What Does My Calendar Look Like?
Here is an image of my calendar from February 2020 in my new classroom.
Why a Bulletin Board and Not Digital?
They learn through it and refer back to it all the time.
Therefore, I want them to have access to it at all times.
If I put my calendar on a smart board, all that fantastic information gets turned off when my board gets turned off.
adding straws, changing numbers, recording weather.
I just choose not to do my calendar time digital.
My bulletin board calendar has never let me down… literally.
it is a center my kids LOVE and it leave technology open for others.
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Calendar Activities
1. We go over the months of the year, seasons, and even days of the week.
At the beginning of the year, I start with just the days of the week,
then add months of the year when they master the days of the week, then season.
2. We go over the specific day on the monthly calendar using the blue pocket chart.
{Here is a link to the Carson Dellosa Deluxe Calendar Pocket Chart I use. I bought it once 12 years ago and it still works great.} On our calendar, we also go over special dates that are upcoming like birthdays and celebrations. Then, use the little hands you see as left and right. I also do a pattern for the numbers for each month. We start with the pattern AB, then progress to more patterns. Then, we also talk about the words “yesterday, today, and tomorrow” terms and we add a weather card to the bottom blue pocket chart.
Beside the blue pocket chart, the small yellow chart is used to add straws and bundle the numbers to make sets of 10 and 100.
This pocket chart can be found here.
3. We write the date on the yellow and white strip.
We talk about commas and the year we are in.
I also use the whole date and the shorten date on this strip.
On these yellow and white parts, we also have a question of the day and graph the results.
This is so much fun and meaningful math for my class.
I also love talking about what a question is here.
4. I use this chart to work on number sense.
We count up to our days of school using the straws and pocket chart on the left,
then we work with the calendar number of the day.
For example, on the 20th day of the month, we focus on the number 20.
5. I skip over the the chart paper and my class helps me write a sentence using our sight word of the week.
We talk about EVERYTHING with this chart paper.
Sometimes we write sentences, other times we write stories.
Sometimes we chart works and other times we sort.
6. We use this red pocket chart to unscramble sentences,
sequence stories, sort real and non sense words,
talk about and practice ABC order, and every other ELA standard you can think about.
Here is what we are using this chart for on the FIRST week of school.
We use the Brown Bear sequencing cards and simple sight words to make sentences.
We also use the Brown Bear Reader (that I give each students) to write out and read sentences to practice. {here on tpt}
I use this Carson Dellosa Four Block Adjustable Pocket Chart here because it is colorful and I can change it around as needed.
I choose to separate the three colors.
7. I use this large fish bowl to count up to 100 and counting by 1’s and 10’s.
This fish bowl was made by Trend and can be found here. It has 10 sets of baby fish (1’s) and mommy fish (10’s) which are color coded!
The picture sucks, but you get the point. I love the fish bowl and so do my students.
I actually have two of these sets since my first one wore down over the years.
8. I made these clocks my first year teaching and they have served me well.
Read the post about the {here.} I know telling time isn’t a standard in the Common Core,
but I still teach my class time to the hour and half hour.
They love to USE math int he real world and I love to allow them to.
Plus, I think telling time is easy, so why not work on it in K.
9. These are super hard to see… but here are my Dr. Jean Nursery Rhyme Juke Box CDs.
We use these to go over and say nursery rhymes.
It is FUN and I seriously LOVE this pack. It might be my favorite item I have ever made.
I pull out a CD from time to time and the kiddos and I read over it…
then we work on that rhyme all week long.
Some of them know the rhymes, like Jack and Jill, but some they do not know.
We have a Juke Box we put them into when we have learned them.
I pull a CD out of the Juke Box during transition times so my students to say with me.
It makes moving from the carpet to tables more fun and less “busy” because all my students are saying the rhyme not talking to each other.
I also keep a collection of Transition Tips & Tricks close by in case we get the wiggles and need to move a bit.{Click here}
10. Last I have some snowmen cards that we use for odd and even numbers.
Since I don’t usually get to these until Winter, the snowmen serve me well.
