Several weeks ago on February 12, my class celebrated the 100th Day of Kindergarten. There is probably no other occasion in K that generates as much mathematical activity as preparing for and celebrating the 100th day of school. It's a party. It honors math...that's right...we celebrate math. And it summons up all the childrens's energy and enthusiasm as well as my own.
Several weeks before the 100 day, I asked the children to bring in empty Vitamin Water bottles. I laminated their names on paper and wrapped the bottles. Then the bottles were sent home and the children were asked to make "a collection of 100 objects" to go in the bottle. This generated much discussion at circle time. It was a good opportunity for group problem solving and collaboration to address questions such as:
"We don't have 100 things in our house."
"How can I carry 100 things to school?"
"How can I count out 100 things?"
On the morning of the 100th day the children came in all excited. It was amazing to see all the many different ideas: paper clips, rocks, shells, pennies, macaroni, buttons, etc. At circle, the Calendar student marked the 100th day on our grid that we have written from the first day of school. Then we had a discussion about how each individual decided what to collect, how they counted or grouped their items, any challenges they encountered, and anything else they'd like to share about the experience. On language experience paper, they were asked to draw and write about their collection. Then they needed to group their collection by tens and then fives.
At the weighing and measuring table the children were asked to predict which collection was the heaviest, lightest, tallest, shortest, and so on. Then they tested their predictions. Later we played 20 Questions and the children had to ask questions to try and figure out which collection the "It" person was talking about.
The grand finale of the day was watching the domino effect on 100 cereal boxes that had been collected over the past weeks.
And so that's how we celebrated the 100th Day. Can you understand why now, we love math?
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Comments: 46
Featured in the Triple Name Club.
When you teach little kids, you need to grap their attention. You need to create excitement about learning. Once you have their attention, you can teach them almost anything.
Like you, although I did well in math, I didn't have a real understanding of math. I memorized everything. In order to move into the 21st century, kids need to know the underlying concepts. The best way to do this is to give them hands-on experience with maniapulives.
Why do you think I've spent a lifetime hanging out with 5 and 6 year olds?
Then you know why the 100th Day is quite the celebration in K. Thanks for the feature.
It's watching the concentration on their faces...the joy of discovery that I will miss when I retire.
You are so right...takes a lot of preparation to pull it off.
The kids loved watching the domino effect.
Math can be fun....it's all perspective, like everything else.
I think lots of school celebrate "100th Day"...just like last week we celebrated Dr. Seus's Birthday. Makes school more fun to have "learning" celebrations.
Hugs and blessings - S.
Helps me forget that Los Angeles Unified School District just laid off 5, 500 teachers, including 3,300 teachers, and raised classroom size in K-3 from 20 to 40. I will again try to get a permanent job somewhere in Southern California this summer, though if I can´t I will stick around for months until I get one (probably in a charter system like Green Dot or Edison) instead of going back to Spain. I may just have to be a long term substitute for awhile. They´ve thrown a lot of the highest paid teachers out of a job. A real disservice to millions of children.
You inspire me with these photo essays of yours about your class...you are such a blessing in those children's lives.