What does your daily calendar time in Kindergarten look like? It usually consists of the same songs and same routine, day after day. I found that my students were getting so bored with their calendar time and we needed something to change it up. Here's how you can make calendar time interactive in Kindergarten!
The Problem with Calendar Time
Calendar time is an important part of our morning in Kindergarten. We do it every single day right after our morning routine. However, I was starting to notice some problems with calendar time about 2 months into the school year. It was starting to get repetitive and boring, even for me! We would run through calendar time just to check it off our schedule and move onto the next subject. The same students were the ones who were willingly participating, and when I called on others, they seemed to have no clue what we were doing. Why didn't they know how to do calendar time when we had been doing it every day for 2 months? They weren't paying attention or participating daily, so when I called on them, they honestly didn't understand.
The other big problem with calendar time is that it lacks a hands-on approach, it mainly relies on visual learning. When students do not have the chance to use their hands and participate, they tend to lose focus. I tried “turn and talk” strategies, having a calendar helper each day, but it still didn't help those students “get it”. It also takes up precious real estate in the classroom, and I was lacking the wall space to do everything I wanted with calendar time.
The solution to boring calendar time:
The solution came a few months after I started using the Morning Work Binder with my students. My students loved their Morning Work Binder, so I decided to create a calendar that they could do that goes along with how the Morning Work Binder is set up using dry erase marker and sheet protectors.
The goal was for all my students to understand how the calendar works. I wanted them to be able to do all the parts that go along with calendar time independently. And that's how the Calendar Time Binder idea was born!
How to set up the Calendar Time Binder
Each month, the students will get a new calendar page. Simply put it inside a sheet protector, give each student a dry erase marker, and you are ready to go! You can either put all the monthly pages in a binder or add it to the end of the Morning Work Binder, which is what I did. Instead of using that big bulky calendar, I like to just display it using the SMART Board or doc cam, so that all students can see it. They usually just stay at their desks for this time, but you can easily do it sitting on the floor if the pages are in a binder.
There are two options of calendar pages for students to use.
One has the dates pre-filled, which is helpful for beginning of the year Kindergarten. The second has a blank calendar, so your students can fill those in themselves. When a new month arrives, I have them take out their pencils with the blank calendar page, and we write down the dates on the calendar together. This part does take a lot of modeling and checking to make sure they are doing it correctly.
How to use the Calendar Time Binder daily
Students take out their calendar time binders and open it to the calendar page. If you use the morning work binder, then they can just leave it out after morning work time is finished.
Here is the step-by-step process to filling out the monthly calendar page.
- We start with singing a calendar time song: either days of the week, months of the year, weather, etc. on YouTube. Hereβs a few songs my students always enjoyed.
- Then, we would write todayβs date. First, I have them circle the date on the calendar. Next, they move their finger up to find the day of the week.
- Write the day, month, then date and year next to βToday isβ.
- With a finger on todayβs day of the week, we go draw an arrow back to show yesterday and write the day of the week. Draw an arrow going forward to show tomorrow and write the day next to tomorrow.
- Last, we will do the digital date. We always say the months of the year while holding up fingers as we go. (January, hold up 1 finger, February hold up 2 fingers, and so forth). Once we get to the month, yell βStop!β and have everyone see how many months in the year we are to write for the first part. Look at the circled date to write that number, then the year at the top, and circle the last two digits to show the abbreviated year.
Here is the step-by-step process to complete the calendar time page.
- To write the “today is” part, you can look at the monthly page they just completed. Or you can show them how to write it using the same process for the monthly page. I recommend using the monthly calendar page displayed on the whiteboard or SMARTboard/doc cam.
- Sing the days of the week song and circle the day of the week. Do the same with the month and the weather. When we do this page, we usually sing all 3 songs really quick.
- Count how many days of school. I use ten frames and stickers to show this. We add a sticker and then count how many tens and add the ones. You can do this anyway youβd like: with math manipulatives, straws, or even just write it on the board and change it daily!
- Last, we circle the season.
You can just choose to do one page or both depending on your day! Some of the content overlaps on both pages, so I will usually switch it up a bit. We will do the calendar page one day, then the calendar time page another, then sometimes both!
Differentiation Ideas for Calendar Time in Kindergarten
Here are a few ideas to differentiate the Calendar Time Binder for your students:
β’Have a student of the day be the βteacherβ and do the Calendar time on the board with your students.
β’Work with a partner to do it in a group
β’Have them do it independently, then check once finished
About the Calendar Time Binder
Here's what this resource includes:
β’Two types of calendars- one version with pre-written dates and and one version that students fill in the dates. The Calendar Time Binder is updated by the beginning of July for the upcoming school year dates.
β’Daily Calendar page
β’Spanish version of both sets of pages
Find the Calendar Time Binder here!
You can also bundle it together with the Morning Work Binder.
Click here for Kindergarten Morning Work + Calendar Time Binder.
Click here for First Grade Morning Work + Calendar Time Binder.
Try a free sample page here!
I hope this gives you a new way to make calendar time interactive in Kindergarten!
