Calendar

Teachers incorporate numeral recognition and patterning skills in the daily calendar routine. Many teachers also include individual student folders for these routines so that each student practices these important math skills.

• Use the Math Routines Templates to create individual student folders for daily individual practice. Students may write directly on the calendar. Insert the daily routines template in a sheet protector so that students may use a dry erase marker each day to revise the previous day's information.

There are many variations of this routines template and teachers often design their own to incorporate targeted practice in different routines over the course of the year. Check out the link to Mrs. Meacham's Classroom Snapshots, listed below, for additional downloadable files for student calendar folders.

Online Calendar Resources

There are great online resources for the classroom calendar routines. The following represent a sampling of some of the best. Bookmark these sites for future reference.

• Mrs. Meacham's Classroom Snapshots include pictures of calendar routines. She also includes downloadable files (Word or pdf) for student calendar folders. This is a terrific resource for primary teachers!
• Jan Brett Monthly Calendar Pocket Chart: site has pdf files to download to create special calendar components in true Jan Brett style.
• Holiday Calendar Squares from Preschool Printables include the major holidays.
• Themed Numbered Calendar Squares from Preschool Printables include apples, dinosaurs, backpacks, stars, etc.
• Holiday Calendar Number Squares from Preschool Printables include pumpkins, turkeys, hearts, etc.
• Seasonal Numbered Calendar Squares from Preschool Printables include snowflakes, leaves, pumpkins, butterflies, etc.

School Day Count

This routine builds understanding of base-ten place value as students count, group, write and see numbers attached to the counts in each place. Therefore, it is important to use groupable materials such as straws or craft sticks and bundle them together in groups of 10, then 100. Finally, students must select or write the numerals that represent the number in each place. Repeating this process each day builds meaning for what each numeral in a 2- or 3-digit number represents.

• Download a School Day Count Poster, pictured above left, which may be placed in a sheet protector or laminated so that students use a dry erase marker to represent the day's count.
• Sing the Bundle Song to celebrate making bundles of 10 or 100 during the school day count.
• Consider providing straws and a poster for each table so that more students actively participate in this daily routine. Store the straws and cups in plastic bags for easy group retrieval.

Growing Number Line

Some teachers use a homemade or purchased numberline to track the growing number of days in school. As pictured above left, one teacher incorporates number patterns in her growing counting caterpillar.

Other teachers have students write the number on a post-it and add it to the growing count, as in the picture above right. This is a very forgiving method as post-its or small squares of construction paper are cheap, and students who reverse numerals or write the number incorrectly may be encouraged to take a new paper and try again. These post-its are often displayed in rows of ten, varying by color. This method reinforces the patterns in the hundred board and students may refer to this chart during math activities. NOTE: Reinforce the post-its with tape during humid months or staple to the bulletin board.

Coins for the Date

Teachers often use a velcro chart and real or play money to create the coins chart, as pictured above left. One teacher also uses purchased large coins to have students show different ways to make the same amount of money. Students in this class love to get their hands on the "big money."

Attendance

• Use an Attendance Chart which may be placed in a sheet protector or laminated so that students use a dry erase marker for an easy way to track the day's attendance.
• A kindergarten class uses a picture system for attendance. It is easy for the Attendance person to check and verify the count. Other kindergartens use a check-in chart which serves the same purpose.
• Create an attendance graph, pictured lower right, to track class attendance throughout the year. Students in this classroom are immediately interested in the day's attendance count and where they will place the tally mark that day.

Weather

Checking and charting the daily weather provides real-life data for students to analyze. Be sure to include some analytical questions in the daily reporting. Have we had more sunny or cloudy days so far this month? Do you think we will have any more snow days this month?

• Download Weather icons to use to create a weather chart and graph. The file also contains tally charts with four dots in a box, which are used with young students to prompt the notion that the fifth tally "closes the gate" and crosses the other four.

Temperature

Everyday Math uses temperature color bands [see picture above right] to help students think about changes in the days' temperatures. Teachers color in the bands and students use these bands to report the temperature. These color bands help students look at temperature trends: how many red days, orange days, etc. in the different months. Posting the temperature graphs from previous months enables students to see how temperature changes throughout the year.