Calendar Math

When I taught first and second grades, I loved doing calendar! It was predictable, it was repetitive, and it was wonderful! Students got so much out of it...it was a daily routine, and after a while, they almost didn't need me there! I chose a leader each day, and they knew exactly what to do.

Since I have been teaching third grade, I have always had a calendar up in the room, but we don't really "do calendar."  So, I thought I'd try it this year. At the beginning of the year, we are going to start out really simple.  I will have a worksheet that they will work on when they come in each morning, and the number of the day will just be the number of days we have been in school.  Click on the image below to download the worksheet.

For money, students will try to come up with different ways to make the number, and I will have them demonstrate on the board with magnetic coins/bills.  For multiplication, I plan on introducing a lot of vocabulary...arrays, factors, product, multiples, etc.  We will write all of the different ways to make the number using multiplication on sticky notes and display them on the board. I really think this is going to make a huge difference when we actually get to the multiplication chapters in the book.

I struggled with starting off with such simple numbers...just 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 the first week.  But, I want to see how much they already know.  If it is too easy, I will adjust accordingly.  I may start adding a larger number based on the date (For August 5, 2013, I could make the number 8,513.)  Again, this is the beginning of the year, and we will see how it goes.

Do you do calendar with upper grades? I'd love to hear some ideas!

~EJ