Mrs. McGowan       H. W. Mountz School         Spring Lake, NJ
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Zero The Hero!

 This loveable puppet comes to visit our class every ten days until we reach the 100th day of school. He always brings a special math activity for us to do.

We counted 10 pretzels, 20 goldfish crackers, 30 raisins, and 40 pieces of Smarties candy. We also made turkey feathers with 50 dots, 60 colored paper ornaments, birdfeeders with 70 pieces of Fruit Loops and Cheerios, designs on a big number 80, wrote 90 words, and celebrated the 100th day with our parents! Some activities we did alone and some with friends. All were lots of fun and helped us practice counting by two, five and ten, and begin to understand place value.

Zero the Hero reminds us about the important role the zero has in a number. We can't leave it out! He's away now, but I know he will return next year as we start the "big count" again!

Here are some pictures of our special Zero the Hero Days:

10 pretzels

20 goldfish crackers

30 Raisins

  
40 pieces of Smarties candy

50th Day Turkey
We used the perforated edges from old computer paper to decorate turkey feathers.  Each large feather has a strip of ten holes or "dots."

60 Ornaments
We decorated our holiday tree with 60 ornaments
on the 60th day of school.

70th Day Birdfeeder - Picture coming
7 groups of ten: nine Cheerios + one Fruit Loop strung on a piece of yarn or raffia and hung on tree branches for the winter birds.
The picture shows 5 groups completed.

80th Day - Picture coming
Designs on a big number 80

90 words for the 90th School Day
There's ten words on each sentence strip
(will try for a better picture next year).

100th Day

To prepare for the 100th day, we collected pictures of good foods and glued them to 100 hearts (around Valentine's day).  Ten hearts were stapled to 10 strips of wide lace and hung from a banner.  On the 100th day of school, our parents came to school to celebrate with us.

We greeted them with this banner. Pairs of students worked on a page together, creating a "counting by tens" number line.

We collected 100 things from home, such as buttons, pennies, cards, pipe cleaners, stamps, etc. Each student used a small baggie for the collection and we hung them on a bulletin board. The day our parents came, we took turns telling what we collected and thanked the family member who helped.

The children also presented Our Important Book, a special writing project and a PowerPoint slide show.

We ended with a special math activity.  We made "sculptures" with 10 pieces of 10 kinds of yummy things (marshmallows, chocolate chips, Teddy Grahams, etc.). glued with frosting to a big brownie cookie. Parents helped and it was lots of fun. Our classroom smelled so good!