Calendar BookFor 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.
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.
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¢. 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.
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.
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.
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