100 Ways to Celebrate 100 Days

I'm challenging myself to name 100 ways to celebrate 100 days.  So, here goes . . .

1. Estimate how far 100 feet is, student feet, that is. Using sticky notes with their names on them, have your kiddos place their notes where they think 100 feet from the classroom door will be.
2. Have your students trace the outline of their shoes on construction paper and cut them out.  Then line them up, heel to toe in the hallway to determine the correct answer. Give a certificate to the student(s) who came the closest to the correct distance.  
3. If your students are capable, have them figure out how many construction paper feet each one needs to make using operations.  If they are not able to do that much math, have them count off by 2s, making tally marks or holding up fingers to track how many times they gave the next number in the skip counting, thus determining how many sets of footprints to make.
4. Give each student a 1 quart ziplock bag to take home.  Direct them to find 100 of the same item to put in the bag and bring them to school on the 100th day.  Stress that all items must fit in the bag and that are dear or valuable are to be considered carefully as their collections will be manipulated during the day.  Thus, there is the risk that breakables could be broken and valuables lost.  My personal preference is that they not bring in food that will attract bugs or vermin.
5. Read 100 Hungry Ants, by Elinor J. Pinczes.
6. Save the ads from your Sunday newspapers and bring them to class.  Challenge your students to find ONE item they could buy if they had $100 without going over $100. Ask them to record their purchase on a $100 bill representation.
7. Then ask your class to find 2 items they could buy without exceeding their $100.  Again they should record their purchases.
8. Repeat the task with as many numbers as you deem appropriate.  I recommend 4, 5, and 10, at the least.
9. Bring in 3 jars (mayonnaise jars work well) that you have filled with a collection of objects. Make 1 jar = exactly 100.  Make the other jars greater than and less than 100. Ask your students to vote for the jar they think has exactly 100 objects.  Near the end of the day, count the objects in each jar to determine who selected the correct jar. Give certificates to those who guessed correctly.
10. Have your students determine the year in which they will turn 100 years old.                          
11. Discuss signs of old age.  Have your students draw a picture of themselves as they will look at 100.  For extra effect, have them crinkle the paper after their drawing is complete to make their faces look wrinkled.
12. Read Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten, by Joseph Slate.
13. Ask your students to write a paragraph about what they think they will be doing when they are 100 years old.
14. Prior to 100th day, begin compiling a list with your students of 100 words they can read and write.  On the 100th day, have a spelling bee using those words.  For older students, challenge them to name 100 words that pertain to a specific subject (science, math, social studies, food, nouns, verbs, ...).  Use those words for the spelling bee.
15. Promote team work by providing several 100 piece jigsaw puzzles.  Divide the class into equal small groups; then give each group a puzzle to complete.  Certificates to those who finish first! 
16. Thumbs up to thumbprints!  Using a stamp pad, their thumb, and a marker, students will print their thumb on paper 100 times.  Each time they make 10 thumbprints, they should stop printing and use the marker to circle that group of 10.  Encourage them to label each set with the appropriate decade.
17. Calculate what year it will be 100 years from now.  Ask each student to draw and describe something that schools will have then that they do not have now.  Collate their pages and illustrations into a class book.
18. Give each student a 10 x 10 grid.  Flip a penny 100 times, recording H (heads) or T (tails) on the grid cells.  
19. Calculate how many Tails appeared in #18; calculate how many Heads came up.  
20. On another 10 x 10 grid, have students record the numbers that come up as they roll a die 100 times.  
21. Have your students graph the results of #20.
22. Read 100 Days of School, by Trudy Harris.
23. Have small groups of students make trains with unifix cubes.  Each train should be exactly 100 cubes long.  Compare the trains.  Are they all the same length?  If not, which one is correct?  The only way to figure that out is to break the trains into equal lengths (I recommend 10).  Give certificates to the students who used exactly 100.