If they kids ask about them beforehand, I
tell them… “Great question, we will get those snowmen out in the Winter!.”
I love getting their interest and keeping it for a while.
When we finally get there, they are SO EXCITED to get those snowmen out and practice odd and even numbers.
And of course, they ROCK at it.
I also always have my cheer cards on had to celebrate correct answers.
All these cheer cards are FREE.
You can grab them by clicking here.
Each month I change out the cards to make them themed.
This is a HUGE deal! HUGE.
My class loves walking into see what cards the new month brings.
August is books. December is Christmas lights.
Each month has its own pattern as well.
We play a TON of games with these.I can’t wait to see what you guys teach and use at your calendar time!
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What a great post!! I can't wait to see what others do!!! I have the Dr. Jean CD, and barely use it, I think I will this year! Other than that most of my calendar is similar…I DO have a chart JUST for patterning though. (on top of my regular calendar pieces). I used little pieces cut from cricut to make diff patterns each month. I think this is such and important skill to do in K even though it's not in the common core, and calendar is the perfect time to "sneek" it in!
I LOVE how you numbered your calendar to show the order!! I may just have to copy this idea for my calendar post 🙂
❀Jodi
Fun In First
This was such a great blog post. As a new kindergarten teacher moving from 2nd/3rd grades, this was so helpful for me. Thank you so much!
How does your number sense chart work? Do you find all the ways to make each number each day? I love this idea!
I am SOOOO glad there are other teachers out there that still teach the calendar skills, and know how important they are! My district says that the daily calendar IS NOT COMMON CORE aligned!!!!! I know….they are just not all right! Just because it does not specifically calendar or days of the week in the CC, that doesn't mean that we should completely ignore it or stop teaching the daily calendar. I am at a loss, because I have explained over and over how important it is that they need these skills and need to see them everyday, but they won't budge! May not be Common Core— but it is COMMON SENSE!
I love your post! Thanks for sharing, and the details are helpful! I am curious about your fish tank. I found it on Trend's website, but I am wondering how you use it. Do you put a number on each day and have the kids count to that number? Do you use it for days in school? Just curious, thanks for the post!!
How is your chart paper attached to the board?
Thanks for sharing! I love calendar time!
Lindsey
Lovin’ Kindergarten
I notice your Saxon Phonics ABC cards. We do Saxon as well. What are your thoughts?
As a new Kinder teacher, I love your ideas!! I may have to find the room in my classroom to do calendar on something other than our "Brain Board" like we did in the summer session!
Like your ideas. I use a paperclip for each day to one hundred. I use a purple one for 5s and a pink one for 10s. They love to see it grow. We use it to count to 100, skip count by 5s and 10s. We also use it to measure; students, teacher, etc., make predictions, estimate how many more to 100 days of school(when we are close). the children love this.
It's always great to see another room. There are something's that are similar and some that are different between our rooms. I can't wait to add a pocket chart to our calendar area. It was already on my list for this year but now I've got some more ideas on how to use it! Thanks!
I buy a 100 piece puzzle at the dollar store and each day we glue a piece down for what day of school it is. On the 100th day we have a complete puzzle! It is fun to have them guess the picture. I like it cause they can see that 100 is a big number. The puzzles are in rows of 10 so we count by 10s then by 1s to see where the next piece goes which is great for when they need to count dimes and pennies in the future 🙂
Hi,
I'm interested to know where you glue the puzzle? Do you glue it to the bulletin board backed by cardboard? Also, do you number the pieces vertically or horizontally? Thanks, Meg
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I feel like I won the lottery with all of these awesome ideas! Thank you!
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I am so glad to see this! I gave been teaching kindergarten for 23 years and still do a bulletin board calendar! They learn so much during that time! Thanks for shating!
Love this! I do much the same thing and love the hands on and ability to manipulate actual pieces of the calendar, counting, and that they can look at and refer to all day. So fun to see someone doing some of the same thing I do! They will have enough of the smart boards and ipads the rest of their life.