Calendar Book

( It has come to our attention that there is a typo on the weather graph pages. If you already ordered a calendar book or bought the Calendar Book CD at a conference, please email and let me know when (approximately) and where ( conference or download or shipped) and I will email you a new PDF with the corrections. The download was incorrect from 10/10 - 2/11. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

Student Calendar Book Packet - I started doing a Student Calendar book in my kindergarten classroom in 2005. I have found it to be the best instructional tool to keep kids focused on the math activities. I have also found it very beneficial in helping me reinforce math and literacy activities every day in my classroom. My good friend and fellow kindergarten teacher and friend, Kim Adsit, also started doing a Student Calendar book a few years ago. In the summer of 2010, we decided to put together an extensive Student Calendar book packet for teachers to purchase. This packet will truly take your calendar time to the next level as you teach a wide variety of math standards and develop critical thinkers.

The packet is 101 pages of extensive directions and blacklines. We feel the most important aspect of the packet is the scaffolding of questions that you can ask your students with each activity. It contains a few of the activities that are already included with free downloads on my website, but it has so much more. You will get activities from Days in School, Zero the Hero, tally sheets with count by 5 hands, a different name activity for each month, a different domino activity for each month and much, much more. You will LOVE doing calendar with your kids using these activities. You may choose to just use some of the activities or you may want to do them all. It can be tailored for each classroom and teacher.

The price is $25 for a download of the PDF version or $25 for a paper copy by mail (plus shipping).

  • If you want to order this packet by filling out an order form to be mailed to me, CLICK HERE to go to the order form page. Print it out. Fill it in. Mail it to me with your check.

  • If you want to purchase this packet with PayPal to be shipped to you by US mail or for download, CLICK HERE.

    INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOWNLOADING

    1. Pay for the Student Calendar Book Packet - CLICK HERE While the fee that first appears is $18, $2 is added when you enter your Zip Code. This fee covers the web site expenses. Sales Tax is also calculated by zip code. Please be sure to enter your zip code.
      Click on "Add to Cart" button below the words "Student Calendar Book Packet - $20 - Download the PDF"
    2. When you have your paid receipt from PayPal look for two words identified as the Item #. The first word is the username. The second word is the password.

    3. CLICK HERE. You will be asked for the username and password. Then the file will download to your computer. Save it to your hard drive in a place where you can find it, then print it out if you wish - or print it out later.

      If you have any problems, email my techie Gary Ritner. People tend to get a little confused about where to find the login info on the receipt from PayPal. It is on the left side. Look for the word "Item #" (you are looking for two words and not a number).

      If the Item # is 1010, then you clicked on the button for 'Ship a Hard Copy to Me.' If you meant to click on the download option, no, problem. Just email Gary Ritner here and he will send you the username and password after verifying your payment.


      This section is all because of a wonderful website that I found. Check out www.jmeacham.com. She has an entire section devoted to different forms of Calendar Books. I adapted hers a little bit. I would honestly have to say it made one of the biggest differences in my Math instruction. My students have to do all of the calendar activities for themselves. They can not be daydreaming (well, not too much).

      For my Calendar Book, I use a regular folder with 3 prongs. I purchased a variety of colors. Every child uses the same folder all year long. I leave in the first 2 pages and the last 2 pages and send home the rest every month.

      This is what they look like on the cover.

      Click here for a download of the cover.


      This is what the calendar book looks like on the inside. This year I have added the pencil pouch. Each pouch will store a pencil, 2 crayons (matching the color of the unifix cubes) and a variety of coins.

      In 2007 I changed the way I did my Calendar Book. This is what they look like now. I changed to the 3-Ring Binder to make it easier to write on and more durable. It will also be a lot easier to change out the pages every month. I found Sam's Club or Costco to be the cheapest way to get them.

      The days in school pages, months of the year, lost teeth and birthdays pages are all run on cardstock for durability. I also put hole reinforcers on those pages.

      I changed to the zipper pouches with the metal zippers because I was always putting the plastic zippers back on track.

      Last year for money the kids all had a ziploc baggie with coins. I was always replacing the baggies. This year I bought the coin wallets (we don't call them purses for the boy's sake) from Oriental Trading. I wrote the child's initials on the wallets with puffy paint.

      The cover is created using clipart from www.djinkers.com.


      The first 2 pages in the calendar book are the days in school sheets. I downloaded these from www.jmeacham.com. When I write how many days we have been in school, the kids also have to write the numeral in their book. If we count by 1's, 5's or 10's the kids have to point to the numerals as we are counting out loud. These 2 sheets stay in the book all year long.


      Zero the Hero - Every 10th day of school we will celebrate Zero the Hero using this page. The kids will have to color in Zero and the number every 10th day of school. Of course Zero the Hero will bring us some Zero shaped snacks on that day. I run this page off on cardstock for durability. A big thanks to my friend John Rasmussen who drew the great Zero the Hero.

      Click here for a PDF.


      I discovered I wasn't saying the months of the year often enough so I added this page to the book. It stays in every month. The students have to point to the words as we read them. We also say the months in Spanish.

      Click here for the Months of the Year PDF.


      The next sheet in the book is the monthly songs that we sing. For copyright reasons I can not include them all. The first one is a little tune that Julie Torkelson made up. The next song is adapted from www.kinderkorner.com. It is the Good Morning Song for that month. The last song is the monthly poem from Maurice Sendak's Chicken Soup With Rice. The poems are in a pocket chart and we sing them every time we do calendar. After the first few days in a month, the kids follow the text in their own calendar book.