24. Brainstorm a list of activities from the 1st 100 days that are memorable.  Limit your list according to the age and stage of your students.  Create a class graph of their favorite activities.
25. Working with a partner, complete this writing activity:  If we had 100 _____, we would _____.  The partners write about their idea and then illustrate it.
26. Another writing activity, perhaps more appropriate for older students:  Write about what it may have been like 100 years ago.  What would not yet be invented?  What would school have been like then?
27. Read aloud The 100th Day of School, by Angela Shelf Medearis.
28. Take a brain break and do 100 jumping jacks.
29. Because the 100th day falls in Feb. in my district, I include a Black History activity. The challenge is to compile a list of 100 African Americans of note.
30. Have a coloring race.  Give each students a 10 x 10 grid.  Using a die, each child rolls a number and then colors in that many squares.  Students should change colors for each roll of the die.  Play continues until 1 student reaches 100.  If you like, require the children to roll the exact number they need to complete the grid.  That is, rolling a 6 when you need 4 to finish will be disallowed.  They must roll exactly a 4 or a combination thereof.  Give the winner(s) a certificate and a pat on the back.  
31. Another variation of the coloring race is to give each child 2 dice which they roll together.  The number of squares they get to color is the sum, difference, product or quotient of the 2 numbers.  It's your choice!
32. After everyone has finished coloring their grid from above, have them cut the grid into the 100 squares.  Use the squares to create a mosaic picture.  This could be 1 huge, full class mosaic or each students could complete their own picture.
33. Read The Night Before the 100th Day of School, by Natasha Wing.
34. Hop on your right foot 50 times.  Then hop on your left foot 50 times.
35. Create paper chains of exactly 100 loops.  Join them together with a distinctive loop and hang them around the room.  Now you can count by 100s!
36. Sing the following song to the tune of Ta-ra-ra Boom De Ay:  It's the 100th day/ So shout, "Hip hip hooray!"/ We'll count and eat and play/ on the 100th day.   See all we've collected/ 100s on display/ Join in the fun and say,/ "Hooray for the 100th day!"
37. Clip 100 paperclips together.  With a partner, measure things in the room.  Find 2 each of the following:  shorter than, longer than, and equal to the 100 chain.
38. Have a 100 snack -- a pretzel stick and 2 round or oval crackers.  Tell you kiddos that it's a 100 snack, but they can't eat it until they figure out why it is a 100 snack.  (You may wish to discourage the breaking of the pieces into 1000s of crumbs!)
39. Make 100 placemats and deliver them to a nursing home.  I guarantee they will be appreciated by the seniors.
40. If your 100th day is near Valentine's Day, make 100 Valentine cards to send to soldiers who are deployed overseas.
41. Enlist the P.E. teacher to make the children do 10 different in sets of 10 exercises.  For example, 10 sit-ups, 10 toe touches, 10 push ups, etc.
42. Have the students estimate how long 100 seconds is.  The teacher uses a stopwatch, declaring the start time.  Students stand up when they think 100 seconds have expired.  The teacher may wish to note which student(s) were correct, if indeed, any were correct.  Repeat this exercise at various times throughout the day.  Hopefully, the children will get better at estimating the time.
43. Read 100th Day Worries, by Margery Cuyler.
44. Ask each student to list 5 things they are thankful for.  Display the lists together under the title, We are Thankful for 100 Things.  If you have more than 20 students, have each child name 4 things and complete the list with things you, the teacher, are thankful for.
45. Using long strips of paper (adding machine rolls work great) and 2 different color markers, have pairs of students write the numbers from 1 - 100.  For example, 1 = red, 2 = blue, 3 = red, 4 = blue, ...  Pairing a student who is struggling with this with a more capable partner is particularly helpful.
46. Have the children create a domino train with 100 dominoes.  Then have them watch as they fall down.
47. Using Do-a-Dot paints, have your students make 100 dots on a piece of construction paper.
48. Have each student graph the color distribution of #47.
49. Students complete 100 math problems of whatever operation is most appropriate to the grade level.
50. Dance for 100 seconds.
51. Read Lester L. Laminack's book, Jake's 100th Day of School.
