I recently read this article about a teacher who was allegedly fired for giving a zero grade for no-show assignments. The school has a 50% policy—even when students don’t turn in any work they will still earn 50%. With 50% policies, are we creating children who expect to get something for nothing? There’s fear we’ll end up with a crop of adults who will expect to slide by in life, perhaps presuming they’ll be forgiven at work for a shoddy performance. What are your thoughts?
I admire the teacher for sticking with her convictions! So in honor of her strength of character, here is a selection of activities on the number zero!
Pom-Poms Begone!
Place a plastic hoop on the floor and scatter pom-poms within the hoop. Name a number (or show a number card) and have a child remove that number of pom-poms from the hoop. Continue with different numbers and youngsters until no pom-poms remain. Then reinforce that there are zero pom-poms in the hoop and zero means “none.”
Print this adorable booklet that helps little ones understand the concept of zero.
Print this activity sheet to give students practice multiplying by zero and one.