Morning Calendar is one of the most fun times in the classroom, isn't it? Especially, when you keep it interactive. Anytime children get the chance to be a part of the action, they have a blast and the learning skyrockets.
Just because I'm now homeschooling rather than teaching in a traditional classroom, does not mean I want my kids (or me) to miss out on this fun! But...we have a small space. Our open kitchen and living room with a built-in computer desk, is our classroom. I've limited myself to one wall of that area (ONE!) for our educational bulletin board. So, come into my house, and take a close peek at how we use our wall space, fit in our Morning Calendar, listen to some of our Morning Songs, and take a peek at some freebie links to Morning Calendar follow-up ideas.
Because our area is limited, I have to make strategic decisions about what I find the most necessary items to include for my kids' ages and abilities. I have one in preschool, one in Kindergarten and one in 2nd grade. This means one of my first priorities is our Alphabet Cards.
Our Alphabet Cards are colorful, but my favorite thing about them is the way they are designed as if they are on a piece of ground. Letters resting on ground is a helpful way to show explain to kids how some of lowercase letters go "underground", (or under the mid-line) as they do when they are written.
If you're teaching in a classroom setting, a "Morning Song" is a great way to let kids know it is time to gather around for Calendar Time. YouTube's "Super Simple Songs" has a repertoire of Morning Songs that are great for this use. Here's an example:
When I taught in the traditional classroom setting, I had a variety of morning songs I pulled from. Students knew that by the time the song ended, they were expected to be sitting in their places, ready to go. It was a fabulous way to get their routines started for the day.
My actual bulletin board is 22" x 34". That's a SMALL bulletin board. And the first thing I needed to go up on that bulletin board was our Calendar. I use our monthly Calendar for teaching patterns and going over our numbers, daily. Repetition being so helpful for little ones, this is recommended, and teaching them numbers and patterns in conjunction with "Today's date", makes it all very relevant to children.
This Calendar is designed to be interactive for children. Some of the interactions are daily, and some will move seasonally or monthly. For instance, my daughter was able to easily turn the arrow that pins into an image of a sun when we rolled over into September.
Likewise, she will only turn the seasonal arrow again when we move into Fall. This way she will learn that the months and seasons are like a rotating wheel, directed by our own sun. But let's look closer at the items she gets to interact with daily.
First, she daily changes the days on our "Day of the Week Rainbow". A VERY fun song to accompany this rainbow to help learn the days, is seen here, posted by KidsTV123:
How perfect is that?
My five year old considers herself quite the pro at both of these already, and she loves the ownership of being able to change them herself.
I decided to create a great many numbers in varying colors so that I can create my own patterns for her. In fact, there is no end to patterns I can create and the complexity can increase as we go.
This set (Numbers and Tags, Set 1) is available in our store. I've been having quite the Bohemian design spree recently, so after completing this set, I went ahead and designed a second one, because when jumping into Boho styles, you simply can't have enough variety of color and patterns!
So, now I get to show off our other set, (Numbers and Tags, Set 2), which is also up and available.
The last thing I want to share today is another freebie. After completing the Calendar together, send your students back to their desk with an opportunity to try out their skills on their own:
And if you have songs or additional fun Calendar Activities you'd like to share, please do so in the comments! We love trying out new things!
2 comments:
I love your alphabet wall! What a great idea to show the letters on the ground to help with the parts of the letters that fall under the line (under ground). Your kids must love helping you with the calendar. The interactive features are awesome!
Thank you so much. You know what, I love that "ground" feature, too! It has been incredibly helpful in correcting the writing of floating letters in beginner writers. :)
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