Flexible Calendar Math Ideas (Plus a FREEBIE)

Do you do calendar math in your classroom?

If you don't, you may want to consider making time for this activity.

Calendar math is the perfect time to quickly review math skills and lay the ground work for upcoming instruction.

If you already do calendar math in your class, it might be time to revisit it and make a few tweaks, to better serve your young learners.

Here are a few simple ideas to create flexibility in your calendar math setup and maximize this instructional time in your classroom.

Pictured below is the flexible calendar math setup in my class.

It's on a magnetic white board. Since the board is magnetic, it is effortless to trade out skills. If you do not have a magnetic white board available to you, you can use pocket charts, velcro, and clips to change out desired skills.

On my current calendar math board I have a magnetic calendar, a 120 chart, a number of the day activity, a number line, and a touch number display. 

Because the board I use for calendar math is not very big, I have some other math related mini anchor charts clipped beside the board. Since they are clipped up, they are very easy to change.

Speaking of clips, I also use them on my white board. They hold the headings for each skill. Again, these clips make changing skills very quick and easy.

In addition to the clips, I added some self adhesive magnets to the back of other manipulatives and charts to use on my calendar math board.

If you would like a free set of the headings and other elements from my calendar math board, you can click here.

Some of my magnetic manipulatives are not "homemade" (like my base ten counters). You can find all sorts of magnetic math manipulatives online. These type of manipulatives will certainly save you some time.

Here are some of the resources that are helpful when creating a flexible calendar math area...

*a large magnetic calendar set

*magnetic base ten counters

*a magnetic clock

*a number chart poster

*magnetic ten frames

*magnetic pattern blocks

*magnetic fraction circles/tiles

*display clips

*self-adhesive magnets

*the board I use is 48 x 48

In addition to the whole group calendar math time, I also incorporate some independent calendar math skills during our math small groups (and sometimes for morning work).

Each month I put together a Calendar Connection booklet for my students. These booklets are a great way to hold students accountable for the skills we cover during our calendar math time and provide lots of great review.

Our Calendar Connection booklets are also very flexible. I can make them as short or as long as I need. Skills in these booklets include work with calendars, completing number charts, skip counting, graphing, word problems, number representations, and more.  

If you are interested in incorporating a written component to your calendar math, click on the picture below to check out my Calendar Connection.

You can also click here for a FREE sampler of the Calendar Connection.

Calendar math is a perfect way to reinforce math skills. If you are looking to add calendar math to your routine or are just looking for inspiration to make a few updates. I hope the ideas here will help you as you look for ways to best help your young learners.

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A Peek at My First Week of School

The first week of school...

It's exciting.  It's nerve racking.  It's busy.  And boy, is it TIRING!

The first week (or three) are certainly not a normal picture of how things flow in the classroom during most of the year.  My main focus is helping students get comfortable with me, each other, and how we do things in class.  

While it's tempting to go ahead and dive into curriculum, I think it is really important to take plenty of time to teach your students routines and procedures that will follow them the rest of the year.

With that being said, here's a peek at some of what went on during the first days in our classroom.

I made little Welcome to 1st Grade goody bags, which I totally forgot to give out one first day.  So, my new firsties got their treats on the second day of school.  Oh well...

During the first few weeks of school, I do lots and lots of read alouds.  My young learners need breaks during the day.  Read alouds are a wonderful way to break up the time.  Plus, I love, love, love read alouds!

Two favorite books during the first week of school is Tad Hills' How Rocket Learned to Read and Rocket Writes a Story.  I used these stories to help introduce Read to Self and Work on Writing during our Daily 5 launch.

Speaking of the Daily 5, we spent loads of time working on Read to Self.  We usually start Read to Self on the first day.  But, this year, we started Read to Self on the second day.  To date we are at six minutes of sustained Read to Self.  We have more work ahead of us for sure.

As part of our launch, we continuously reference our Daily 5 I charts.  There is link to the free set of my Daily 5 I charts later in the post.

As part of the launch, I really love using my Daily 5 Trace and Read Mini Books.  These books reinforce the procedures we are working on in class.  Plus, students can work on them independently.

