1-2-3 Count Up To 100-Day With Me!

I always like to repost the Zero The Hero packet (a super popular download) at the end of July, as teachers are thinking about back to school.  It's a whopping 171 pages (!) and an oldie but goodie for "Throw Back Thursday".

I start keeping track of how many days we'd been in school that very first day.  A counting up to 100-Day idea, that is a “must have” for me, is Zero The Hero. He is a fun vehicle for incorporating all sorts of math skills.

I designed an entire packet around Zero, including a friend named Zippy, who would allow teachers to toss in a little geography.  

There just never seems to be enough time in the day for everything, and geography is one of those “things” that my students needed a bit more of.

Zippy is a quick, fun and easy solution, as he travels to places around the world that begin with the letters O and Z.

Celebrate every 10^th day by making a page in your Zero the Hero book. 

What a great keepsake to take home on 100 Day, and interesting way to learn how to count by 10's.

Students put 10 reinforcement holes on their number. (I use these instead of stickers because they are really inexpensive, but you could switch things up if you wanted to. )

This is a nice fine-motor and counting skill + each child will then have 100 “zero-stickers” in their booklet on the 100^th  Day of school when they complete their last page!

Students will also enjoy zipping around the world to interesting O and Z places with Zippy. 

The passport is sure to be a huge hit, complete with travel  and award stickers.

 Included are: clue sheets, notes, and an

“I Wonder Where Zippy Is?” Guessing-Poster.

Students will have fun learning about the various places as they work with parents to find and bring in an interesting fact in their "home-school" connection assignment. 

Follow up their adventures, by locating places on your classroom map.

Make a Zero the Hero count by 5’s slider and a Zippy count by 10’s slider to review skip counting and identify numbers.

Various activities reinforce a variety of report card standards and are sequential and repetitious, so that students know what to do.

Because of this, kids are empowered and are able to do these as independent center activities, which are great for Daily Five or other “no hassle” centers.

For example, on the 30th day of school, students bingo dot their skill sheet and then graph their cup of 30 Froot Loops. Afterwards, they can make a necklace out of the brightly colored cereal or eat it.

Students keep everything in a folder and have a wonderful keepsake to take home on the 100^th day of school.

Click on the link to see sample pages from this 171-page unit and then download it.

What a fun way to count up to 100-Day while reinforcing a variety of report card standards!  Zero the Hero packet   For more fun ways to count up to 100 Day click on the link.  

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away. 

Themed Ideas Continues With Trains & Apples

Trains:

We’re On Track & Chugging Our Way To 100-Day!

• I also used this in my hallway for many years because I wanted to cover shapes, colors and the rainbow pattern as well as counting to 100. 
•  My year-long theme revolves around having a “Can-do” attitude  based on The Little Engine That Could, so having a Counting to 100-Day train was perfect.

•  I put this up in the middle of a hallway wall by the restrooms as well.
• I keep the 6-different shaped pieces in 6 envelopes in a basket by my calendar, for easy access.

•  Children tell me what color and shape -train car we need to put up by looking at the train and figuring out the pattern.
  

• I have a “Who’s Turn Is It?” 2-pocket basket filled with Popsicle sticks with students’ names on them.  One side is labeled “Had a turn” the other “Needs a turn”.
• This basket is by the envelope basket.  I pull a stick out and see whose turn it is to tell me the color and shape, write the number and put the shape car on the wall.

•  Click on the link to view/print the 100-Day Train & things I have to match it.

Apples:

• I also do apples along with my train.  I ordered the magnetic poster from Really Good Stuff that has the magnetic numbered apples. 
•  I have a huge steel door in my room so I put the poster on that and divided the little apples into 10 snack baggies so that I’m not searching through a zillion apples each day.

• I keep these baggies clipped to the door with strong magnetic clips.
  

• As soon as my students come into class we go through what day it is, and add an apple to our tree.
• We count up to that many numbers. This all only takes a minute or two and by that time the announcements come on and we’re ready to move on to something else.

•  You can make your own simple apple tree out of bulletin board paper and use apple stickers each day.

• As soon as you’ve made a group/set of 10 that child circles it and writes the number under it.
• That way you can count your way to 100 by 10’s.

•  I do a huge apple theme in September so it’s fun to be doing things with apples that relate to counting up to 100-Day.

• Then on 100-Day I have all sorts of apple-related things to help celebrate the day as well.
• Click on the link to view this cute packet.
• Counting to 100-Day The Apple Way!

• For a FREE 85-page 100-Day Unit click on the link.
• For a FREE 100-Day Bibliography click on the link.
• For  a FREE Making 100-Day Class Books click on the link.

• Isn’t it fun being able to download for free?
  

• Be sure and check back tomorrow when I’ll revisit another fun and fair way to pick a partner and learn report card standards at the same time!
•  You’ll LOVE the versatility of Pear Pairs!

 Do you have a back-to-school activity you’d like to share?

I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com