100th Day Rigor

I know the word "rigor" may be the despised buzzword in the education world. Especially amongst early childhood educators. I believe that teachers can be sucked in to wanting things to be cute as opposed to be rigorous. 100th day is one of those times I see a lot of surface activities-they make hats and t-shirts. Trust me, I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, but I also believe you can include creativity and critical thinking in your 100 Days activities.

1) Ethics-is it right to keep a $100 bill you find in the park? Is it right to spend $100 on something frivolous? Do we treat 100 year old people fairly?

2) Rules-what is always true about 100 year olds?

3) Trends-this is an amazing way to explore how trends have changed in the past century/centuries? Study anything from food to pets to clothes to music to school.

4) Multiple perspectives-how does one view 100 year old in their family? How does society view them? How do they view themselves?

5) Analyze a quote: "age is just a number" what does that mean? "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"

6) Write about a world where we do not celebrate birthdays or keep track of our age-what is different?

7) Creativity-what can you create using 100 blocks, chenille wands, marshmallows, cups, etc.

8) Design a room for a nursing home-in the past my students made a pet room, a salon, etc.