In math we began working on numbers to 120.  This week and next week, we will focus on number representations.  I made cut and glue bubble maps for students to show their understanding of ways to represent numbers to 20.

In addition to our practice with number representations, we also worked (as a whole group) on the first week of our Calendar Connection.  As the year goes on, the daily Calendar Connection activities will be independent.  But for now, students need guidance in how to correctly complete the tasks.

The back to school packet we used (pretty much) all week goes along Melanie Watt's book You're Finally Here!  My students love this book.  We did math and literacy activities inspired by You're Finally Here!  We also made cute You're Finally Here! bunnies to hang outside our classroom.

Even with all this craziness going on, I had to get started my beginning of the year assessments.  These assessments will take a few weeks to complete.  To be honest, the individual screenings are tough to fit in this time of the year.  But, they are really worth it.


Below are my lesson plans for the first week of school.  You can maybe get a better picture of how things fit together.  Click on the plans for a free copy or just to get a better view.

Here are links to some of the resources listed in the lesson plans:  Daily 5 Owl Themed I Charts, Daily 5 Trace and Read Mini Books, You're Finally Here! Math and Literacy Activities, Fun With Firsties (by Abby Mullins), Calendar Connection, and Student Data and Goals.

I'll leave you with one more resource that I stumbled upon this summer, Scholastic's 20 Back-To-School Tales.  This dvd has wonderful stories on it.  It is a life saver if you need a few minutes to turn in your lunch numbers or get a dismissal list in order.  Best of all I got it on Amazon for around $5.  (I know...pretty exciting;)!)

I guess that's about it.

If you are still on summer break, enjoy and know that many of us are totally jealous of you.  If you have started back to school, I hope you have a wonderful year.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Customize Your Class Calendar (Plus a Calendar Math FREEBIE)

Calendar area in my classroom has gone through so many different  revisions.  I'm always looking for a way to display materials in a cohesive and organized way.    My current calendar was inspired by the supremely creative Babbling Abby at The Inspired Apple.
Last year she posted a painted canvas calendar she was using in her home school classroom.  I loved the idea, so over Christmas break, I stocked up on canvases, black paint, and velcro and then went to work.  (My daughter loved it so much she helped me make a canvas calendar for her playroom).

To make a canvas calendar, paint your canvas any color(s) you would like.  Do a little measuring to create the lines.  Print and laminate your calendar pieces.  Then add velcro rounds to the back of the calendar pieces and the canvas.  You can also add mini clothes pins for additional display options.

 I decided to add additional components to my calendar area.  I created a 120 chart.  Of course, all of the numbers are attached with velcro which makes it is easy to remove them to do various 120 chart activities.

I used small goodie boxes to make holders for the number of days straws.  We track the number of days in each month on the tally canvas.  I found dry erase paper in the scrapbook paper section at Hobby Lobby.  I used the dry erase paper on the calendar (numerical date) and on the tally mark canvas.

 Two of the canvas serve as focus areas.  There is a math focus canvas and a reading focus canvas.  There is enough space for a couple of anchor charts on each canvas.  When the anchor charts come down, they go in binders that students can look through for review.

I use touch math with my students.  I have the touch numbers in my calendar area for easy reference.  If you are interested in a free set of these touch number posters, click here.

Some of the materials I use are not posted.  I keep a tote on the shelf under the calendar that holds additional calendar pieces, a model clock, demonstration coins, pointers, calendar instructions for a substitute, and more.

There you have it, the calendar set up in my classroom.  Using the canvases made it so simple to create a set of materials that all go together.  The canvases are light weight and easy to mount.  Since I'm using a bulletin board, I just used several thump tacks and a little hot glue to hang everything.  If you don't have one long bulletin board, I'm sure they would be just as easy to hang on other surfaces.
This project was well worth the effort.  I love that I have the flexibility to customize the display to best suit my students and to make it work in my space without looking too cluttery.

In addition to the classroom calendar area, my students also get independent practice with various calendar math skills using our monthly Calendar Connection booklets.  Each month students complete interactive printables covering calendars, counting, number representations, coins, time, graphing, word problems, place value, and more.  If you are interested in using my Calendar Connection packet with your own students, you can try it out with my Calendar Connection {A FREE Sampler}.  
The free sampler is a great snap shot of the full Calendar Connection.  You can find both packets at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Happy Monday!