      The next page is the calendar. I downloaded the ones I use from www.jmeacham.com. Her downloads for this year are even better. The squares where there are no numbers are blacked out.


      We start doing the next page in October. I write the date on the white board and the kids also write the date in their book. This is how we date our journal entries. The kids loved to see patterns in the date. They couldn't wait for 06-06-06. (I didn't have the heart to tell them that a lot of people think it is a bad date.)

      Click Here for the Write the Date page.


      Someone emailed me and asked if I had a page for "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow." I didn't have one, but I thought it was a great idea so I created a page. For this page the kids have to circle whatever day of the week that it is. Then in that same row they right a Y on the day that was yesterday and a T on the day that tomorrow will be. Doing this activity has really helped my kids with this concept.

      Click here for Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow PDF


      For this page I make the tally or tallies on the board and the kids have to make the tally/tallies in their book. I start doing this page in October.


      We start doing the Odd/Even page in November or December. We put up a unifix cube(s) in the holder (see my Daily calendar section). The kids have to tell me if the number is an odd number or an even number. They know if all the cubes have a partner then it is an even number. If they don't all have a partner, it is an odd number. The kids have to write the numeral and circle odd or even in their book.

      Click here for the odd/even page.


      The adding the date page is based upon the unifix cubes. The cubes match the date. Last year the kids only used their pencils to color in the squares. This next year, the kids will use the correct color of crayon to color in the squares. After coloring in the squares, the kids have to say the number sentence that matches the cubes. For example: on the second you should have 1 orange cube with 1 blue cube. The number sentence the kids would write 1 + 1 = 2.

      Click here for the adding the date page.


      We started doing money in January or February. I just had the kids write the date in cents. For example: It is the seventh so we would write 7(cents sign). This year, the kids will show me different ways to make the amount using real coins. That is why they will keep coins in their pencil pouch.

      Click here for Money


      We start telling time as part of the calendar in March or April. I flip the cards on my clock to a certain time. (The clock is from Lakeshore.) I call up one child to move the hands of the clock to that time. The kids write that time down in the book. I didn't make a special page for this. They just write on the back of the money page.


      In 2007 I added a real clock page. Because the kids had a blue and an orange crayon in their pencil pouch for coloring in the unifix cubes, I decided they should draw the hands on the clock. They write the given time in the box. They used the orange crayon to make the red hand and blue for the blue hand. I added this page in April. I ran off 2 pages, back-to-back.

      Click here for the Calendar page.


      The next page in the book is the weather graph. It matches the one that the class does together. We will attempt to start to do this graph in September.

      Click Here for Weather Graph PDF


      I also added a temperature page. We started it in January. The first month I tried this it was very frustrating for the first few days. After a while the kids got the hang of it. It was a wonderful way for kids to start learning what 10s numbers a number is in between. The weather helper checks outside and finds the temperature on the internet. The students color in the thermometer with their orange crayon. Click here for a PDF.


      In 2007, my students were very disappointed one month when I did not add anything new the the Calendar binder. So in May I added the dice graph. I will probably add it in March or April next year. For this page, I rolled 2 dice, 2 times every day. We had to say the number sentence and then color the sum in the graph. It was a great way to talk about probability. I used the big foam dice for some added fun. I reduced the graph a little to fit in the binder.

      Click here for the Dice Graph PDF.


      The lost tooth page is from www.jmeacham.com. When I child loses a tooth, we write their name in that month. This is one of the pages that is in the book in September and stays in every month.


      The last page is the Birthday Page. On the first day of the month, we write the names of everyone celebrating a birthday that month. We also do half birthdays for June, July and August. This form is from www.jmeacham.com. D J Inkers also has a great new form in their new Celebrations and School Events Clip Art book. You can check it out at www.djinkers.com.


      Many people have written to me and asked me when and how I do my Calendar Book. I am a little different from a lot of teachers because I do Calendar after lunch and recess. My students have to sit and listen too long in the morning. We do Morning Meeting and greetings in the morning so we do the calendar as part of my Math Block in the afternoon.

      I am fortunate to have a "pit" area in my classroom. It is 3 steps going down. It makes it easier for kids to write in their books and still be right in front of the calendar. Here are some photos of what it looks like in my classroom. I would be standing by the calendar and calling kids up during this time.


      Place Value Dominoes - I added this page in May, but I think I will add it in April next year. The skills that are taught are so wonderful that I want to do it earlier. For this page, the weather helper draws a domino (double nines set) out of a bag. The child decides which number will be on the left and which will be on the right. Then we say what that number would be with the number on the left being the 10's place and the right the 1's place. We write the number on the line and then copy the domino. Finally, the kids highlight the number on the hundreds chart.

      Click here for the Place Value Dominoes PDF.


      Calendar can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes depending on how in depth I want to get. Sometimes we skip songs or saying the months, etc. I do not start with all of the pages in the book. All of these pages are only done in May. We add new activities every month. The old pages go home at the end of the month and new pages with the old activities and 1 new activity are added to the book. The cardstock pages stay in the book all year long.

      Below you will find a list of when I add activities.

      September- Days in School, Zero the Hero, months, September songs, September calendar, tallies (?), lost teeth and birthdays
      Leave in Days in School, Zero the Hero, months, lost teeth and birthdays page every month - replace the other pages each month and add a new skill

      October - add odd and even
      November - add Adding the Date page and money (but no coins)
      December - give students coins
      January - add temperature page
      February - add Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow page
      March - add graph the dice sum page
      April - add time page
      May - add domino tens place page (possibly add sooner)