My Calendar Board…with a freebie!

Hello again!  So glad that you are back!

So, today I am sharing my calendar board set up.

Short confession time first.

I greatly dislike (I am trying to stop using the H word)  doing the calendar.

I really, really do.  

But, I know that even in 2nd grade the kiddos still need those skills.

I tried to get away without doing calendar.  I really tried.

I was not successful.

So, I try to do a bit of calendar everyday during our morning meeting.

I have tied it in with my number and word of the day and so far it isn’t too bad.

Here is what my calendar board looks like this year.

It looks like a lot, but we do calendar everyday rather quickly.

On the first of the month we fill in our monthly calendars together filling in birthdays and other important dates.

Then a few times a week we do a “Number and Word of the Day sheet” and go over it together.

Here are the different pieces of my calendar:

1. Number of the day.  I try to do something fun for these.  The kiddos love it when I use their names and classroom numbers for the number of the day.  Marcy Cook also has a great product called (Primary) Today is the Day for Numbers.  If you have never heard of Marcy Cook, you need to check her out.  She is a math wizard and the kiddos love her stuff!

2. My birthday list!

3. This is the meaty part of the calendar.  I have mine set up so that the kiddos can see the last few days of the previous month, the current month, and the first few days of the next month.  I have a clothespin with a color coding sticker to indicate the day we are on.

I have this fun days of the week spinner by Lita Lita that I found on Pinterest.

The last part is what I call the “Calendar Query”.  I put a question up about the calendar such as  what was the date last Tuesday? or How many times will we go to P.E. this month?

4. Word of the Day.  These words come from my Number and Word of the Day booklets.  I use the word of the day in a sentence.  We define the word and I have a few kiddos use it in a sentence.  It is also our magic word of the day.  It signals that I am done speaking or giving directions.  The kiddos are supposed to listen until they hear the magic word, then follow the directions.

5. Think Box.  This is a space where I put something for the kiddos to think about such as analogies, Hink Pinks, or word problems.

6.  This is not technically part of our calendar, but this is where the kiddos pick their “Thinking Partner” for the day.  Every time we come together on the rug, they are to sit with their thinking partner so they always have someone to turn and talk to!  It is divided into 2 spots.  If they put their tags with their partners under #1, they are reading with a partner our first round of Reading Workshop.  If they put their tags under #2 they are reading with their partner the second round.

So, what you have been waiting for!

Here is a little freebie of the pages that I use with my kiddos during calendar time.

Thanks again for stopping by!