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Math Applet Review 2

 https://www.nctm.org/Classroom-Resources/Illuminations/Interactives/Coin-Box/ 

The second app I decided to review is also from the Illuminations (NCTM) website and is called Coin Box. This game is designed for PreK through 5th grade and the objective is to learn how to count, collect, exchange, and make change for coins and works best on tablets and laptops. The easiest level of the game shows a small collection of coins and asks you to determine the total value. One unique feature of this app is that you can drag coins into a box on the side and then choose which larger value coin is equal to it. For example, I put two nickels into the box on the side and chose to exchange them for one dime. This is a great strategy to help students count if it is easier for them to count by 10s or 25s than 1s, 5s, 10s, and 25s. The second level of this game asks you to collect a certain amount of coins. It asked me to collect 73 cents so I added two quarters, two dimes, and three pennies to the center of the screen. The next level asks you to exchange the coins on the screen for the least amount of coins. The last two levels allow students to make change from coins and then make change from a given value. I like how this app uses differentiation for students who are working at different levels as well as scaffolding so students can work on counting coins, then collecting, then exchanging, etc. Another benefit of this app is that students can work on it independently or the class could play together on a smartboard and make it a game. The teacher could even divide the class into teams and they could take turns and see who gets the most problems right. I enjoyed this app and don’t see any challenges with it!


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