Hip Hip Hooray for the 100th Day!

We had an AMAZING 100th Day of School, full of fun 100-themed activities and of course lots of counting to 100. I have to say, this day would not have been as fun or successful without my generous parent support. You all are truly involved in your child's education and it makes a positive difference. I personally want to give a BIG THANK YOU to those parents who donated food and/or helped do prep work before and during our 100th day party. You all mean the most!!

The kindergarten classrooms started off our special morning by seeing our 3rd grade buddies and trying to get 100 autographs! 

After getting our autograph book signed, we went on a parade around the school, showing off our vests to the lunch ladies and office staff. 

That's a LOT of kindergarteners in one tiny space! We made it work though :)

When we came back to our room, we played a Roll to 100 game with partners and dice.

After lunch, we started our special ice cream craftivity. Students cut out 10 scoops of (paper) ice cream and stacked them up counting by 10s all the way to 100. 

My little worker bees! They're such hard workers.

Showing off our completed ice cream cones!

While we were busy cutting and gluing, we made a snack of 100 food pieces! I had the kids count 10 pieces of each food, so 10 goldfish, 10 pretzels, 10 M&Ms, 10 craisins, etc.

During math, I hid 100 Hershey's Kisses in the classroom. Each kiss had a number labeled on the bottom. I had the class go on a scavenger hunt for all 100 kisses. We met back at the carpet and tried to see if we found all 100 of them using a hundreds chart. 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

We talked about what we wish we could 100 things of..

We finished the day off by watching a movie called Emily's First 100 Days of School and eating out 100th day snack. 

In the morning, I gave the class a challenge: Try to put 100 stickers on Ms. Joachim by the end of the day. However, to earn stickers, the class had to work together to make good choices and do their best. We kept a tally point chart on the Smartboard to keep track of how many stickers we were at throughout the day. I was pretty generous (hehe) and sure enough, they accomplished the goal. They had way too much fun putting stickers on the front AND back of me. Two years ago, I did the same activity with my kindergarteners in Mankato, but I also let them put stickers on my face. Lesson learned: Do NOT do that unless you want to peel off skin along with those stickers...OUCH.

Jump Rope for Heart 
Thank you to those of you who raised money for JR4H. The money went towards such a great cause and while the duck prizes are fun, I wanted to make sure the class understood that it wasn't about the ducks but about helping boys and girls who are in the hospital and would like to have a stronger, healthier heart. 

Other special news:
Mrs. Sarah (Parker's mom) came in for another BRAVO lesson on music. She brought in real instruments including a violin and flute and the class got to go up and touch them, and even play one of them! Mrs. Sarah also talked about ABA patterns in music. The class had to listen to a musical piece and hear how the music changed from one instrument to another and then back to the first one again (violin--flute--violin). She brought in mini Oreo cookies to show the ABA pattern (cookie--white filling--cookie), which the class loved! Who doesn't love a little treat, right?

Dr. Warner came in to read with us one afternoon. She read Clark the Shark, which is about this shark who has trouble with self control, but then learns how to control his excitement through rhyming reminders. Super cute book; if you haven't read it, I recommend it. It's perfect for kindergarteners. 

Meet our special friend Hattie coming to us all the way from California! She has adjusted very well to our classroom and fits right in. The class has been doing a wonderful job helping her learn our routines and making her feel welcome (the rapport in our room is amazing, my kindergarteners truly care about each other). We are happy to have you in Room 132 Hattie. WELCOME!!!!

See you all next week! Yay for Valentine's Day and our field trip to The Works!!!!!