Happy (Belated) 100th Day!

Well, the 100th Day was actually this past Friday... but I am just now posting so that I could include a few pictures of some projects that my kiddos created to celebrate the number 100.  I don't remember celebrating the 100th Day when I was in primary/elementary school... but things were much simpler then.  I am pretty sure I spent most of my day coloring in first grade rather than learning about punctuation, subtraction, and how to draw conclusions from text.

In honor of this special day, all of the first grade classes at APS held a 100th Day Project Fair.  Children submitted homemade projects to represent the number 100 any way that they wanted.  I did not give a lot of instructions because I wanted to see what sorts of creative ideas they could come up with.  The projects were judged by other teachers and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes were given for the following categories:  Most Colorful, Most Creative, Most Patriotic, Best to Eat, and Best to Wear.  I wish I had gotten more pictures, but here are a couple of entries from my classroom:

Briana spray painted 100 soda tabs and macaroni noodles to create this unique project.  I love it! 

Our newest student, Christian, did an awesome job with his super colorful creation. 

The kids had a lot of fun presenting their projects to the class and I was so impressed with how many students participated in the fair.  Way to go kiddos!  

Another fun activity we did was to write about what each student would buy if I gave them $100.  First, we had to discuss how much $100 really is... some students thought it would be enough to buy a car or a house.  Sadly, I had to burst their bubble.  To put it into perspective for them, I created a presentation of items that would be equal to $100.  These are a few examples I used:  students could buy 4 new Nintendo DS games, 2 new pairs of Nike sneakers, about 30 Happy Meals from McDonalds, or go to the movies 20 times (not including popcorn, soda, or candy).  Some of the students came up with some great ideas of how to spend their $100.  

"If I had $100, I would buy a make up box and it makes you very cute like Mrs. Cook because she is so very cute and I love her" - Jada
This was too sweet not to share!  

"If I had $100, I would buy a tire swing and a princess gown." -Tamar
This one cracked me up... I love how original these kiddos are!

Last week we also learned about how plants grow and change as a part of our literacy unit.  To demonstrate what they learned, I had the students to create their own plant diagram and label the different parts of a plant.  We used common materials to create our flowering plant: coffee filter for the flower, sunflower seeds for the seeds, a straw for the stem, construction paper for the soil and leaves, twine for the roots, and sponges to remind the students that roots soak up water from the ground.  This is an idea that I borrowed from another first grade teacher in Moore County :)  I think they turned out wonderfully!

Well, that will do it for this post.  Have a great evening!  

Love, 

Mrs. Cook