make one dollar? Since each penny is worth one cent and a dollar is worth one hundred cents, you would need a total of one hundred pennies to have a dollar in pennies.

Did you learn some new facts about pennies? Before moving on to the Got It? section, tell your parent or teacher how many cents the group of pennies below is worth:

Did you say the pennies above are worth eight cents ($0.08 or 8¢)? Great job! You are ready to move on to the Got It? section, where you will be figuring out the values of groups of pennies.

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