Music Therapy dollar and cent video & song for special needs individuals. Goal 1: Client will demonstrate understanding that 100 cents equals 1 dollar and 1 dollar equals 100 cents. Goal 2: Client will demonstrate five methods (with like coins or a bill) to create 100 cents (1 dollar). Domains: Academics, Math
‘Smart’ by Shel Silverstein
My dad gave me one dollar bill ‘Cause I’m his smartest son, And I swapped it for two shiny quarters ‘Cause two is more than one!
And then I took the quarters And traded them to Lou For three dimes — I guess he don’t know That three is more than two!
Just then, along came old blind Bates And just ’cause he can’t see He gave me four nickels for my three dimes, And four is more than three!
And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs Down at the seed-feed store, And the fool gave me five pennies for them, And five is more than four!
And then I went and showed my dad, And he got red in the cheeks And closed his eyes and shook his head– Too proud of me to speak!
Money is difficult for kids to understand. First, we teach them how to count. Then, when introducing coins and bills, we teach them that 1 of something can equal 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, or 100 of something. We use the terms ‘cents’ and ‘dollars’ and explain that 100 of these equals 1 of those. Insanity! Many students struggle to understand that while dollars can be bills, they can also be made from coins. (They can even be made from checks, debit cards, credits cards, PayPal, Venmo… all of this should probably be saved for a later discussion.)
The choruses of the song introduce (and incessantly repeat) that 100 cents is the same as 1 dollar and (using the commutative property) that 1 dollar is equivalent to 100 cents.
The verses of the song demonstrate five methods to create 100 cents (1 dollar) using like coins (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters) or a 1-dollar bill.
Most of the projects I create are designed for the student to provide answers or responses within the context of the song. Because this project stresses the fact that there are two equally correct answers (100 cents and 1 dollar), this project does not.
Determining a student’s level of comprehension is best determined in this case through questions posed after the song or video:
How many cents is the same as 1 dollar? How many dollars is the same as 100 cents? How many pennies does it take to make 1 dollar? How many nickels does it take to make 100 cents? Ten dimes are worth how many dollars? Four quarters are worth how many cents?
