Ode To The Calendar

This is one of my most favorite Calendar displays that I have ever seen. It's so organized and easy to use!

This calendar is great because it has so many components kids can interact with!

Choosing a calendar leader is a positive way to build confidence and leadership skills

Calendar time is not as easy as it seems. Teaching kids about the calendar and coming up with a memorable routine can be time tasking. While teaching first grade I quickly learned the importance of modeling and repetition. The more repetition the kids are shown the better they will be at leading calendar independently. Since we all know, our ultimate goal as teachers is to make our kids self-sufficient, modeling how you want something done correctly is crucial to succeeding.

The second thing I learned from teaching calendar is what do I include? The days of the week? The months of the year? Time? Money? Songs? Poems? Counting by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's? Graphing the weather and lost teeth? So many things to think about and include! How are all these components supposed to be accomplished in about 10 or 15 minutes and be exciting, engaging, and educational?

In order to sort through the madness, I consulted my fellow team members and the famous California State Standards. In order to ensure I included every standard that my First Graders needed to learn from calendar by the end of the year I found songs, poems, and activities perfect for calendar time.

Here is a taste of one my routines:

1. Today is___________, yesterday was __________, tomorrow will be________________.

2. Add a one block to the Ones, Tens, and Hundreds pocket chart, combine the tens if necessary, and count how many days we have been in school.

3. Onto the 100’s chart! Time for our “exercises” count to 100 and use a different bodily movement or exercise for every 10. I.e. 1-10 = jumping jacks, 11-20 = arm circles, 21-30= stand on one leg, 31-40 = switch legs etc…

4. Using the 100’s charts, skip count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.

5. Days of the week song- simple and to the point! (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the days of the week, the days of the week!)

6. Months of the year- this song names all the months of the year and adding cute hand movements to every month makes it all more engaging.

7. What is the weather? Graphing the daily weather pattern throughout the month.

8. Did anyone loose his or her tooth? If so, graph that tooth!

9. Show me the money! I choose a small card that has a money amount on it, and student volunteers instruct me on what coins I need to make the amount of money on the card.

10.Name those shapes!

11.Social studies song, and flag solute.