Ask Me About the 100th Day of School!

Today was the 100th day of school!  It's hard to believe it's been 100 days already!  We had a "substitute" teacher today.  Her name is Miss Crump, and as hard to believe as it is, she is 100 years old.  She shared a book with the children about what school was like about 100 years ago.  The children saw how children in the country often went to a one room schoolhouse with the teacher having to teach all the children in all grade levels.  Usually there were about 20 children.  The teacher also had to put wood in a big stove to keep the schoolhouse warm.  Most surprising to the children was the lack of indoor plumbing, and no Promethean Board!
We enjoyed seeing the 100 day projects.  Here are the projects the children shared:

We talked about using dictionaries and other reference charts in the room.  The children are working on a booklet of 100 words of some of their favorite things.
We had a special challenge in the afternoon.  The children worked in teams of 4 to build the tallest tower they could with exactly 100 cups.  The children were exceptional in their encouragement and persistence.  I overheard comments such as "That's okay, we can try it a different way."  They were patient with each other for the most part when cups would fall, which was inevitable.  They intentionally tried different designs when they were unsuccessful.  One group was noticing that their tower was very wide compared to other groups and decided to make their thinner instead of so wide so the tower would be taller.  It is such a treat to have them working so independently that I can listen in and really observe closely what is happening.  Most of the children really understand that this was a challenge and not a contest and were reminding each other that it wasn't about winning.  
​Here are some quick snaps of these amazing little builders: