Calendar Time Routine

Using a daily calendar time routine is a fantastic way to build math skills.  Students practice counting, making patterns, ordering numbers, and so much more. This happens every day and only takes about 10-15 minutes!

A calendar routine can have many different components, depending on how much time you have. Here are some great calendar time activities your students will enjoy.

Date and Digital Day

Talk about and write out the day and date in words. “Today is Monday, October 18, 2021.” Then write the digital date using only numbers. 10/18/2021

Days of the Week

Review the days of the week. Talk about today, yesterday, and tomorrow. “Today is Monday. Yesterday was Sunday. Tomorrow will be Tuesday.”

I love using rhymes or songs to teach. Here is a short days of the week song to use during your calendar time. You can sing it to the tune of “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”.

Months and Seasons 

Say the current month and season. One day a week practice listing all the months. On another day, focus on the seasons.

Holidays and Events 

You can highlight holidays, events, and other special days. You can count the number of days until a big event. My students LOVE counting the number of days until their birthdays.

Counting Days

Count to the day of the month. Have a student helper point to each number as you count. As the year progresses, you can skip count by twos or fives.

Days in School

Count and record the number of days in school. This helps reinforce the idea of adding one more. You can make daily tallies, use a place value chart, or even add stickers to a set of ten frame posters. It’s exciting to watch the total grow! It’s also fun to have a big celebration when you get to the 100th Day of School.

Number of the Day

Choose a number to focus on. It could be the day of the month, the number of days in school, or any number you like. Students can show that number in different ways. You could use tally marks, ten frames, a place value chart, coins, base ten blocks, etc. They can also decide if it is odd or even.

Finding Patterns 

Calendar time offers many opportunities to practice patterns. The cycle of days, months, and seasons are all patterns. You can also create patterns with your calendar numbers. Many calendar sets use different colors and pictures to create patterns. The cards can be added each day and students can decide what comes next in the pattern.

These printable calendar number cards come with 3 full sets of numbers for each month. Use the different designs to create an AB, ABB, or ABC pattern.

Calendar Journal

You can use a daily calendar journal where students can record information from calendar time. This journal has a place to record the date in both words and numbers. Students write the day of the week and trace the pre-filled month.

They write the number of the day, determine if it is odd or even. There is a box for students to show the number of the day. They can use pictures, tally marks, base tens, or whatever way you choose.

Students then color and circle the season. There is also a box for recording the weather. Students circle the weather word and draw a picture of today’s weather.

This journal set also has prefilled calendar pages with traceable numbers. Each day, students trace the new number.

Get a complete year’s worth of calendar journal pages for free.

Download these Free Calendar Journal Pages to use in your daily calendar routine.

Conclusion

Calendar time is wonderful daily activity for your class. The routine provides consistent practice for a variety of math skills. Plus, it’s all done in a fun and interactive way!