Mrs. Cobb's Kinder Sprouts: Calendar Dilemma, Upcoming Giveaway!

Calendar Dilemma, Upcoming Giveaway!

Labels: giveaways to share, math - Monday, July 9, 2012

Kindergarten Calendar with Common Core?? Help! (Oh, and there is a giveaway coming out of this dilemma...)

In the coming school year, my state is adopting the Common Core standards - woohoo! I am very excited to be teaching the same standards so many others across the country are! A perk of that is that you can help me - because I bet some of you are or were confused, too! Haha!
As a Kindergarten teacher, "calendar time" is a part of each day. I have been teaching for two years now and am still trying to figure out the best way to use that time.

Things I KNOW I want:

Now that I don't have to get the kids to name the months, days of the week, and seasons - my goal for calendar time will be to review an assortment of math standards, in relation to the calendar, current events, etc. I'd like to focus on number sense, especially since we will do Number Talks

right after Calendar. These are awesome and perfectly outlined for you. I am so thankful my district did PD on this book. I have actually considered not even calling it calendar time - and rename it something like "Number Talk" after the book (I'm so creative - lol!)I'd also like to have graphing every day - both weather and a fun different question every week -I got questions from Kelly's Kindergarten! Another idea I like is a clothesline to do number lines, patterning, or whatever the class needs some practice with. That could be used during other parts of the math block too.

Under Consideration...Calendar Books!

I have tried calendar notebooks, too. Mine were based on the free stuff Shari Sloane has here: Calendar Book (she has a bundle for sale then individual pages if you scroll on down). I actually wrote a DonorsChoose project to get a class set of nice, durable binders for the kids to use - they held up great and were a good, firm writing surface. I did have a few kids who were so clumsy they would rip pages out, but this time around I am splurging on white construction paper to copy the pages on. Maybe that will help. ______________________________________________________________
On a side note - I have a donors choose project up right now for a new carpet-

I need an upgrade for the sake of classroom management! Carpets are really dang expensive though! So if you're feeling generous and supportive...keep me in mind.______________________________________________________________
There are a couple TPT calendar book products I have on my wishlist too -

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-Calendar-Bundle

This is from Growing Kinders - being so new I think it would help me meet my goal of doing lots of common core math, the only issue is that I would have to make a LOT of copies or do dry erase which...no. Not happening.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Student-Calendar-Notebook

This is from Kim Adsit in collaboration with Shari Sloane. Kim's Websites: http://www.adsit.net/default.php?Submit=Photo_Gallery&Menu=Math&SubMenu=Calendar, http://kindergals.blogspot.com/It seems to be like what I used from Shari before, with more info on implementing! Could be good - but is it $20 good?? Ahh!
I just can't decide without looking at them in their entirety which one I would like. :(

There are just so many possibilities - but I want to develop something very structured and well planned. That is why the calendar books are so appealing. I am just limited on how many copies I have at school- really really limited! Another toss-up - do it all on the interactive board, or all on my bulletin board - or mix?? What should I include as the year goes along? What are you going to do next year??

If you have suggestions - let me know! When I get this figured out, there will be a big reveal post of what I decide to do. :) I will give one lucky reader who both
1. gives me tips on this post and,2. then sticks around to comment on the next post on this topic too...

a $10 TPT gift certificate to buy whatever has been residing on your wishlist!!

I'll do the drawing from the next post of what I finally decide to do, and if I pull your name on that, I will come back to this post and make sure you were awesome and gave me some pointers here! So make sure you comment here, now, before I make up my mind and post what I decide to do! I LOVE comments!
Thanks for visiting my blog!
-Mrs. Cobb

11 comments:

Unknown said...: I like having a board (then kids can refer back to it throughout the day). Here is a post you might like to give some ideas: http://mrslambsclass.blogspot.com/2012/07/monday-made-it-freebie-midweek-edition.html

