Two years ago I decided to make a change to my calendar time. It was scary territory and I invited you along for the adventure. What prompted this change? It was about the same time that I started teaching the majority of my day in small groups.
I decided to integrate calendar binders for four main reasons.
- So that my kinders will remain engaged
- So that my kinders will participate at a new level
- So that my “doer” kinders and my visual kinders will be able to draw on their strengths
- So that I know I am doing my best to meet the needs of all my kinders and challenge them at the same time
I began slowly my first year, and didn’t start until February. Then I started in August my second year. I learned to just roll out the parts slowly, setting the ground rules along the way.
Setting the ground rules sounds a little bit like. “What will you be writing, while I’m writing?” “How will you sit with your binder?”
I’ve found that for me, that the “calendar routine” is an outdated way of teaching today’s kindergarten. {totally just my opinion} Doing the exact same thing everyday becomes unnecessary.
They grow, so should calendar time.
Calendar time has now become my whole group math time. Students have a set of pages in their binders, matching the general level of students and our common core standards for the quarter.
Setting Up Binders
I like to use a set of sturdy dividers so I can break up the sheets we place into the binders and it also helps with switching categories (like from decomposing to weather) for students. I also recommend using sheet protectors in place of laminating.
The pages are in sheet protectors since they can use them daily with dry erase markers, make mistakes and they are easy to pass out/collect when we’ve outgrown them.
They can follow along with your matching calendar wall, or you can put your own teacher calendar binder under a document camera. I did it both ways! (I began before we had an ounce of technology in my classroom)
Hitting Standards
We do have a monthly calendar page that doesn’t go in a page protector. They color a pattern and fill in the date.
Students grow from watching me step by step to doing this portion of the calendar practically by themselves.
There comes a point when I’m just checking in asking students to explain their thinking and discussing strategies for figuring things out.
This is about as “calendar-ish” as the time we have our binders out gets for us.
Then we dive into practicing other math standards, focusing on number sense, composing/decomposing and operations.
We use ten frames to discuss numbers, pull a number from our hundreds chart (but start with 11-19 to match our standards) and compose/decompose those numbers by first adding quick dots to create the number using ten frames with a marker and then writing about the groups of tens and ones.
This is a daily activity that grows from making to composing/decomposing with words, pictures and equations. I’ve made at least 3 pages to work on this concept and grow through it.
We work on fluency for addition and subtraction, do word problem solving, handwriting, subitizing and having the materials all ready to go offers me variety in what I teach. I am able to give lots of time for students to show their thinking and also explain it to others.
Any day I can pick up number cards or dot cards and we can use them to practice our skills but in a fun new way.
With new life breathed into my “calendar” {ahem whole group math} time and having met my four goals better this is a classroom activity that’s going to stay on my agenda.
Calendar Binder Time Tips
Here are my top tips that have made doing calendar binders in kindergarten successful. They are simple, but took me a little while to figure out.
- Kinders need to have a dry erase marker and sock {eraser} in their pencil boxes to bring to the floor.
- Space to spread out makes this time more relaxed.
- Edifying strategies and thought process helps others try similar strategies.
- Don’t be afraid to change it up!
- Sheet protectors are way easier and hold up longer than lamination. Also easier to replace.
Get the Calendar Binder Math Pages
It was brave new territory, but I’m glad I took the adventure! You won’t find me ever going back to teaching the calendar the old school way.
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This looks great!
I was in a 1st grade class earlier this week that each had their own binders. Except the teacher has them do it at their desks and I did nothing! They did their hundreds chart, added the days in school, did tally marks, wrote the day in the calendar…it was amazing!
WOW, I started doing this the very beginning of the year, after attending the K conference in Las Vegas!! I was SOOOO ready to go forward with this!! My Kindergarteners?…..Not so much!!!…They were CONSTANTLY flipping pages, never on the right page etc. I feel like maybe this is the time I should (shutter) try again? I don’t know, my toe is still DRY!! LOL!!
I love this! My whole team uses an interactive calendar. We all laminated ours and then bound the pages together. I know it tooks our aides for.ev.er BUT we use them every single day and the kids really benefit a lot from them for sure! Yours is way cuter and I like parts of it better too, but this is definitely a great skill reinforcer!!
Oh yes! Our calendar time needs to be more interactive and this is the perfect solution. I will definitely use this and my kindergartners will thank you!
Leslie,
I jumped into this same pool for the first time in the fall with my K/1 combination. BUT I drowned. (Insert very sad face.) I read all about other calendar binders that teachers had and created my own. But it drove me nuts having students flip to different pages in their binders and we seemed to be spending too much time getting on the right page. (I must confess I am easily driven nuts.) Then I created a new type of page that was based on that date so that each day the students would just work on one page. So on that page the students had to write the date, create equations using the date, write the date in tally marks, etc. We used that type of page for awhile, but I still felt like it was taking too much time.
But now I am wondering if I just started too soon. Maybe I should look at my one page and see if it is doable now. You have inspired me!!!! Like always!!!!
Camille
An Open Door
Thanks Camille for your honest feedback! I have heard that some people wait until mid-year to start these, so I figured there was no harm in at least trying at this point. I am considering how much time it may take flipping pages, and am going to stay on top of watching that. Thanks for letting me know what to watch out for based on your experience!
Our daily calendar work is the same thing over.and.over.and.over again. Bores the heck out of me, but my kiddos seem to like it! haha! Also, see if you can review a now!board…I’ve seen a few bloggers review it and it could work as your projector!
You made me laugh! I used to have my kinders teach the calendar since they could do it verbatim! I loved this part of the day becuase I get so much out of watching them teach others. Okay, but then I changed to doing guided math… and I needed like 20 mins. of my day back. I may have just given it up again… we’ll see how fast I can move this train! I think I would love a new now!board… they sound super cool and just what I need!
Thank you – I especially like the 100 chart and daily number!
Thanks Alicia! I was just reading about the first grade composing/decomposing numbers and this runs into theirs, but some of my kinders are ready for it and I think that modeling different numbers in the tens place helps them really establish WHY on the numbers that they have to know! Thanks for sharing your feedback1
Leslie!! I LOVE this!! This is perfect for Audrey:) They are beautiful, just like everything else you do!!
Thanks Annie! I just realized that you might run out of sunny spaces! Man, and I just realized that 3/4 of the weather that I put in for mine…. is really rather crummy weather. Oh well – that’s Indiana weather! Hope they work great for Audrey!
Love this! It is great to change things up sometimes!
Jennifer
First Grade Blue SKies
Thanks Jennifer – yes! It seems I am undertaking quite a bit of change and my kinders are handling it pretty well. With the new CCS, I’m really having to find new ways to challenge them once they have my “old ways” of doing things mastered!