100 Days



CELEBRATE 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL!

1. Learn how to count by five's by making your own bundles of counters. Outline students' hands, making sure each finger is distinct. Cut out the hands onto card stock and use the "fives" to count to one hundred.

2. What kinds of books would your students most like to read? Write one hundred titles of your as yet unwritten books, and then write a short description of those books (3-5 sentences, such as one would find on the book jacket). Take it a few steps further with middle and high students by having them create character sketches, including a protagonist and an antagonist, as well as a supporting cast. Decide on the crisis each protagonist faces, as well as how he or she might solve or come to terms with it.

3. Decorate a large, clean pickle jar with colorful swizzles and dots and stickers and place it on your classroom desk. Put one hundred squares of colorful papers inside the jar, unfolded. Demonstrate to your students how to count by tally marks and counting by fives. Keep a small chart tied to the jar, along with a pen for students to record their tally marks. They will try for one month to make "deposits" into your "Good Deeds Jar", writing their good deed on one of the squares of paper (you may need to help younger students with the writing), folding the paper piece twice (to distinguish it from the unfolded squares) and putting it back in the jar, making sure to add a tally mark for their entry. You can compete with neighbor classes to see who reaches one hundred good deeds first. When your jar is completely full of good deeds, celebrate with your class by making ten favorite tens lists to post on your bulletin board (students can work in groups to design and illustrate their own categories).

4. Make a simple paper chain of one hundred links. Before attaching the separate links, number each "chain" or link, mix them all up, and have your students rearrange the numbers correctly in order. When all links have been attached, stretch out your paper chain and measure the length to see how far it goes. To take it to the next level, compete with other classes to see who can make the most original paper chain. Decorate your school halls with the results, listing the class for each creation.

5. What does $100 buy today? Do your students have a good idea of how much money it is? Ask them to do a journal entry of what they would do with one hundred dollars.

6. Make lists of one hundred. See how creative you can get with your lists. List one hundred names (in one hundred seconds for older students), one hundred things to do in your city, one hundred words to describe sports and sporting events, one hundred ways to use a paper bag, one hundred nouns, one hundred adjectives, one hundred things to do when you're bored, etc.

7. Figure out what the date will be when each of your students is one hundred years old. Write a creative piece on what the world or your city will be like at that time.

8. Collect one hundred cans of food and donate it to your local food bank.

9. Collaborate to find one hundred ways to say kind things. Post the list on your bulletin board, and celebrate Day 100 by trying to use each of those phrases.

10. Work in groups of three or four to write a short, short story of only one hundred words. It must have exactly one hundred words, along with a plot, at least one character, a beginning, a middle, and an end.

11. Work as a class to find one hundred words to make one very long tongue twister. When you've finished, take turns trying to say it -- hilarious!

12. Work in groups of four, with each group being given one hundred miniature marshmallows and one hundred toothpicks, and directions to create a bridge or other structure that can hold one hundred pennies when completed.

13. Print out one hundred tangram pieces, and let your students make a tangram creation, gluing their final products onto poster board.

14. Make your own one hundred piece puzzle. Start with a theme, such as winter, winter animals, or even use pictures of students in your class. Use markers to decorate a poster board for younger students (older students can each have a piece of card stock for their own individual puzzles). Once complete, demonstrate how puzzles might be cut. Then have students draw their puzzle lines on the back, numbering each piece to make sure you have one hundred pieces exactly. Take a picture of the design before cutting, so you will know how to reassemble your puzzle. Each student can have a small zipper bag for their puzzles.

15. Make a donation list of one hundred needed items for your school or classroom. Send out flyers to parents, local businesses, and community members to try and collect all one hundred (reasonable) items.

16. Make a color bar with one hundred different shades and variations of color, drawing lines between each separate shade. Give a name to each shade you create by mixing your own colors, using adjectives such as "bold blueberry", "perfectly pleasing plum", or "sumptuous sapphire".

17. Have a school wide coin drive to try and buy one hundred picture books for your school library. Ask for coin wrappers from your local banks, and teach your students how banks handle amounts of coins, and how many are required for each roll. Measure each roll to see which is the tallest, the smallest, the thickest, and the thinnest.

18. List five categories on large strips of paper on your bulletin board, and have your students try to come up with twenty items in each category as quickly as possible. See which category fills up the fastest. Possible categories include colors, nouns, sports, characters, authors, song titles, etc.

19. List four habitats in large letters at the top of paper charts on your bulletin boards. Divide your class into four groups, giving each group one marker. Have them elect one person to write on the chart. Each group must list one hundred animals, plants, or things found in that habitat. Examples include desert, tundra, ocean, rainforest, grassland, etc.

20. In three or four classroom groups, make collages with one hundred different types of animals. Collect old National Geographic or other magazines featuring animals, and cut them out for your collage. Use another smaller chart to list the animals, one to one hundred, and have a search and find the animals exercise by exchanging charts and collages.

21. Create one hundred coupons with your class (they do not have to all be unique), designing them with a computer program. First brainstorm to see what kinds of rewards students would find reasonable, such as a homework pass or a "drop the lowest test score" coupon. You can also include coupons to give to parents, relatives, seniors, or community members.

22. Write and illustrate a collaborative one hundred day story. Choose a girl or boy character around the same age as your students, have her or him waking up in the morning (how? -- activity number one), and then take that character through a full day, including one hundred things.

23. Create your own wish time capsule. Tell your students they can have one hundred wishes, of anything they wish for that would happen this school year. Give them slips of paper to write their wishes on, then fold them up very small and slip them into an empty, clean and dry large soda bottle. Decide where you are going to hide or bury your time capsule, and dig it up at the end of the school year to share those wishes and see what became of them. If the wish was not fulfilled, ask your students if they would still wish for the same thing. Students should be allowed to keep their wishes anonymous, but let them know you will be reading them before sealing the bottle to make sure they are appropriate.

24. Make a list of one hundred emotions, and then take turns showing what each emotion looks like. Alternatively, think of one hundred ways to say "she said", and then type them up as a list on the computer. Give them as handouts to each student to use when writing, for alternatives on "said".

25. For 100th Day, my sixth grade students are to make something from 100 of any one item. These constructions have included a log cabin from 100 Tootsie Rolls, the number 100 from 100 pennies, paper chain of 100 strips of paper, an igloo of 100 sugar cubes, the number 100 from 100 Legos, and a bridge made of 100 toothpicks. For the day, I made a huge cut-out of the number 100 from cardboard. The students had to step through one of the zeroes to enter the classroom. We also had groups of students work together to put together 100-piece puzzles. As each group finished, they were given a 100 Grand bar. [Contributed by: Pat Steffel, Notre Dame School, Michigan City, IN]

Write to everydayteaching with your own ways to celebrate Day One Hundred. We'll make a new list with your ideas!

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