The Tooth Tally ProjectThe Tooth Tally Project is under new management! After 10 years hosting the project, I've decided to hand it to another teacher to run. The new project can be found at:
The Tooth Tally Project
Many many thanks to Cheryl Hill for agreeing to take over the project! She's got some great ideas for it!
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 its 10th 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.
Registration for the project is now closed.
The project will run from February 1 through April 30, 2008.
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 are the pictures!
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! Make a classroom book of the pictures.
The tooth fairy is as tall as a first grader. She has short, dark curly hair and ears that are a bit pointy on top. She wears a long red dress with pictures of teeth on it. Her high heeled shoes are the same red color as her dress. She carries a blue bag that sparkles in the dark and a wand with a tooth on the end.
Tooth Tally Journal
Make a classroom Tooth Tally Journal out of a 3-ring binder. 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.)