One hundred of everything
The 100th Day of School
Somewhere in late January a hundred school days have gone by, and every class in the country counts to a hundred at once. It is the best counting lesson of the year because the number finally means something — a hundred is however far you have come.
A hundred of one thing
Give each child a hundred of something small — pasta, buttons, pennies — and no instructions beyond 'count them, and prove to me you counted right'. Almost nobody counts to a hundred one at a time twice; they group. The lesson is in what they choose: tens are the commonest, fives are quicker to check, and a child who groups in threes discovers on their own why nobody uses threes. Finish by asking whose arrangement is easiest for someone ELSE to check, which is the whole argument for place value in one question.
You need: A hundred small identical objects per child or pair
What to use alongside it
- Hundred chart Project the chart and count together; the skip-counting patterns are the point
- Base-ten blocks One hundred as a single flat, so a hundred is a thing you can see
- Counting and number sense — beginner worksheet Counting on and back, in tens
- Place value — beginner worksheet Tens and ones, which is what a hundred is made of
- Make Ten Ten pairs of ten make the hundred