Calendar math...an intro to what I do

My whole calendar area. It looks a little messy...yikes. But there's a LOT we do!

I invested in a pocket chart for the calendar. I will never go back. I LOVE it.

I am thinking of the rest of the year, (and SUMMER!!!!) thinking how I can spice things up for the students AND me. I have always wanted to get going with a "calendar journal," where students interactively join in on our calendar time. I have seen ideas, mostly from Jessica Meacham (LOVE her!...who doesn't??) but I wanted to make it fit my calendar specifically. I made this calendar journal to start...I know I'll modify it as I see what works, what doesn't. It also needs major cute upgrade factor, but this gets my ideas down for now. Please use if you want and let me know how to modify it, make it better! Click here for the student sheet. I will quickly (kinda!) run down what my calendar entails....

I also made this to help us get to all the things on my calendar. I truly believe in all the review and enrichment you can do quickly through calendar time. It is integral to our routine...even in older grades!!

Money Monday
This is just a velcro pocket chart that we can display money. I have flash cards that show the number and the coins on the other side. I show the number side, we put up what we think, and then see if we matched the flash card. You can also do an amount to show the date. At this point, we're going to show the amount in at least 2 different ways. You can have students do it in their journal right there, or have them do it for morning work and then discuss during calendar!

Tasty Tuesday
I had an amazing student teaching experience due to the teacher I taught under (what do you call that??). She had the idea of Tasty Tuesday.... each Tuesday, you fill a jar with a different treat, and students estimate how much. You have discussions of what would make a good estimation and why, like shape, size, how full, etc. Things like color and type of treat come up and students realize that this does not help them guess a number. LOTS to discuss :) The students write their guess on a sticky note and post it on the hundreds chart...this helps them build number sense. Then you count! The student with the closest guess takes the jar home and fills it for the next week. It does take time...so I have gone down to once a month, though I have found doing it every week really helps them grasp estimation. Just get a jar and tape this around it. Parents can do this too at home! It would be a fun way to talk about numbers, let them modify their guesses due to your talks, and after a few days, the kids get to eat the treat! This also helps students get away from always guessing "100".

Tick Tock Goes the Clock
This is just a simple thing. Pick a students to move the hands on the clock, then tell the time. Students record it on their clock, and then write the digital time as well. Lots of talk about minutes, hours, digital, analog, etc. here.

Weekly Graph Wednesday
At the beginning of the year, I have students decorate a die cut person. I have a graphing pocket chart, and each week I change up the question. I got questions for the WHOLE year from another great site- Kelly's Kindergarten!!! Go here for the questions!
We simply talk about the results after students put up their little person.

Don't you just love their faces??

Wordless Wednesday
This is a new idea I'm going to implement. I want to talk more about math vocabulary, and so each week we'll have a new word, talk about it, and then the students will depict the word through a drawing to help them remember it, rather than just write a definition. A student with a good depiction will draw it on a large index card for our board. If students want to write about it too, of course they can ;) I will never stop that!

Thinking Thursday
I choose a story problem for this. We solve it together or they can through morning work and then we discuss it. It's always important to ask, "Did someone get the answer a different way?" There are always multiple ways to solve a problem and this shows students (and myself!) different ways of thinking.

Free Friday
I have "explore" tubs, filled with different manipulatives and math things. The students create their own math thinking and explain. They usually need guidance in the beginning. There is not a space for this on the calendar, but I will have students share what they do.

I also have space to write the dates on the calendar, and to keep track of our number count. I only put three cause I figure that will be enough each week along with all the other stuff we're doing. Whew. That's not even everything, but it'll do for now.

What other ideas do YOU have, what do you like to do at calendar time??