The 100th Day of School

Gr 2—5—The concept of the 100th day of school is explored through a series of math activities in this live-action film. A teacher explains that this special day marks a milestone in the school year, and defines the term milestone. Six diverse students share their collections of 100 objects. The instructor asks viewers whether 100 is a little or a lot; children note that 100 stuffed animals or school buses is a lot, while 100 grains of rice is relatively little. One hundred baseball cards may not seem like a lot, but it took a long time to build the collection. Later, a girl uses estimation to guess which of three jars contains 100 jellybeans. Another mathematical concept covered is time measurement. Pictures of a 100-minute-old baby are compared with that of a 100-hour, 100-day, 100-week, 100-month, and 100-year-old person. Youngsters also imagine what life was like a century ago and make a list of things that did not exist back then, including cell phones, credit cards, computers, and TV. Viewers are challenged to imagine what kinds of things will exist 100 years in the future. Children count 100 pennies in piles of 10 and learn about the root word "cent" along with distance measurements. The importance of zero in place value is demonstrated as well. Viewers can read along with the captions and have the opportunity to answer additional questions. Narration is also available in Spanish. Upbeat music and bright splashes of color add energy to this educational offering.—Barbara Auerbach, P.S. 217, Brooklyn, NY