Hope that helps!
Jennifer
First Grade Blue Skies; July 11, 2012 at 10:01 AM
Carol said...: Thanks Jennifer - that's a good point about having it there for the kids to refer to! Thanks for the link to check out! :); July 11, 2012 at 10:04 AM
Heather Shelton said...: I have the Kim Adsit's Calendar Notebook. I waited till it was on sale and got it. I do love it but have adapted it to fit more things I wanted to do.
higgystyx@yahoo.com
Mrs. Shelton's Kindergarten; July 11, 2012 at 10:14 AM
Carol said...: Hi Heather! Was it pretty easy to adapt? I wish wish wish I could get it on sale! Thanks for stopping by!; July 11, 2012 at 10:21 AM
Kimberlee Fulbright said...: have not checked out those resources, but I am making a calendar set soon, which will be {FREE}, so you are welcome to check back soon on my blog - I am super excited about Number Talks as well:) Our academic coach introduced me to it, but I have NO clue really where to begin. I need to watch the video that accompanies the book. We are not having a 'Calendar time' either, but I will be having a math journal time instead to incorporate some standards & Number Talks. cannot wait to see how it goes:)

~ Kimberlee ~

Two Fulbright Hugs; July 11, 2012 at 3:08 PM
Kathleen said...: Kim and Shari's calendar pack is definitely worth the $20. They really explain how to take calendar to the "next level." Whatever calendar book you decide to do, there will be some copying. Do you need to have the kids write in their books everyday? Not necessarily (esp. if you are on a paper budget). In my packet, you would only copy the amount of days that you are in school. So, for example, for the month of September, you would only be in school for maybe 20 days. So each child's packet would be 20 pages long. If your school limits copies, it might be an issue, but I would think you could justify it since the kids are doing meaningful work every day. Kim and Shari's packet does have less pages (you might choose to do just the calendar, weather, and days in school pages), so if copying is an issue that might be a better option for you.; July 13, 2012 at 11:21 PM
Faye's Busy Bees said...: I would love to have one of the calendar to shre with my students. Thanks for telling me about the kim and sharis packet because in my school we do have limited copies. But I would also love to have one of your calendar in case some of my students parent help me with the coping. thanks again.
Fae's busy bees
asfaye1@gmail.com; July 14, 2012 at 2:33 AM
Mrs. Brown said...: I have the Lakeshore Calendar-blue one. I am in a delimma as well-not sure if I need to keep it since the county wants our calendar to be done on the Smartboard and it takes up lots of space. I am so glad you asked this!

kellybrown28021@gmail.com; July 15, 2012 at 5:10 PM
Marlana said...: I'm going to be the crazy one that doesn't make students have accountability pages to work on during calendar time, but I think I can handle it. :) I truly believe that the things you put up on the calendar need to be posted for students to see, not just on the SmartBoard. Our calendar routine reinforces structure, helps with transitions, daily schedules and has so much information available at a glance for students.

We began using CCSS last year and we still incorporate days of the week, months of the year, and everything we did before, plus a little more. There are so many literacy, science and social studies opportunities to incorporate during calendar time that it's not just calendar math anymore.

Blessings,
Marlana
marlanajill{at}yahoo.com
Lil' Country Kindergarten
Kindergarten Network; July 16, 2012 at 11:52 PM
Unknown said...: I purchased the Kim Adsit-Shari Sloane calendar packet in the spring. I haven't actually used it yet, but plan to this fall. I'm really looking forward to it. I bought it at a conference, so I did see it before purchasing it. One thing I thought it would help is the fidgeting during calendar time....with holding the binder and the pencil/crayon, the children might actually sit long enough to learn! Here's hoping!; July 22, 2012 at 10:07 AM
Rachel said...: Haven't used the Calendar pack that I purchased from The First Grade Parade but will in this coming school year. Students do need Daily Reminders as to what day do the week it is and what the date is. I do this on my bulletin board since I do not have an interactive whiteboard.

rmariemuniz@hotmail.com; July 26, 2012 at 3:13 AM