What if we told you there was a simple classroom routine you could do every day that would reinforce the basic math and literacy skills your students need to succeed? The answer is right in front of your classroom – the calendar! Having a basic calendar routine is a great, predictable way to start your school day. Let’s take a look at a sample calendar routine with our Classroom Setup Pack Calendar!
Calendar Skills for 1st and 2nd Grade
The daily calendar routine reinforces math skills for 1st and 2nd grade, such as:
Daily Calendar Routine for 1st and 2nd Grade
Get Prepped!
Print and prep your classroom wall calendar. This classroom calendar set is editable and customizable, and perfect for young learners. And don’t forget to print a student calendar page for each month. This easy-to-print calendar page makes it possible for students to record the date, weather, and events of the day, all on one page!
Calendar Helper Class Job
A calendar routine is an easy way to begin your day, and warm up your 1st and 2nd graders for a fun day of learning! At the beginning of the year, it’s important to model what is expected at calendar time. The teacher can lead the calendar routine to start. Once students have got the hang of the routine, assign the classroom job of Calendar Helper (students LOVE this job!). At each calendar time, the helper will identify:
The easy-to-print calendar tags from our bundle can be moved to match the correct date and day. Some teachers like to put all the numbers on the calendar at the beginning of the month. Some like to build the dates as they go. There’s no right or wrong way to do it! The calendar helper should recite all of the calendar information in complete sentences. For example: “Today is Monday, June 20, 2022. Yesterday was Sunday. Today is Monday. Tomorrow will be Tuesday.” Calendar time is a fun, low-pressure way for students to gain experience reading and speaking in front of a group.
Essential Math Skill #1: Identifying and writing 1, 2, and 3 digit numbers
Essential Math Skill #2: Sequencing
Essential Math Skill #3: Place Value
Number of School Days
Calendar time can reinforce students’ understanding of place value. Doing a daily check-in of how many days we have been in school is always a class favorite! Use the daily flip chart in the class calendar pack, or include math manipulatives to show ones, tens, and hundreds. (For more tips on how to teach place value, check out this post).
Special Events
If there is a special event or holiday happening this month, point it out on the calendar. You can even do a class countdown until that special day!
Essential Math Skill #4: Interpreting Data
Weather Report
One of the favorite classroom helper jobs, besides calendar helper, is weather reporter! Each morning, the weather reporter of the day will observe the weather and share it with the class. This is a great way for students to practice observational skills, as well as speaking in front of their peers. Students can record the weather on their calendar with a simple drawing (sun, cloud, rain, snowflake, etc). At the end of the month, students can analyze the weather data they have collected. How many days of the month were sunny? How many days were rainy? Record the data on a chart. This is also a great way to discuss fractions and percentages!
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Morning Routines
A calendar routine is a great way to start your day or morning meeting. For more ideas on how to effectively use morning meetings in your classroom, check out these blog posts:
Thank you! I have been a Title teacher and finally get a chance to be in a first grade classroom!
Planning classroom routines and layout will be very helpful! I’d love to start out with a simple organized system of observational notes, structure of a SeeSaw newsletter, seasonal nature focus, local field trip guidelines, realistic academic & social goals, team building, growth mindset , etc. I promised myself to “vacation” one more week, but LLL looks like a great source of information and tools!