Students at Coquihalla Elementary School (CES) celebrated being 100 Days Smarter in a very individual, yet creative and concrete, manner this past week: Each child brought in 100 of something to put on display, and the results were colourful and entertaining.
| A 100 Days Smarter statue created by a Grade 1 student. "How cute is that?" exclaimed vice principal, Peter Flynn. (Sarah Gawdin/Hope Standard) |
On Friday, the classrooms of CES echoed with voices and laughter, as the student body made its way through all of the classrooms one at a time. With classes snaking down the hallways, they took turns touring the 100 Days displays created by their schoolmates.
And the displays did not disappoint.
READ MORE: Coquihalla Grade 5 class have a new pet bear
There were LEGO creations, book stacks, puzzle pieces, and pennies. Some brought boxes of toys, and bags of food, while others pasted pages with stickers or artwork containing a hundred of something.
“The creativity is (outstanding),” said Kevin Bird, school district 78’s assistant superintendent.
But more than that, said Bird, the activity “really helps students put a stamp on what 100 is like. We know young students have a difficulty putting a large number into quantity. It loses its (meaning for them).
“A hundred days can seem like forever for a kindergartner, so this puts a concrete stamp on what (can be) a very hard concept to understand,” Bird continued.
And because some children also experience issues in math in and around Grade 3, when concepts begin transitioning from concrete to abstract, Bird said activities like CES’s 100 Days Smarter attempt to keep math “as real world as possible, (which) has some real benefits.
“We know this is something that is a pretty big deal in a lot of school districts,” Bird added.
“Our district focuses on concrete examples of math, and this is just an extension of that.”
@SarahGawdin on Twitter
SarahGawdin on Instagram
Sarah.Gawdin@HopeStandard.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
