A Cool 100

One first grader wears his 100 Crown as he works on placing pennies in groups of five on a grid on the 100th day of school.

How did Mrs. Lili Hare’s first grade class celebrate the 100th day of school? By counting of course! These first graders at Nine Mile Elementary School spent their 100th day of school engaged in a variety of learning activities primarily focused on counting, place value, grouping numbers, and number sense. These are important concepts for these young learners to master.

During one session, four centers (stations) were explored. At one table, a large 100 was outlined on a sheet of paper. Within the outline were five items which were assigned a specific color. After sorting and coloring, the students counted the number of each item and recorded it at the bottom of the page. Next, they were to add the five numbers to ensure that they equaled 100.

Another center worked on not only counting and grouping by tens, but had the students practice the formation of their numbers. “Missing Numbers” had the students fill in the box with the correct number that was missing. There were ten rows of ten to count up to 100. Twenty-five boxes within the ten rows were given in which the student had to fill in the correct missing number. Formation of the numbers, ensuring that they faced the right direction, was emphasized.

A favorite center was making a “100 Crown.” To make the base of the crown, the first graders cut out a number line, counting by tens. The students had to put three pieces together to form the correct sequence of numbers (10, 20, 30, 40, etc). Next ten rows of tens stars were cut. Each strip of ten stars was glued to a number on the number line base. Thus, the crown had 100 stars!

Counting with money is always popular. The fourth center used pennies to group by fives. A grid was given with 20 rows, with five boxes in each row each. Students were to place a penny in each box to count by fives to 100. They repeated this activity, but counted by tens. Many shared that 100 pennies equaled one dollar! This was an important concept as another learning activity later in the day asked the students to write what they would do if they had $100!

Through these and other fun learning activities, math skills were practiced and reinforced. By making it a tangible celebration, Mrs. Hare created a positive climate for learning. “Counting to 100 is easy,” explained first grader. “All you do is count by fives and tens.” Another simply said, “Counting is fun,” while a classmate echoed the sentiment, “Counting is cool!”