My class just celebrated the 100th day of school, and we had a lot of fun - stringing 100 beads, making goody bags with 10 each of 10 snacks, making 3D sculptures with 100 pop sticks, etc. - all for first grade.
My friend’s school doesn’t celebrate until the end of February, and since she teaches 6th grade my ideas won’t help her. I’m at a complete loss for ideas, and since she’s a new teacher she’s even more lost. She has to make an entire display of “100”, along with helping her students make “100” projects. I know there are a lot of websites, but all of the projects seemed geared for younger children.
I thought perhaps of graduated 100 ways of measuring things - from 100 atoms to 100 molecules to… here’s where I don’t have a clue. Perhaps an X-Ray of 100 bones in… 2 hands and 1 foot? That’s why I’m glad I teach 1st grade!
Does anyone have any ideas for an upper grade?
Thanks in advance,
-Wallet, happy to be with the 6 year olds!-
Are you familiar with a book and a TV show with a title something like “Powers of Ten”? It’s about the scale of things ten times bigger and smaller than our everyday world, ranging from as small as stuff gets to as large as it gets.
One idea might be to contrast 100 days to 100 months (8+ years) or 100 years. It was recently pointed out that just to count to one billion would take the typical person 32 years!
To go off the deep end, you might expand on Paul Simon’s “50 ways to leave your lover” and just double it. I guess sixth graders want to know such things, right?
With 6th graders, I’d definitely include “powers of 10.” I’m think of two web sites that might be helpful: One shows the relative sizes of objects in the universe, especially stars; the other begins with, I believe, a park in Chicago, and keeps zooming out by powers of 10. I know we’ve discussed these sites, but I can’t find them.
There might also be a time-related theme, like plotting events that occurred in the past 100 years. Or how about amounts of common things that can be bought with $100?
Have a bake sale with exactly 100 cupcakes.
As a class, create a list of 100 things to do with the money raised from the sale.
Have 100 people vote on the best thing to do with the money from that list.
Teaches them how to raise money, makes them think how to best use the money to help others, and then teaches them how the democratic system of voting determines the results.
Could be fun, and maybe even worth a blurb on the local TV station, or in the local paper.
My kids’ class had a big party for the 100th Day of School last year, and one of the things they did was have everyone dress up as 100 year old people! Comb-over wigs, glasses, bathrobes, walkers- it was hilarious!
Thanks so much for the great ideas - my friend will love the suggestions.
And… “The Power of 10” is awesome! I had read a book called “Zoom” to my class, but this video takes it to a whole new level. Thanks for that idea as well!
