ReadWriteThink: February 13, 2009: Celebrate the 100th day of school!

February 13, 2009

		The 100th day of school is celebrated in schools around the country, usually in mid-February. Your class will enjoy a break from the normal routine as they practice math skills using games and activities based on the number 100. Some teachers may also include a visit from “Zero the Hero” on day 100 (or on dates ending in zero, every tenth day, etc.). image © 2008 www.clipart.com

Celebrate the 100th day of school!

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

Have your class work as a whole and in small groups to create a class “100th Day” book. First, have students break into small groups to brainstorm a list of possible topics for the book. Some possibilities include:

100 poems
100 ways to improve the Earth (our school, etc.)
100 people who changed history

Each group should nominate one idea to be considered by the whole class. Have the class vote on their favorite topic, brainstorm specific ideas, and then create a book based on this topic. Proudly display your book in your classroom or school library!

Lesson Plans

Descriptive Writing and the 100th Day of School
This ReadWriteThink lesson guides young students in writing descriptions of “100th day bottles” they create.

Exploring Sets through Math-Related Book Pairs
In this early childhood lesson from ReadWriteThink, books with predictable patterns are used as frames for original student writing about sets.

Living the Dream: 100 Acts of Kindness
In this lesson, a nice tie between Black History Month and the 100th day of school, students in grades K–2 participate in Dr. King’s dream by performing 100 acts of kindness.

Talking, Writing, and Reasoning: Making Thinking Visible with Math Journals
In this lesson for grades 3–5, students shift the emphasis of their work from finding the “right” answer to a metacognitive exploration of how their problem-solving works.

Web Links

Celebrate the 100th Day of School!
This page provides links to numerous Scholastic resources for a 100th-day-of-school celebration. Included are short activity ideas, a booklist, student poetry resources, links to other websites, and several lesson and unit plans.

100th Day of School Activities
This page includes suggestions for simple activities to celebrate the 100th day of school. Activities were submitted by teachers around the world and include a wide variety of ideas.

100th Day of School
A California classroom shares photographs of their 100th Day celebration on this website. The site explains several projects they did and offers the related resources for your use.

Hundredth Day of School
Young students can celebrate the 100th day of school by counting to 100 in different ways with this interactive online reader from Starfall.

Texts

Klein, Abby. 2008. The 100th Day of School. The Blue Sky Press.
In this book, part of the Ready, Freddy! series, Freddy decides to collect 100 shark trading cards for his class project. How will he get them in time?

Laminack, Lester L. 2006. Jake’s 100th Day of School. Peachtree Publishers.
When Mr. Thompson’s class celebrates their 100th day, Jake forgets his collection of 100 photos at home. A new collection and a surprise visitor turn the day around.

Harris, Trudy. 2000. 100 Days Of School. Millbrook Press.
This colorful read-aloud features illustrations and rhymes that show children how to count to 100, in increments of 1, 5, 10, or 20.

Martin, Bill Jr. 2004. Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3. Simon & Schuster.
In this colorful companion to Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, numbers 1–99 race up and down the apple tree. Zero feels left out, until he discovers his place next to 10, forming the number 100.