42. Celebrating 100 Days at Dalton

The Kindergarten team has expanded its project of having each student gather collections of 100 objects and created a week-long series of activities leading up to the 100th day. The whole grade assembles on the steps of First Program, with posters indicating groups of 10. Candy store created by Kavya Aggarwal ’30

For a kindergarten student, 100 is a very large number! While many schools celebrate the 100th day of school, the kindergarten team has expanded their project of having each students gather collections of 100 objects to create a week-long series of activities leading up to the 100th day. The activities consolidate math knowledge including counting practice, estimation work, place value, and the measurement of volume. Excitement builds as the teams move from room to room, working together in small or large groups depending on the activity.

Blocks and pattern blocks: Teams work together to count and create a structure using blocks and pattern blocks. One team uses 100 blocks with 10 sets of blocks of 10 different shapes, while another team builds with 5 different shapes of 20 blocks each.

Beach pudding: Student groups predict the bowl size needed to hold 100 Teddy Graham crackers. As they count, they collect more information and have the chance to revise their initial predictions. Next, they consider how the size of the bowl might change when the cookies are ground in a food processor. Once the crackers are ground and sprinkled like “sand” over vanilla pudding, the students enjoy their snack.

Marshmallow Monsters: Each small group counts 100 marshmallows and constructs a large monster using toothpicks.

Fruit Loops: Each child strings 100 Fruit Loops on a licorice string, marking their progress using a 100s chart.

Skyscraper: Each group gets a large oak tag skyscraper and works collaboratively to add 100 windows, including the photographs of their group.
—Jenny Halliday, Kindergarten House Advisor