Sunday, April 14, 2013

Calendar Practice - They still need it!

I'll admit that I thought my students had a pretty good grasp of basic calendar skills.  After all, they've had daily calendar activities as a part of their daily routine since preschool, and we even spent the first trimester in second grade doing daily calendar activities as well.  I guess I just made the mistake of assuming that they knew more than they did.  So when our last benchmark test rolled around, I didn't think they would have a problem answering a few questions about monthly and yearly calendars.  Boy, was I wrong.  Sample Question:  "About how many days are in one month?"  Average student answer:  "SEVEN!"  Sample Question:  "How many months are in a year?"  Average student answer:  "SEVEN!"  And finally, Sample Question:  "How many weeks in one year?"  Average student answer:  "SEVEN!"  Are you seeing a pattern here?  Okay, I did have a handful of students who did very well on the benchmark test, but there were too many of them who are obviously still confused about days, months, weeks, and how they are all related to one year in the concept of time.  I noticed that many of them kept answering "SEVEN" because they know that there are seven days in a week.  Beyond that, there's still a lot of confusion.

My second grade team and I sat down the other day and started discussing things that we're doing in our own classrooms that are working.  One of my coworkers shared this fabulous idea (thanks Denise!) for monthly calendar practice from one of our math workbooks that she's been doing with her students each month.  I decided to make my own version and adjusted some of the questions, but you can grab it here:

Here's what it looks like:


















































I am so excited to get started on these with my students.  I'm planning on copying a ream of these little gems front and back and having them ready to go in my paper drawer!  I love it when I find a great new resource to add to my routine!  Hope it can help you, too!



3 comments:

  1. Such a great idea! I also teach 2nd grade and we work on calendar every morning on the Promethean Board. I am surprised how many still struggle with the basics. I have just downloaded your activity and can't wait to try it out!
    Thanks,
    Jennifer
    Love Teaching Kids

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  2. Jennifer - thank you so much for stopping by! I'm so glad you liked the calendar activity. Let me know how it goes!

    Samantha :)

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  3. I've often wondered if the trouble kids have with calendar, time,a nd money are really because they just aren't important to them. Time isn't as relevant for them as it is for us so they have more difficulty with it. I like your ideas.


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