100 Day

This is very late, but I didn't want to post about our 100 Day until our big 100 Day project was displayed! 5 of us teachers got together and decided to have our classes rotate through each of our rooms and do a 100 Day Activity.  

They created themselves as 100 year olds...

They wrote 100 reasons they love our school...

They made 100 gum balls in a gum ball machine, made pictures using the number 100, created structures using 100 blocks, Legos, K'Nex, etc. and did different exercises in sets of 100 (Unfortunately I don't have a picture of these but I'm so thankful to the other teachers for providing these experiences for my class)!

In our room, we did a "Beautiful Stuff" project. We decided to create a 100 chart for our school made from "beautiful stuff!"  Our class painted the numbers from 1-100 on black tag board squares. 

We invited the other classes to help us glue beautiful stuff to the numbers. 

We layed them in the hallway to dry. Our class had to find the numbers, put them in the right order, and glue them down to create the 100 chart. This was a long process but they loved seeing it come together!

Finally, just in time for our school's Math Night, we were able to display it where all the students and their families could see it along with some documentation showing the process and the standards covered during this project. 

I loved the pride shown from all the kids who helped put it together when they saw the finished chart! 

Our class also wanted to have a masquerade party for 100 day! They created plans to make a mask then followed the plan. 

We also made plans and created art using 100 objects that the kids brought from home. 

It was a fun day celebrating 100 days together!

Simple Machines: The Projects

After a thorough investigation of simple machines, the kids picked what type of simple machine they wanted to become experts in. They could become experts in wheels & axels, pulleys, levers, inclined planes, screws or wedges. Each expert team created a poster about their simple machine including photos of examples, most of which we found around our school and playground! We couldn't walk anywhere without them pointing out examples of simple machines!  Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the posters they made before Spring Break! I will add them tomorrow! Below is a photo of them putting one together. 

After organizing their data on posters, they decided on a project to create that would show how their simple machine worked.  After gathering materials, mostly recyclables and things we had in our classroom or my garage, we got started! The Wheel and Axel experts created a working water wheel. 

The wedge experts created book ends. 

The lever experts made a balance scale. 

The pulley experts created a flag pole. 

The inclined plane experts created a marble run. 

The screw experts created a corkscrew slide. 

The projects were displayed in the hallway along with documentation of our inquiry for parents to see as they came in for parent/teacher conferences. The kids were so proud to show them off!  I'm always so proud of how hard they work on their projects. They take them very seriously! 

Here is a hint to show what the kids have decided to investigate next!