52. Using Froot Loops, create a 100 loop necklace.  Students should use 10 loops of 1 color and then switch to another color for the next ten.  Yarn works well for the chain.
53. Give small groups of children 100 paper cups.  Ask them to build a wall or structure with the cups.
54. Have the children add their ages together.  Did the sum equal 100?  Was it larger than 100?  Was it smaller than 100?  You may want to ask your students to predict the answers to those questions before completing the computation.
55. Give small groups 100 pattern blocks to share.  Together they should make a design. Take pictures of their designs and display the pictures in your classroom.
56. Using the 100 collection the students brought from home, have them divide the objects into 2 equal groups.  Use a piece of construction paper folded in half to provide spaces for the groups.  Make note of how many objects are in each group. 
57. Repeat #56, dividing the objects into 4 equal groups.  Note the number in each group.
58. Repeat #56, dividing the objects into 5 equal groups.  Note the numbers.
59. Clap hands 100 times.
60. Read It's the 100th Day, Stinky Face! by Lisa McCourt.
61. Give each student a 10 x 10 grid.  Have them write their first name, putting 1 letter in each square, repeatedly, until the grid is filled.  Students then choose a color for each letter and create a key.  They then color the squares according to the key.
62. Collect the grid from #61 and combine them to make a large "quilt."
63. Bounce a ball 100 times.
64. Ask the music teacher to help celebrate 100 days by having the children strike percussion instruments 100 times in unison during music class.
65. Give each student a 100 chart.  Direct them to color only the odd numbers. 
66. Brainstorm a list of 100 things we do at school.
67. Skip rope 100 times.
68. Create a class book in which each student completes a page that reads, "Once I saw 100 _________."  You may wish to share some ideas before turning the students loose.  For example, Once I saw 100 ants in my lunch bag.  Students should also illustrate their page.
69. Display a large 100 chart.  Ask the students how many numbers on the chart have the number ___ as a digit?  Repeat with other numbers for as long as is appropriate for the age of your students.
70. Still using the 100 chart, ask how many numbers have 1 digit?
71. How many numbers on the chart have 3 digits?
72. How many numbers have 2 digits?
73. How many numbers have a 5 in the ones place?
74. How many numbers have a 5 in the tens place?
75. Using 100 unifix cubes, make a pattern.
76. Using rubber stamps, make 10 different patterns with 10 items in each pattern.
77. Name 3 things you can eat 100 of at one time.
78. Build the tallest tower you can in 100 seconds.
79. Read Emily's First 100 Days of School, by Rosemary Wells.
80. Write the number 100 as many times as you can in 100 seconds.
81. Solve the math problems in these couplets:  100 thumbs working at the fair.  How many fingers are also busy there?
82. Now try these couplets.  Some have math answers; some have common knowledge answers.  100 dogs with black & white spots.  If you add 1 more dog, what have you got?
83. 100 shoes are on the stairs.  How many do we have if we're talking pairs?
84. 100 flowers in the garden and 100 weeds.  What percentage of the whole did the gardener plant as seeds?
85. 100 kinds of food to eat.  If you enjoy 3/4 of them, what number are a treat?
86. 100 blades of a plant, green and thin, times hundreds more; what are you walking in?
87. 100 pieces of sweet cherry pie.  If I keep 25 pieces, what fraction have I?
88. Make a list of 100 animals.
89. Have challenges between 2 students to see who can count backwards from 100 the fastest.
90. Jump up and down 100 times.
91. Build a shape with 100 blocks.
92. Read Young Cam Jansen and the 100th Day of School Mystery, by David A. Adler.
93. Have each child make a 100 Day crown.  Decorate it by punching out 100 holes with a hole punch.
94. Using the letters in ONE HUNDRED, make as many words as you can.
95. Make trail mix using 100 items of each ingredient.
96. At a center, have 100 pennies.  Have the students sort them into shiny and dull piles.  Count and record the number in each pile.
97. At the same center, have the children look for a penny with their birth year on it.  How many pennies did they look at before they found that one?
98. Stand on 1 foot for 100 seconds without holding onto anything.
99. Weigh each student's 100 collection.  Which collection weighs the most?  Which weighs the least?
100. Sing this song --

