Money, Money, Money.....

What is money? When did humans start using money? How do we decide the value of money?
These are some of the questions we are asking as we begin our unit on the History of Money.
We have been reading some very interesting stories about early humans and the beginnings of money. In math we will be learning about Canadian currency and doing activities to reinforce our counting, tallying, and change-making abilities. Now is a perfect time to ask you children to help you make change at the grocery store!

Our poem this week is about money, too!

The Penny
See the shiny penny, brown as it can be,
With two maple leaves for all of us to see.
It's made out of copper at a mint,
A penny's worth one whole cent.

The Nickel
A resting beaver will be found
On a nickel, shiny, smooth, and round.
The Queen is on the other side.
A nickel is worth five cents.
Say it with pride!

The Dime
A dime is the smallest coin of them all,
With the Bluenose sailing nice and tall.
A dime is worth ten cents. Don't you agree?
Which makes me happy as can be!

The Loonie
When compared to other coins,
A loonie is gold and shiny,
It's worth a dollar at the store,
But isn't very tiny,
Used by people in Canada,
To buy things big and small,
The real loon floats on a lake,
Listen close and hear it call!

The Toonie
A toonie is shiny silver and gold.
It has a bear that stands so bold.
A toonie is worth two dollars, that's a lot.
It's the largest coin that we've got.

written by James Horner

In other news, we are working at developing sentences that are complete. Today we discussed the idea of a "subject" and a "predicate" and practiced identifying them within sentences. We are quick learners! Everyone had a very good understanding by the end of the lesson.

And finally, a quick note that we are planning our next fieldtrip to the Space Centre for mid-February. A permission slip will be arriving home in the next week, or so.

Thanks!
Mrs. J