3 2 6 state quarters (social studies)

H O UG H T O N MIF F L IN


by E. C. Hill

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Introduction
Do you have an eagle in your pocket?
Or a President in your piggy bank?
Look at the coins you have. What do
you see? There’s a President on the
quarter. He was our first President,
George Washington. Flip over that

quarter, and you’ll see an eagle.
These kids are collecting coins.

2


This quarter shows
Caesar Rodney, who signed
the Declaration of Independence.

Quarters have been around for a
long time. Many of them are special
and fun. So before you and your friends
dart into stores to spend your coins, you
might want to look at them. You’ll learn
some history.
3


Lady Liberty
appeared
on quarters
until 1932.

The First Quarters
When our country was new, people
needed money to buy things. So the
leaders scrambled to make coins for
them. One of the coins they made was
the quarter. People have had quarters to

spend for more than 300 years.
Lady Liberty was on the first quarters.
Lady Liberty was a symbol of freedom.
Her picture changed over the years.
Sometimes she had long hair, sometimes
short. Her dress changed over time, too.
Then in 1932, she disappeared!
4


Why did the quarter change in 1932?
Well, George Washington was born 200
years earlier, in 1732. People wanted to
do something special to honor our first
President. So they decided to put him
on the quarter.
So Washington rapidly replaced
Lady Liberty. But people saved their
old Lady Liberty quarters. Old coins
are worth a lot.
Quarters continued to show an eagle
on the flip side. The eagle was so small
it looked like a pigeon! Over
the years, the bird got
bigger. The eagle
stayed on the
quarter until 1999.
The eagle is our
national bird.

5


The State Quarters
In 1999, the state quarter program
began. When the program was
completed in 2008, there were 50 new
quarters, one for each state.
George Washington still is on one
side of the new quarter. But each state
decided what would go on the other side
of its state quarter. You can study each
state’s quarter to learn a little about that
state’s history.

Which State Was First?
Which Was Last?
The first state quarter was for Delaware,
and the last was for Hawaii. The state quarters
were made in order, based on the date that
each state joined the United States.

6


Lincoln lived and
worked in Illinois.

Some states chose to put famous
people on their quarters. Abraham

Lincoln is on the coin from Illinois. He
went to school and worked there as a
lawyer. He is buried there, too.
Some states put famous events or
landmarks on their quarters.
7


This is Yosemite Valley.

People in California care a lot about
nature and the outdoors. So they put
John Muir on their quarter. He worked
hard to save the redwoods and other
California trees. He also helped save
wild lands.
This quarter also shows Yosemite
Valley, a beautiful, wild place. The coin
even includes the condor. The condor is
the state bird.
8


Looking at the Georgia quarter will
make you hungry. Georgia doesn’t have a
famous person on its coin. It has a peach!
Georgia is famous for its peaches. The
coin also shows oak branches because
Georgia has many beautiful oaks. The
quarter includes an outline of the state.

Georgia grows
many peaches
and is called the
“peach state.”

9


Learn about History
Coin collectors love the new quarters.
It’s a fun way to learn about our country.
Plus the coins will last for a long time.
They won’t get ragged like paper money.
What could you find if you sorted
through the change in your pockets? Are
there any quarters in there? If so, take a
close look. You might learn a lot!
The lariat, or rope, that
circles the Texas quarter
stands for the cowboy
history of Texas.

10


Responding
Word Builder
Make a word web about things people
collect. Add more kinds of things.

TARGET VOCABULARY

thoughts
things people
collect

Write About It
Text to Self Write two paragraphs about
things you collect or would like to collect.
Use words and information from your word
web.

11


TARGET VOCABULARY

collect
continued
darted
orders

ragged
rapidly
scrambled
sorted

Question Ask questions
before you read, as you read, and after you read.
TARGET STRATEGY

Drop the -s and you’d want to place one
of these at a restaurant.

12


Level: N
DRA: 30
Social Studies
Strategy:
Question
Word Count: 633

3.2.6 Build Vocabulary

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

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ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02129-4
ISBN-10: 0-547-02129-1

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