The 100th Day of School
Saturday, January 29th, 2011Last year in January my granddaughters shared with me the excitement that was taking place in their classrooms (kindergarten and first grade). They were getting ready to celebrate a big event in their schools. I looked at the calendar – too early for Valentine’s Day or Presidents’ Day.
It was the 100th Day of School! I confessed that I had never heard of it. I said, “Your daddy’s class didn’t do that.” They looked amazed.
The 100th Day of School is now celebrated in classrooms throughout the United States and Canada. It is a milestone that marks the half way point of the school year – 100 days of class are over. Children, of course, love special days and the preparations to get ready for them. Teachers make this a learning event.
Classes have fun with the number 100. The younger children get a chance to see and understand exactly what 100 is. They stack up 100 blocks or put 100 hearts on the chalkboard. They then see 100 is big; it is a lot of blocks or hearts. They have been in school 100 days. That is a lot of days and a big accomplishment for them.
Teachers provide a variety of classroom activities involving 100. Sh, sh, everyone sits in his/her chair and doesn’t speak for 100 seconds! Or they might string 100 beads or Cheerios.
In art they might draw pictures of what they will look like in 100 years. They can make a group mural with 100 flowers or 100 bugs or 100 worms.
On the playground or in the gymnasium they can see how far they can run in 100 seconds or if they can hop on one foot for 100 seconds.
Some classes work on a project together such as bringing in 100 cans of food for a food pantry. Each day as the special day approaches the class counts the cans and determines how many more cans they need to reach 100.
And maybe the best part is the party on the 100th Day of School. It often is a chance to eat 100 of something – Cheerios or M&M’s or a mix of other treats.
If your grandchild is talking about the 100th Day of School celebration, you might want to read with them one of these books that could be available at your public library:
Jake’s 100th Day of School by Lester L. Laminack
Emily’s First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells
Fancy Nancy The 100th Day of School by Jane O’Connor
Thanks for visiting.
By the way an apology for a slip of the finger in my last post about Groundhog Day and postcards. The website for the postcards is www.zazzle.com. I have corrected it in the post.
In a few days you will be able to see the Valentine tree that my granddaughter and grandson and I made.