A Peek Inside My Class and Two Freebies for Yours

Back to school means many things to teachers.  Probably at the top of our lists is organizing and putting together our classrooms.  I always want my room in decent shape before I can even think about planning.

It dawned on me that I've never really shared pics from my classroom.  Each year I do some tweaking, editing, and rearranging.  These pictures reflect where I am today.  I'll live with it and probably make changes.  But for now, this is what my class is looking like . . .

Here is my new (and hopefully improved) calendar.  I relocated it to my magnetic whiteboard.  The actual calendar is from Carson Dellosa.  I liked the black background to go along with the chalkboard calendar piece I created.  It had a zebra trim on it that I cut off to better go with my decor.  

I'm also using a simple calendar connections daily packet to supplement the skills that are not on display on the calendar wall.

If you would like a FREE copy of the chalkboard calendar pieces to use in your classroom, click here.  

I also made a new alphabet to display above my whiteboard.  The cards also have a chalkboard theme.   (A link is at the bottom of this post.)

I incorporated more chalkboard elements this year because of this chalkboard I found on sale at Pottery Barn Kids.  It's learning on the wall at the entrance to my room, near the students' mailboxes.  I plan on using it for a Star Student display later in the year.  The tote bag has my recess goodies in it.

Here is a shot of my desk.  I have a lot of shelves behind it.  My school is pretty old and there's no built in storage, plus there is a (let's just say) not so attractive curtain wall.  So I've lined this wall with shelving for much need storage and to block some of my view of the curtain.

I do quite a bit of instruction at my gathering area.  Here you'll always find a basket of books for read aloud.  There is also a basket of pillows students can use during The Daily 5.  

I do not have a Smartboard in my class (insert frowny face).  However, I do have an Apple TV.  We do any work with the Apple TV at the gathering area.  My easel is also in this space.

Currently student work and some math anchor charts are hanging on my one large bulletin board.  Under the board is many of our Daily 5 supplies.  On the far end, in the canvas totes, is the Word Work activities.  The center shelf houses the students' book boxes (Multi Purpose bins from the Container Store).  The closest shelf has old school cassette players, personal cd players, and books on cassette and cd for Listen to Reading.

This is my class library.  The books students choose for their book boxes are in the clear totes (also Multi Purpose bins from the Container Store).  The top totes hold some of my book sets from small group reading activities.

In efforts free up some floor space, I did some editing this year and now only have two computers.  It is really important to have plenty of floor space during The Daily 5, math centers, and literacy centers.  I tried to plan so that my firsties could spread out.

The quilt hanging behind the computers was the jumping off point for the colors in my classroom.  I've had it for several years and still enjoy it.

Below are a couple of whole class pictures.  As you can see, I try to keep things pretty simple.  My goal is for the space to feel welcoming, calm, and organized.

I guess that's the end of today's tour.  If you would like a FREE copy of my class alphabet, you can click on the picture below.

*You can also click here for a D'Nealian version of this same alphabet. :)

I'll leave you with a couple of pics from some recent big days for our little family.

My daughter started first grade this year.  She is again blessed with a wonderful teacher.  

She turned 7 this week too.  We celebrated with a Fancy Nancy themed birthday party.  It was super glam and so fun.

I suppose that's it for now.  If you are still on summer break, enjoy.  If you are back to school already, best of luck with your year.
Thanks for stopping by.

Calendar, Group, and Library OH MY! (Let's Get Acquainted Linky Party)

I'm really excited about Flying Into First Grade's Let's Get Acquainted Linky topic.  It is:

My Classroom (Share Three Favorite Areas)

I really love seeing picture of other classrooms.  I always get so many ideas.  I like really organized spaces that emphasize function.  Below you will find three areas that get a lot of use in my first grade classroom.

Number 1-Calendar

Number 2-Group Area

Number 3-Class Library

Real estate is at a premium in the classroom.  These three spaces certainly earn their keep.  Now head on over to Flying Into First to take a peek at some other classrooms.