Foreign Money and Far Away Places

This was a lesson I taught while student teaching. This lesson can be adapted to suit your needs. I had the toy camel and the Kuwaiti coins the lesson plan calls for. You do not need these things to teach the lesson.

• To acquaint the student with moneys from different countries.
• To use money to teach about cultural differences.

The student will learn that money can sometimes tell us about a country or event. (Teacher's Note: Have the students participate in a bartering lesson before doing this lesson. In the bartering lesson, they bring small toys which they will trade with their peers. Also note that I am using Kuwaiti money and toys because that is what I have on hand. Any money could be used in a similar manner.)

• Kuwaiti Dinars or pictures of them.
• Kuwaiti phillis (I/1000th dinar) one for each student. (pronounced phillis with the short I sound barely there)
• Arabic Camel toy that sings, "Hello and how are you?" in Arabic. (This is just to bring some fun into the lesson)
• Dimes, nickels, quarters
• Any coins from foreign lands that show something about the people or an event that took place.

Remind the students of the bartering that they just participated in. Tell them that money all came about long ago in some of the oldest civilizations on earth. Show them Rome on the globe and discuss how the Romans would put the emperor's picture on the coins, or a picture depicting an important event to let the people of the land know what was going on in that land. Tell them that even today people put pictures on money to get across ideas and events that they want others to know about. Tell them that today we are going to learn about a place in the Middle East, which is very old too. That place is Kuwait. Show them Kuwait on the map. Ask them if they think the people in Kuwait have the same type of money we have here. Ask them what they know about the people that live in Kuwait.

Show the picture of the Kuwaiti lady and man. Point out that they dress differently because it is their culture. Ask them if they think the kids would play the same type of games that American Children play? Do they think these kids would know what marbles are? Why or why not? Show them the camel toys and tell them that if they continue to be good listeners, I will play the Arabic song the camel is singing.

Show the Kuwaiti Dinar and pass it around. Draw attention to the children depicted on the Dinar. They are all boys dressed in the national dress of Kuwait. What are they doing? They are playing marbles. Explain that people in Kuwait dress in their national clothes as well as the clothes we wear here.

Show the ¼ dinar bill. Ask them what the picture shows them. Does the picture tell you something about the way that these people used to live? How did they used to live? Flip the bill over and show the gulf dam that they have built. Ask them if they think by looking at this picture, that the people of Kuwait know how to make things like we do.

Pass around some pennies, dimes, nickels, quarters, Susan B. Anthony dollar, and a Sacagawea dollar. Ask the students to look closely at what they see on these coins. What might these pictures tell someone about us? Do we honor our presidents? Did women play an important role in our country? Ask what else they might learn from looking at American coins.

To close the lesson, ask the students what they have learned about coins and the different pictures that MIGHT be on them? Tell them tomorrow we are going to learn how to count amounts of money. Thank them all for being good listeners. Tell them that sometimes a different language sounds funny but that we mustn't laugh because it might hurt someone's feelings. Play the Camel's song. Give each child a Kuwaiti phillis to keep.

• The student will have actively participated in the discussion about money as observed by the teacher.