One Hundred Background Information for Teachers, Parents and Caregivers
This page provides information to support educators and families in teaching K-3 students about one hundred. It is designed to complement the One Hundred topic page on BrainPOP Jr.
The one hundredth day of school is a great opportunity for children to explore the number 100 and practice different math concepts. You can use a hundred chart to review skip-counting, counting on, and counting back from 100. You can also use 100 objects to practice making equal groups and develop an understanding of multiplication and division in our base-10 number system. Help your children understand that 100 is a special number. One hundred cents are equal to one dollar. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, a century is a period of 100 years, and the United States senate has 100 elected members, two senators from each of the fifty states. What other places can you find the number 100? Challenge your children to find out themselves.
A hundred chart is a great way to build number sense and help children understand how numbers are related to each other. Use a hundred chart to skip-count by twos out loud. Prompt them to find a pattern in the chart. Help them understand that when they skip-count by twos, they name all the even numbers. You may want to review the Even and Odd movie. Then use the hundred chart to skip-count by fives and tens. What patterns do they see? When you skip-count by fives, you name all the numbers that end in 0 or 5. Help them see that the numbers fall in two columns on the chart. When you skip-count by tens, you name all the numbers that end in a 0 and all the numbers fall in the last column of the chart. Challenge your children to skip-count in other ways and find different patterns on the chart to help them remember the skip-counting patterns.
If possible, collect a group of 100 objects, such as marbles, buttons, shells, or rocks. Have your children use the objects to divide them into equal groups. You may want to review the Making Equal Groups movie. Help your children understand that if you divide 100 objects into 2 equal groups, then each group will have 50 objects. Challenge your children to use the objects to make 5 or 10 equal groups. How many objects will be in each group? This will help your children develop number sense.
Remind your children that 100 cents are equal to 1 dollar. If possible, have your children collect and count one hundred pennies. Write $1.00 on the board and show a dollar bill. You may want to review the Dollars and Cents movie. Remind your children that 4 quarters are equal to $1.00. Children can exchange 25 pennies for a quarter to help them visualize the concept. Have your children exchange pennies for different coins and explore making a dollar in different ways.
The number 100 is special for many different reasons. Brainstorm different places where you and your children have seen the number. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, a century is a period of 100 years, and the United States senate has 100 members. Where else have they seen or used the number 100? Encourage your children to observe how they use numbers to develop number sense and awareness.