Yahoo!  I made it.

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Word Work, the Reading Recovery Way -- Pt. 9

In the course of your word work, teachers, it’s now time to introduce flexibility for spelling patterns that change sounds.  To this end, make 3 words with the same spelling pattern, but differences in sounds, e.g. come, some, home.  

Say the words for your student, pointing out that the spelling pattern is the same.

Now, make 3 more words with a spelling pattern that changes its sounds, e.g. bear, wear, near.  

It’s time to put the task on the child.  Ask her to say the words.  Then ask her if they are words she has heard before.  If she is able to correctly pronounce all of these words, she is demonstrating flexibility.  If, however, she struggles with this, demonstrate for her how readers try different sounds until the word is familiar.  

If the student struggles with flexibility, you can also address the issue in text reading. For example, Marianne Berkes' book, Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef, is a counting book that rhymes.  Such a book is great for flexibility because it give your student inherent clues for using flexibility.  On the following page, two is a tricky word with an unusual spelling pattern.

When your student pauses at two, quickly cover the text with your hand and ask her what would make sense there.  

If you receive a blank stare, ask her to reread from the beginning of the page.  When she reaches two, insert the /t/ sound for her and wait for two to pop out of her mouth.  Most often it will pop out.  If, however, it doesn't, remind her that this book is a counting story (there is even the numeral 2 on the page) that also rhymes.  Reread with her from the top of the page, thereby pushing her to read more fluently.  When you reach two, again give the initial sound.  Now it should pop out of her mouth.  If, by chance, she still does not produce two, point to the numeral on the page.  Then, have her reread from the top yet again.  

After she reads it correctly, draw her attention to the word two, and ask her if two makes sense there.  Then ask her if the word looks like it could be two.  Assuming she answers affirmatively to both questions, reassure her that, indeed, it does say two, even if it doesn't look like to or too with which she is familiar.  If she still struggles with this text, it may simply be too difficult for her.  Toss it aside and choose another book.

As always, stay with this task until you are confident she understands it.

The time has come to end this series about Word Work. Hopefully, it has been helpful to those of you working with emergent readers.  The complete text, including points not covered in this blog, is available in my TpT store.

Now that we are in the holiday season, everyone tends to feel a time crunch.  In an effort to ease the stress, Melissa at Mrs. Bushnell's 4th grade blogspot is hosting a holiday linky party. Check it out!  It just might save you lots of planning time.

While you are blog hopping, be sure to check out 3 fabulous giveaways.  Stop by Teacher's Toolkit where Wendy is having a huge giveaway to celebrate 200 followers.  (I'm donating a product of the winner's choice.)

Jennifer at Live. Teach. Create. is having a giveaway, too.  (I'm donating Poetry Possibilities - Fall.) Take a minute to enter.

Nicole at One, Two, Three: Math Time is hosting a monthly giveaway.  Her November giveaway has more than 40 teachers donating products.  (I'm also offering Poetry Possibilities - Fall for this giveaway.)

Until next time...

Ghost Rubbings

Do you have time for a quick, Halloween project?  

Ghost rubbings are easy and fun for any age.

Begin by having your students cut a ghost shape out of construction paper scraps; any color but white.  Using small pieces of white chalk, have them rub the chalk all around the edges of the ghost shape.  A line 1/4" wide should be sufficient.  

I always have my kiddos put their ghost shape on a "dirty sheet" (a piece of paper from our recycling box) before rubbing the chalk along the edges. This saves lots of time on clean up!

Next, have them carefully put the ghost shape on the black paper with the chalked side up.  While holding the center of the ghost shape steady with one hand, they use a finger from the other hand to rub the chalk off onto the black paper.  

They should always rub in 1 direction - from the ghost shape out.  Rubbing back toward the ghost shape can cause the ghost shape to tear and/or the outline to blur. It's important not to let the ghost move around while rubbing.  

Once they have rubbed the chalk line around the entire ghost, remove the shape.  

Oooooo.  Now use the piece of chalk to add facial features.

For even more fun, repeat the process, making additional ghostly images elsewhere on the black paper.  If your students want 1 ghost to appear behind another, tell them not to rub the chalk off where the ghost shape touches the 1st ghost.  

Just in time for Halloween, It's a Spooktacular Sale on TpT! 

A bunch of sellers have joined forces to make this a Howling good sale, myself included. On Halloween ONLY you can get 20% off of everything in my store.  If you visit JD's Rockin' Readers, our hostess, you will find links to every store that has joined this event. Hurry! The clock is ticking!

Word Work, the Reading Recovery Way - Pt. 8

Who-oo-oo knows what time it is? 

Yes, it's time, teachers, to move onto the next step in how words work. That step involves adding letters to the end of known words. We are not talking about inflections! We already did that.  Rather, we are leading the child to notice known words within other words. To do this, make a known word for your student. Say, “This says ‘cat’.  Watch while I add something to it.”  

Push ch to the end of the word. Instruct your student to, “Say it and check it with your finger.”

In the same lesson, do this with other words,  for example, see + m  or can + dy.

Continue to practice this skill in subsequent lessons until the child can do it with ease.  

Reinforce this concept when she is reading a new book by finger masking the last letters of a new word containing a known word.  

You will heave a sigh of satisfaction when she does this for herself while reading.  As my RR trainer used to say, “You will be doing cartwheels down the hallway!”  Indeed, you will.

If you would like a concise document of these Word Work tips, you can find it in my TpT Store.

