Children in the intermediate grades are likely to encounter readings which use the abbreviations B.C., B.C.E. and A.D. Each of us has events that are special to us. We can name the year and often the day and hour at which the events occurred. We orient our thinking about life's experiences around these special landmark events. Graduation, illness, honors, births, deaths, weddings, and camping trips may be among the many experiences that have special importance for us as individuals. We hear people make statements such as the following:

Three years before graduation I went to Colorado.

Two years after graduation I hope to go to Europe.

One year before my brother was born we lived in Chicago.

Two years after my father died I met Chad.

List a landmark event in your life. Write things that happened before and after it.

We count in both directions from the significant event just as we do when we label years with B.C. "before Christ" or (anno Domini -- in the year of the Lord). Some choose to use B.C.E. (Before Common Era).

Use a crack between two tiles, a crack between a carpet and other type of flooring, or place two sheets of paper on the floor so the ends touch. Let two children stand with heels touching right over the crack. Tell both of them to walk in opposite directions and count. Ask the other class members how many steps each has gone from the crack. The crack has no label. It is merely a place where two points meet. There likewise is no year zero. There are only the years 1 B.C. and 1 A.D. Draw a line on the floor with chalk or on the two sheets of paper. Label years on the left side of the crack B.C. and those on the right side A.D.