Did you know that the 100th day of school celebration started in California in 1979 when one teacher wanted to help her students with their counting and number sense skills? This unofficial “holiday” is now a favorite of teachers and students across the country to mark being past the midway point of a traditional 180-day school year.

You can bring the excitement to your classroom with some 100th-day-of-school activities for the ELA classroom to help students understand and consider how schools operate throughout the year.

• Write a poem for the 100th day of school
• Research how schools differ around the world
• Debate if schools should serve junk food
• Argue the pros and cons of having cell phones in school
• Decide if schools should have dress codes or uniforms

[Write a poem for the 100th day of school](id-poem)

Help your students celebrate this mid-year milestone with a fun reading and writing activity.

• First, read the poems “A Book,” by Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, “The Swing” by Robert Louis Stevenson, and “Rain Music” by Neal Levin and highlight descriptive words used in them.
• As a class, make a list of 100 descriptive words that describe school. Focus on sensory words that deal with sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch.
• Have students use the list of words to write their own poems for the 100th day of school!

[Research how schools differ around the world](id-world)

Many elementary and middle schools in the United States mark the 100th day of school with fun activities or celebrations. But what about in other countries? Start a research project about how schools are the same and different around the world using resources like:

• A video about how to write a strong research question.
• An article about how flexible seating in school can help students focus.
• A video about how strict uniform requirements may not be cost-effective for families.

[Debate if schools should serve junk food](id-junkfood)

We all love a sweet treat or salty snack now and then, but should these food options be available in schools? Have students debate whether the cafeteria and vending machines should serve up junk food using various resources to make their arguments.

• Watch a video about how the food you eat can affect your brain.
• Read an article about how school lunches differ around the world.
• Decide if popular food-based school fundraisers actually promote poor diets.

[Argue the pros and cons of having cell phones in school](id-phones)

Students love their devices, but should they be allowed in class? Students can debate if cell phones should be allowed in the classroom by examining articles on topics like:

• How one principal’s experiment got students to put down their phones over the summer.
• The challenges teachers face to keep students engaged in class and off their devices.
• If elementary and middle school is too early to allow students to have cell phones in school.

[Decide if schools should have dress codes or uniforms](id-uniform)

Does your school have a dress code? Should it? Students can explore if having a dress code helps or hurts the school environment and personal expression as they read through articles on topics like:

• Why dress codes are often disproportionately enforced against girls rather than boys.
• An overview of the debates that surround public school uniform requirements.
• New York City’s ban on policies and practices that fuel hair discrimination and violate human rights.

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