100th Day Fun!

Remember how I said last Monday that I woke up with a scratchy throat and a thick feeling in my chest, but I didn't actually feel bad? Well, I spoke too soon, because when I woke up Tuesday morning, the feeling bad was totally happening. I spent the week feeling sick and exhausted, but on Thursday, my sweet kids and their parents made me feel super special by throwing me a little half birthday celebration. They were so thoughtful! They brought me my favorite flowers, lunch, and yummy treats to share with my kids. Then I rounded out the day by going to dinner and to see Wicked with my aunt. Although I was still feeling icky, all that love made me feel much better!

Then Friday was our 100th day of school! I had never done anything special with my third graders in the past for the 100th day, other than meeting up with our learning buddies, but after seeing all the great ideas from other teachers on Pinterest, I decided to make our 100th day a little more fun! 

To start, I decorated our door with a simple fringe door hanging. I cut 10 strips, and drew 10 designs on each strip to make 100! My students definitely got into the 100th day mood after walking through the door!

For their morning work, I wanted to have them do something that involved writing, since every Friday, their morning work is to respond to a prompt in their writing journal. So, to make their writing incorporate 100, they had to write 10 sentences about 10 new things they've learned, experienced, or done so far in third grade, but there was a catch: each sentence had to be exactly 10 words long! A few of my kiddos looked dumbfounded when they realized that meant they'd be writing 100 words, and one of my students even figured out a sentence structure that he could use for all 10 sentences: "I learned ___________ in third grade and it is fun." Oh well, at least he was thinking! 

Then, for our math time, I started off by putting a bunch of numbers on the board. They were written on different colored pieces of paper, and they weren't in any particular order. Once I hung them up, I asked my kids if they noticed any connections between the numbers. After a few suggestions, one student realized the numbers could make number sentences that equal 100. Here are a few of the numbers used: 

After the kids figured out which numbers went together to make 100, their assignment was to find 100 ways to make 100, using any kind of math they could think of. A few kids realized they could use money (like 100 pennies, or 4 quarters), and a few found their groove by starting with 100 + 0, and then changing the 100 to 99, then to 98, then to 97, etc., and making the other number match - the ones who did that were finished VERY quickly! Overall, most of the kids were really getting in to playing around with and manipulating numbers, and they were very impressed with themselves for coming up with 100 new math facts. 

While they were working in partners to create their lists, I called the kids to my back table to help create a shirt that I would wear that day. I was struck with this idea on my way to dinner with my aunt the night before, so I stopped in at Goodwill and found a white shirt that ended up working perfectly. I made an array to show 10 x 10 with masking tape on the front of the shirt, and the kids each got to come up with a design/pattern to draw on to the shirt, and they all signed the back of it. It turned out SO cute! I wore it for the rest of the day, and the kids got such a kick out of seeing their work on display on ME! They received lots of compliments, and I was happy that my idea didn't end up being a bust!

I took the tape off before I wore it, obviously! :)

The last activity we did was What Can I Do In 100 Seconds? from Mrs. T's First Grade (found via Pinterest). My students had a BLAST doing this, and they took each activity so seriously! I played along with some of the prompts, but I had more fun watching my kids really get after their writing, counting, and hopping! We finished the day by meeting up with our first grade learning buddies, and we helped them make their 100th day necklaces by counting out Fruit Loops in groups of 10. 

I know that for most of you, the 100th day of school is over, but I hope you'll find something here to use next year! The ladies at Lesson Plan SOS did 100th day, survivor style, and I'm already looking forward to using that theme with my students next year!

On Friday, I also found out from Caitlin that I was the winner of one of the giveaways over at Teacher Blogger Exchange - how exciting! I've never won anything from a teacher blog, and I can't wait to use Hadar's cute activities with my class next week! Thanks, ladies!!

Now, this has nothing to do with anything, other than it was super fun! Saturday morning I ran the Color Run with my teacher friend Kiley. Getting to the race was a nightmare, and it was windy, cold, and extremely muddy because it had rained ALL night long on Friday, but we had such a blast! 

Before (freezing and colorless)...

...and after (still freezing, but covered in color and mud!).

I don't think I was quite well enough to be running a race in 45 degree weather, because since I got home yesterday, I've been coughing and hacking up more junk, but it was worth it. For now, it's time for me to get my plans in order for the week, and then I'll be off to an anti-Superbowl hangout with my lady friends. We're letting our menfolk do as they please for the game, and we're going to do as WE please by watching a movie, doing our nails, and making Valentines. Can't think of a better way to round out my weekend! Happy Sunday, y'all!