100 Wonderful Readers!

 

Thursday was the 100th day of school!  Celebrations and activities were taking place, and this year I decided that I wanted to join in!  I created a poster numbered 1-100, wrote numbers on the backs of 100 bookmarks, and pulled together a set of bright markers in a rainbow of colors.  Then, as each class visited the library during the week, each student selected a bookmark (to keep of course!) and looked on the back.  Whatever number they found on their bookmark was the space they'd sign on the poster.  Some of the students were hoping to get their own personal, favorite number, but most were eager to see if their bookmark was the coveted "Number 100".  That honor went to a third grader, and he was so excited to show it to his friends!  The poster was displayed during "Morning Meeting" in the gym at the beginning of the school day.  I think the students had fun with the project, and now they all have a brand-new bookmark to safely save their place in their library books.  (Are you wondering about the students who weren't able to sign the poster?  We have a lot more than 100 children in this school after all!  Not to worry, all of them got to participate.  I created a second poster for them to sign, and when they both go up on the wall the titles will say, "100 Wonderful Readers...and a Whole Lot More!")

Because the teachers use the 100th day celebrations to reinforce math skills, I spoke to a teacher from each grade level to learn what concepts they are practicing in their rooms.  Then I used the poster during line-up to support the classroom objectives.  For example, kindergarten is practicing number identification, so I asked each student to find his or her name on the poster and read aloud the number.  To be excused to line up, I asked each to tell me either the number that comes before or after.  First graders found their numbers and would then tell me how many "ones" and how many "tens" their numbers had.  Second graders would determine what number they would need to add to their numbers in order to equal 100.  Third and fourth graders are both working on multiplication (with different amounts of complexity), so I challenged them to tell me a factor of their numbers.  Depending on the number, this was a challenge!  Lucky were the children whose numbers ended in 5 or an even number!  When stuck, the students fell back on their knowledge that 1 is factor of all numbers!

In some classes, I didn't have time to have the students sign their names and do the "math games", but the posters will be on display for a while so they'll all have a turn at some point!