Our Kindergarten calendar routine is one of the most important parts of our school day. It is SO much more than simply adding a date card to the monthly calendar. Using the routines I will detail in this blog post will help your students with concepts of number sense, place value, and so much more. Here is how we make the most of Calendar Time…
Kindergarten Digital Calendar
My Kindergarten Digital Calendar has been a game changer. I originally created this resource when we were teaching remotely. It worked so well that I knew I wanted to make it a part of our classroom routines. The editable slides begin each day with a morning message that students will eventually be able to read on their own! Date and weather slides follow the daily message. Then, we dive deeper into math concepts centered around the number of days we have been in school. Digital Calendar Math slides include the following:
- Days of School Intro Slide
- Tally Marks
- Ten Frames
- Hundreds Chart (with move-able 4 square icon to hover over the number of the day)
- Place Value
- Coins
- The Dollar Dance (for the 100th Day)
- Number Sentences (2 versions)
The digital format keeps students engaged, and the kids love when they have the opportunity to assist on stage by dragging and dropping items.
Flip Calendar
After we finish our slides, the Helper of the Day has the job of changing our Flip Calendar. I created this Rainbow Flip Calendar last year, and the students loved it. I hang it right above the calendar on my white board. It’s so nice not to have to worry about changing the months of the calendar once you set this up! I also have a Black & White Flip Calendar that can be left as black and white or copied onto the paper color of your choice.
To assemble this, I printed the days, months, date cards, and year cards in color. I used binder rings to group them in order. I purchased a magnetic curtain rod from Amazon to create the display as shown.
Place Value Poster
Next it’s time for our Place Value Poster. Place value is one of the slides in the digital calendar resource. In addition to using the slide, I wanted to provide a visual for the students to refer to in the classroom. I created my Place Value Poster to help my students begin to understand number decomposition one day at a time.
Shortly after we began using the poster, I ordered this set of magnetic place value manipulatives. We place the corresponding number of the cubes and rods under the hanging numbers. This has helped my students grasp the idea of making of a ten as well as how to decompose numbers into tens and ones.
Number of the Day
When you think your student are ready, you can also begin using these Number of the Day worksheets that go perfectly with the place value poster activity above. You can combine the pages into a book or use as individual pages to send home daily. These are also great for differentiation options for your higher level learners. You can try a FREEBIE when you join the Kindergarten Korner Free Resources Library!
Classroom Calendar Set
While I love teaching with the digital calendar, I still believe that it is important to have a physical classroom calendar for students to refer to.
Carson Dellosa Education is my go-to for classroom calendars. They have so many calendar sets to choose from. You are guaranteed to find one that will coordinate with just about any classroom theme!
By implementing some of the strategies shared in this post, I hope you are inspired to take calendar time to the next level!
Check out THE BLOG for more teacher inspiration!
I love this!!! I use a routine like this daily!! Awesome 👏🏾