Are your first graders wiggling and jiggling their teeth? If so, get ready to use those those teeth as a springboard to learning! The Tooth Tally Project returns for it's 9th year! The Tooth Tally Project gives teachers a way to integrate a common event in the life of a first grader - losing a tooth - with reading, math, writing, social studies, and technology. Using "lost tooth" data collected in the classroom first graders will practice counting skills and collecting data. They will learn to make and interpret graphs, develop map skills, and communicate through email. It's a wonderful opportunity for children to realize that in spite of many differences children all around the world have many similarities, too.


 

What does the tooth fairy look like?

A great way to kick off Tooth Tally Project is the Tooth Fairy description activity. Participating classes are invited to do this language arts activity in their classrooms and select one picture to submit for posting here.

Here is the description of this year’s tooth fairy. Read it to your students. Have them close their eyes to visualize her as you read. Post the written description on chart paper or on the overhead and have your students read it to themselves as they draw a picture of her. Then decide on your class’s favorite drawing and email it to me for posting here! Then make a classroom book of the pictures.

The tooth fairy is short and thin with gold glittery wings on her back. She wears a red hat and has long black hair. Her dress is long and blue with pictures of teeth all over it. She carries a red bag to hold the teeth she collects and a gold wand with a tooth on the end. She wears red shoes that curl at the toes. She always smiles because she likes collecting teeth!

The Tooth Fairy drawings are starting to arrive! Check them out here!


Tooth Tally Glyphs

What is a glyph? A glyph is a way of showing different information about a topic. It involves classifying - students read or listen to the directions and have to decide which group they are in before they color that piece of their picture. If your students are eager for more tooth activities, make tooth glyphs!

Click here for the directions. Make an overhead or chart paper showing the different choices.
Here is the tooth outline. Copy one for each student. They'll use this to create their glyphs.

If you would like more glyphs, click here for some glyphs to download and use.

Print out and display your tooth glyphs! After your students have created their glyphs, have them answer questions about them, such as "How many students lost more than 4 teeth? What is our favorite toothpaste?"

Tooth Tally Activities

1. Keep a Tooth Tally Journal. When each child loses a tooth, give them a Tooth Tally sheet to fill out. (Click here for the Tooth Tally Sheet.) When it is returned, it is placed in the journal. Each child could write something like this: My name is Jordan and I lost a tooth today. It came out while we were playing outside at recess. It is the fifth tooth our class has lost this week. So far during the project our class has lost a total of 23 teeth. (Data for last 2 sentences come from classroom charts.)

2. As a classroom activity or center activity, play the Loose Tooth Matching Game (works with the oo sound). Directions are here. Word cards are here. Print on colored paper or construction paper.

3. Print out these tooth counters and use them to make bulletin boards, graphs, math manipulatives, writing prompts, and many other things!



If you have questions about this project, please contact the project coordinator:
Lynda Smith ljsmith@wcpss.net
Technology Specialist
Barwell Road Elementary School 
Raleigh, NC