  

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Word Work, the Reading Recovery Way -- Pt. 7

It’s about time, teachers, … to begin working on rimes. 

At the white board, construct 3 known words that have the same onset, e.g. me, my, mom.  

Ask your student what is alike in these words.  Hopefully, she will notice that they all begin with m.  Ask, “Can you say another word that starts like that?”  Whereupon, you accept any word that begins with the same sound.  You need not be concerned about the correct spelling of the word.  That is, a word which is correctly spelled with /kn/ or /gn/ will be perfectly acceptable for the onset sound of /n/. 

On subsequent days, continue working with 1 letter onsets until you are sure the child understands the task and how words work when the onset remains the same.  The goal here is to bring your student's attention to the rime.

Now you are ready to use blends for onsets.  Following the same procedure, construct 3 words with the same initial blend, e.g. she, ship, show.  

Ask her to say another word that starts like that.  However, if she says sit or another word that has the /s/ sound, do NOT accept that word.  If necessary, over emphasize the /sh/ as you repeat the words you constructed.  If she still cannot produce a word with that blend, try again later, but in the same lesson, with a different onset blend.

Just as an aside, if your student struggles with distinguishing between blends and single consonants, you may want to have your speech & language specialist and/or an audiologist, do further assessments on her.

As always, you should proceed to the next task only after your student demonstrates mastery of this task.

It's nearly time for Halloween and in that spirit, my friend, Brian, at 

has boo-ed me. Don't fret that he's being a bully; it's a fun linky party. Brian's blog is well worth a visit. I am especially fond of his Positive Friday posts.  You will also appreciate the fall linky party he's running.

Now, here's the scoop on the I've Been Boo-ed linky party:

1. When you have been boo-ed, copy and paste the above picture and these "rules" into your blog post.
2. Give a shout out to the blogger who boo-ed you and link back to their site.
3. Share 3 - 5 October activities, books, products (yours or others'), and/or freebie(s) that you love.
4. Share the boo love with 5 bloggers.  Make sure you check this link to avoid boo-ing someone who has already been boo-ed.

Now it's time for me to share resources:

1. My emergent reader book, What the Little Ghost Saw on Halloween, has been extremely popular.  Don't miss out on this FREE book.                                                                                                                  
2. I also have a FREE Autumn Scarecrow Glyph.    It's fun and easy.                                                                                      
3. Lest you think I'm only focused on the littlest scholars, let me assure you that I'm always on the lookout for activities for intermediate students.  In my role as an enrichment specialist for the school, I was thrilled to find Lisa's Boo! Ha Ha! Math Centers for Bigger Kids at Fourth and Ten. She uses them to constructively engage the students who have mastered a math skill while she works with those who need more help.  That's a win-win!                                             

The time has come to share some Boo love ...

• Lisa from Fourth and Ten
• Tammy from Forever in First
• Storie from Stories by Storie
• Tammy at Groovy in 3rd
• Amy, Gretchen, & Shelley from 3 Teacher Chicks 

Word Work, the Reading Recovery Way -- Pt. 6

It's about time, teachers, for onset changes with harder analogies.  Begin by displaying the letters for a KNOWN word, plus another letter than can change the onset to make another KNOWN word.  

Say, "Make he.  Now change he to me."  After she has done so, ask her to run her finger under it and say it slowly.

In the same lesson, have the child construct a different onset change, for example, can / man.  

Always have the child run her finger under it, saying it slowly, to check that the sounds match the letters.

The next step is a little harder.  Make a known word, such as look.  Say, "You know this word -- look."  Give the student the letters for cook.  Instruct her to "make a word that is like look."  

Continue making analogies with onsets until the child demonstrates that she understands.

Next time, we will work with rimes.

In the meantime, I'd like to share some Pinteresting news.  Being a pragmatist, I decided to create 2 new boards on my Pinterest account especially for you, my readers and followers.  One board is a visual archive of my blog posts.  Because I’m a visual learner, it’s what appeals to me.  Hopefully, it does to you as well.

The other board is a collection of my free products on TpT.  

I’ve seen that several top sellers on TpT have done this and, since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they must be blushing!  When you have time, check these boards out.

Have time for a giveaway?  Who doesn't??  Enter for your chance to win nearly $200 in teaching materials at Rockin' Teacher Materials.  

Until next time...

It's about time for Halloween.  Have you picked up these Halloween freebies from my TpT store?