Celebrating the 100th Day of School with Style

Students and teachers enjoyed celebrating the 100th day of school this week. Students shared their 100th day collections, colored 100th day glasses, colored number patterns on a 100 board, wrote about how they were 100 days smarter, made snack mix, and we wrote a digital book called, "Our 100 Favorite Things" together. Our kindergarteners counting out 10 strips of 10 stickers and covered an outline of the number 100 with 100 stickers. This was a fun activity and they practiced counting to 100 in different ways. We also read some great books about the 100th day of school. The 100th day of school was an exciting day that students will always remember.

Students coloring their 100th day glasses.

Our class wearing their 100th day glasses.

Students brought in a collection of 100 items to share with the class. The collections were very interesting and unique. Each student was proud to share what they counted out and brought to school. We then divided up the items into groups of 5 and practiced counting to 100 by 5's. We also divided up the items into groups of 10 and practiced counting to 100 by 10's. This is a great activity to do at home with different things. Students should be counting by 5's and 10's this year.

Students counting our their collections of 100 items into groups.

To make our 100th Day Snack Mix, students counted out 10 of 10 different kinds of snacks and bagged them up in a baggie. This was a fun activity for students and a great way to practice counting. They even got to make extra baggies and share them with teachers around the school.

Students counting out groups of 10 for their 100th day snack mix.

Kindergarteners enjoyed decorating their 100s with 100 stickers. There was a lot of great counting going on during this activity. We also sang, "Happy 100th day to you" to the tune of "Happy Birthday". Ask your child to sing this for you.

Kindergarteners counting out 100 stickers to decorate an outline of the number 100.

Happy 100th day of school! We look forward to each day that follows as students learn more and more each day.

What's in the Present? Drawing Conclusions

Our first grade story this week in reading was Mama's Present. Our reading skill for the week was drawing conclusions. What better way to actively engage students in drawing conclusions than to have them wondering what is inside a wrapped present?

Each day, I gave them a clue and time to guess what was inside. Each clue contained an adjective because we are learning about using adjectives to describe nouns. On Friday, children opened three more clues to help them draw conclusions as to what was inside the present. Here are the clues:
   
           #1 red
           #2 small pouches
           #3 delicious fruit
           #4 smooshy
           #5 stretchy
           #6 long

Once we read the final clue, we gathered all students, kindergarten and first grade to unwrap the present and find out the mystery inside. We took one more round of guesses before opening the present. There were some very creative predictions: Twizzlers, gum, play dough, and more. Students really took the clues and tried to figure out what was inside.

Students were elated to see their surprise unveiled. They enjoyed their treat and talked about how it fit the clues provided. It was interesting to hear their conversations. I think they will remember how to draw conclusions after this activity in reading.

Where Are My Animal Friends? 1st Grade Play

Our first grade students read a play this week in reading called, Where Are My Animal Friends?. They also performed this play on Friday in front of an audience. Our kindergarten students and Mrs. Smith, our principal, watched our performance. We video taped the performance as well for the children to watch themselves, which will be something they will enjoy.

Characters made their own masks at home. Mrs. Sowers and Mrs. Jacobs were thrilled to see how much detail they put into the masks. They really got into this project!

Not only did students playing the role of the characters do a nice job reading the play, but many of our students learned about drama production and what is necessary to put on a production such as this one. We had a crew of 4 students that made the backdrop scenery for the play. They did a tremendous job.

Drama is a part of our Common Core Standards and we try to introduce these standards even at the kindergarten and first grade level. By attending plays such as the ones we've been to earlier this year and putting on plays such as this, students are not only being exposed to the content, but experiencing the content. This type of learning is more meaningful for students. This will be an activity they will look back on and remember when they put on a play for the kindergarteners and Mrs. Smith.