Dollar Game a Tool for Promoting Number Sense Among Kindergartners

¶ … college mathematics instructor Holly Hoover writes about an instructional technique to introduce kindergarten children to math. Calling the method the "Dollar Game," Hoover suggests turning the math learning experience into an educational game with children grouped together. The Dollar Game itself requires only a number cube, several pennies, one dollar bill per player, one person to serve as a banker and one 8.5 by 11-inch "game mat." The first step is to group the children together. Hoover suggests that four players are an ideal number, excluding the banker.

The "banker" could be the teacher, a volunteer parent or even an elementary or high school student who is working as a teacher's aide. First, the banker gives each child the same number of pennies. The banker then prepares the "game mat," which is divided into three columns that are labeled "dollars," "dimes" and "pennies." Any piece of paper could be used as a game mat. The first player tosses the number cube and notes the resulting number.

He or she will then count out the said number of pennies and place them into the "pennies" column of the game mat. The players will continue to take turns rolling the game cube and putting pennies onto the game mat. When one player accumulates 10 pennies, the banker will exchange the pennies for a dime. The player then places the dime into the "Dime" column. When a player accumulates 10 dimes, he or she will exchange the coins for a dollar bill.

The first person that gets to the "dollar" level is then proclaimed the winner. Much of Hoover's experience with the Dollar Game is positive. First, the game requires no special equipment. This game is also easy to learn, both for the children and the student teachers. To stimulate a stronger interest in the game, Hoover further recommends using real coins and dollar bills. As an added incentive, the students could also "buy" inexpensive rewards like candy or erasers with the money they won.

Hoover reports that the game helps children develop an understanding of numbers as well as numerical concepts. One child, for example, stated that after getting seven pennies, only three pennies more were needed to get a dime. This statement reveals that the child understood the relationship between the number of dots on the cube and the number of coins itself. The child also showed rudimentary subtraction skills by understanding how three plus seven makes ten pennies.

For Hoover, the Dollar Game provides a good opportunity to stimulate a child's "number sense." Children can hone their budding mathematical skills by counting out loud and placing the said number of coins into the appropriate column. By making children count and exchange coins by.