Build a Better Calendar Routine (and a freebie!)

We have a new math program this year and it has a calendar component. I really like it but I will be honest, I haven't implemented all of it. There is a lot in the first year of a new program and that's ok...I will get to more of it next year. Don't know why I feel the need to come clean with that but I do!  

That's not the point of this post. What I really want to share is the awesome 100's chart that we created together from the calendar component. This is part of Everyday Counts from the Math in Focus curriculum. 

We started at the beginning of the year recording each day of school. It was a slow process! Each day was on a new color sticky note. Every time we finished a group of 10 we started all over again. We used this in our calendar routine to count every single day. 

Every. Single. Day. 

If you aren't familiar with a solid calendar routine this is a key component. It is really easy to want to skip these simple steps each day but let me tell you...it makes a huge difference! We use this every day to count to the number of the day (which leads to great number talks), count backwards, count by twos-fives-tens, and just about everything you can imagine! 

Each square is glued to a strip of accounting tape...that is important to know for later. 

We were SUPER excited to get to the 100th day! We had a huge celebration and I felt like we were at the end of a journey. The goal is to count to 100 in kindergarten. We made it! 
Success right? 
Well...no. I was quickly put back into my place when I had a guest teacher come in and teach a lesson. She asked my kids a simple question....what comes next? 
If you keep counting what comes next? 
What if you count by 10's? 
Ummm......crickets. Well, not really. Some shouted out the right answer right away but the majority of the class didn't know. I knew I needed to make a change and step it up a bit. 

Remember the strips accounting tape? I knew we needed to "keep going" with our counting but I knew I wouldn't have room to get all the way to 180 (our last day of school). I decided to reimagine what we had on the wall so we could count even higher. 

How about a number line? We are moving into comparing numbers so a number line will be so visual for that. Yes! I asked my trainer what she thought and she agreed it was a great transition. I have always used a store bought hundreds chart with fillable pockets and this would never be possible with one of those so I had never even considered it. 

The best part of this was we came up with the solution as a class. I asked them what we could do to "keep going". I posed the problem that if we keep adding stickies we would run out of room on the board. They actually came up with the idea to put it all the way across a wall. We put a few lines together and I made sure they knew where each new line should go (11 after the 10....21 after the 20...). The next day they came in to a beautiful number line stretched all along the top of our wall! 

Now what? 
We keep going! 

We have new strips on our board that we use during calendar to "keep going". It is a much more visual way for them to see the pattern that continues after 100. I am really excited about this and so are they! We will add these to the number line (if I can reach that far!) as we go along. It should keep things interesting reaching up to 180!

How did I stick it to the brick wall? This is a HUGE problem in my room because I have all brick walls. I just figured out that HOT GLUE is the way to go. It sticks and doesn't fall down and when it is time to take it off it just peels right off. That is my favorite new classroom hack! 

That's that. Such a simple little change but I really think it will step up our calendar routine for the second half of the year. 

Here is another little routine I have put into place now that we have reached all the way to 100. I am using these 100 charts to hand out during calendar and students have them right in front of them to count and point. We count by 1's on Monday, 2's on Tuesdays, 5's on Wednesdays, 10's on Thursdays, and backwards from 20 on Fridays. Gotta keep it fresh! 

Here is a freebie for you if you want a clean new 100's chart :) 

That's all I have tonight. I have been very absent from blogging and it feels good to share a few things tonight. I guess I just needed something to be excited about! Have a great week teaching! 

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