I worry about everything. I worry about grades. I worry about
money and my job. I worry about my future. I worry about my family and friends.
I worry about everything. In the book, 100th
Day Worries, Sweet little Jessica is a worrier too, but she has much
simpler things to worry about. Jessica is worried about what she is going to
take for the 100th day of school!
In this math related fiction book by
Margery Cuyler, Jessica's teacher, Mr. Martin, informs the class on the 95th
day of school that each student needs to bring 100 items of something to class
to represent the 100th day of school. Jessica goes home in a tizzy. She has no
idea what to take to class. She rummages through her house looking for 100
items of anything and everything, but comes to no avail. Jessica is so, so
nervous that she will not have anything to take for class on the 100th day.
Each of her classmates bring items in. Sharon brings 100 paperclips and the
class counts out all the paperclips to make sure there are 100 of them. Bobby
brings in five bags with 20 peanuts in each bag, which equals 100 the class
decides. Jessica wonders, "Why didn't I think of peanuts?" She
decides she has to find 100 items of something. She gets her brother, sister,
and parents on board, but they do not seem to have much luck either. The whole
family is counting out items. All the family can come up with is 10 of
different items. Jessica's dad finds 10 ribbons, three red, two green, two
yellow, two purple, and one striped. Her mom finds some screws, 4 big, 4 small,
1 giant, and 1 tiny. Tom, her brother, gives her 10 rocket-shaped erasers from
his collection, 4 pink, 3 green, 2 white, and 1 yellow. Laura gives 10 beads
from a broken necklace. Dad gives 10 buttons from his shirt drawer. Mom gives
10 pennies and 10 nickels from her purse. Laura gives 10 barrettes that she
doesn't wear anymore. Tom gives 10 rocks from his iguana's aquarium. Then,
Jessica begins to count. She only has 90 items. She gets to school and is sad
because she still does not have enough. At lunch, she opens her lunch box and
has a note from her mom, "Sweetie, We'll help you find more stuff this
weekend. I'm sure Mr. Martin will understand if your collection is late. DON'T
WORRY! Love, Mom XXXXXXXXXX" That sparked an idea with Jessica. 10 Hugs,
that's just what she needed! 10 ribbons, 10 screws, 10 beads, 10 rocket-shaped
erasers, 10 buttons, 10 pennies, 10 nickels, 10 barrettes, 10 rocks, and,
finally, 10 hugs!! Jessica tells her teacher that she brought in 10 items of
all different things. She's nervous for his response. He tells her, "Wow!
I've seen a lot of great collections for the 100th day of school, but this
one... This one is really special. You've brought in... 100 bits of love!"
All in all, Jessica found the 100 items, had something to display, and had the
neatest collection of all!
This book can be used to start out any
math addition lesson. This story applied real life manipulatives to a simple
addition problem. Some activities that can be completed with this book are
having the students find 100 (or any number for that matter) items and have
them count and display the items in class. Students can also follow along with
the book by counting out the number of items Jessica receives in the book. Any
type of addition problem can be applied to a scenario like the one in this
book. Making addition fun for students will make it much easier to teach. If
the students think they are bringing something in for show and tell or display,
they will work their hardest to bring in the neatest and most unique items.
Making it something exciting and rewarding for the students will help teach
them the most information and the students will get the most out of the idea.
As a class, you can celebrate all sorts of days, the 50th day, the 100th day, and
the 125th day. Any day is a good day to learn and allow them to bring in items
to add together. This idea can be taken a step further and can help the
students work on their subtraction skills as well.
Great post, Monica! Your book sounds like it would be a great read. This book would also be great to read to younger ages before the first day of school. This book would give the students ideas of what they could bring into class. I also like how you added an activity to your post that you could do after reading this book. This book also has an underlying message that Jessica doesn't have to be like everyone else and bring in the same thing as them. Jessica can be herself and bring in what ever she wants, or what she finds. This book encourages students that it's okay to be different and have your own ideas to do activities differently than others. That is what makes you unique. This is a great way to integrate math and literature. I will use it in my classroom one day!
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