In this post, I want to share with you the things I know to be truly helpful to students in understanding the passing of time as it relates to the calendar. And in time, they will begin to “get it” toward the end of the year. Kindergarten students, especially, do not make connections until in the spring. However, what they CAN do is sing and chant rhymes and songs that teach the days of the week and the months of the year all year long.
This repetition comes into play in kindergarten more than any other grade. It is how they are wired at the age of five or six.
My No. 1 Go-To site is Harry Kindergarten’s Youtube Channel. Pete Harry is a K teacher who happens to have a real knack for writing catchy tunes and chant-type songs that make
kinder kids wild with excitement! Here is a sample of his calendar-related music:
And it would just be WRONG of me not to mention his brand new…get ready for it…Sight Word Song! It repeats twice for each word, and the little children’s voices are so cute!
You can also get a nice online interactive practice in with Starfall.com’s calendar! http://www.starfall.com/n/holiday/calendar/play.htm?f
The calendar auto prompts kids to chant the days of the week, asks them questions about what should be included in the calendar, emphasizes today’s date, and more!
Another one of my MOST favorite sites is http://turtlediary.com This site is amazing! And not just calendar games are featured! It’s incredible! The Days of the Week game teaches the calendar concepts, then moves on to various games to practice skills. I really love the lily pad game where students are asked to find the day that comes after Friday, or the day that comes before Sunday, etc. I will use this as a whole class activity every day all year. Remember…REPETITION makes the kindergarten world go ’round.
For a limited time, school teachers can join turtlediaries.com for unlimited access to the site. Just go to this page to register using your school email address. Here is the link:
https://join.turtlediary.com/?page=join&mType=member-free&teacher=1
This site reminds me of http://abcmouse.com, also free to classrooms!
In addition to the sites I have mentioned, I would love to highlight the Leap Frog Series!
I own the Let’s Go to School video, which I have used parts of for three years! I love the calendar song, but also love all of the songs since they highlight all of the kindergarten readiness set that we want our kiddos to have knowledge of upon entering our classrooms! Check out the Leap Frog series! Another favorite (which I loaned to my grandson), is Numbers Ahoy! My kids love the Fish in the Sea song!
And now, for a shameless plug! I too have a calendar song :). Back in 2002 I wrote and recorded this with my Roland KR75, a sixteen channel mixer, and the old Cakewalk Pro9 music editing software. Believe it or not, the equpment is still just as good as it was years ago, and someday I hope to record more of my children’s music. This song is in use in tons of classrooms across the country! You can use it for free by way of this silly video, or you can get a copy at
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/7-Day-Cha-Cha-Cha-Days-of-the-Week-Song-18129
Now that you have helped your kids to acquire all of the awesome calendar skills, you really need to have them practicing calendar on paper every day too! Building comprehension…that’s the name of the game! To help with this, the following products are available in my store:
My new Let’s Learn the Months of the Year set has read, write, spell, and relate activities for each month as well as my “famous” monthly mini-books with cute djinkers.com clip art! These activities are great for introducing each month name through the year.
If you don’t use daily calendar journals, and you don’t want to take up a lot of time with calendar, but want to include it (many standardized tests have calendar questions for kindergarten), here is my different take on calendar time:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Calendar-Journals-with-Week-at-a-Time-View-766138
So, there you have it! My Favorite Calendar Time things!!! Here is just one more favorite of mine:
My friend Jeannie has put together the entire year of calendar headers, numbers, and other elements for the entire year! Click on the pic to view her calendar set! It’s huge!!!
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