The first grade standard for calendars has students identifying months, days of the week, yesterday and today etc. That's quite a lot! There are many activities you can do to help your students grasp these ideas but one really important one is having a calendar in your classroom! Below I've outlined a sample of "calendar time" in a first grade class.
Objective: Students will identify the calendar date, weather, and day of the week.
Materials:
Activity
Choose Two students helpers.
Have students come to the front of the class. Have one students helper begin with "yesterday was...." , "today is......." "tomorrow will be...." Then, once you have written it on the board, have students read out the date. i.e. April 23rd, 2014.
On your large pocket calendar put the correct date (this could be a good opportunity to practice patterns as well).
With your student helpers leading, have the class use the ten frames to count to the current date. i.e. If it is 120 have the students count to 120 by tens.
Next, have students count to the current day using tally marks you have written on the board. The student helpers and class should count by fives using the tally marks.
Lastly, have students decide what the weather is like, post pictures of the weather on the dry erase board.
*This activity is a great daily one because not only does it focus on important calendar vocabularly but students also practice patterns and counting by 5s and 10s.
Assessment
You should evaluate students correctly skip counting as well as labeling the days of the week. Make sure to use different helpers every day in order to asses each student individually for understanding.
References:
Ms. Coulter's first grade classroom: Pinchbeck Elementary
Objective: Students will identify the calendar date, weather, and day of the week.
Materials:
- Large pocket calendar
- Large Laminated days of the week
- Weather chart or pictures
- Dry Erase Board
- Ten frames
Activity
Choose Two students helpers.
Have students come to the front of the class. Have one students helper begin with "yesterday was...." , "today is......." "tomorrow will be...." Then, once you have written it on the board, have students read out the date. i.e. April 23rd, 2014.
On your large pocket calendar put the correct date (this could be a good opportunity to practice patterns as well).
With your student helpers leading, have the class use the ten frames to count to the current date. i.e. If it is 120 have the students count to 120 by tens.
Next, have students count to the current day using tally marks you have written on the board. The student helpers and class should count by fives using the tally marks.
Lastly, have students decide what the weather is like, post pictures of the weather on the dry erase board.
*This activity is a great daily one because not only does it focus on important calendar vocabularly but students also practice patterns and counting by 5s and 10s.
Assessment
You should evaluate students correctly skip counting as well as labeling the days of the week. Make sure to use different helpers every day in order to asses each student individually for understanding.
References:
Ms. Coulter's first grade classroom: Pinchbeck Elementary