The Calendar Book

This is not a game, but a daily activity that can be done whole group.  The children have their own calendar books that they fill in as you update the class calendar.  The Calendar Book can have as few or as many pages in it as you like.  The general idea is that it starts out simple near the beginning of the year, and then you add a new component (or page to do) each month.  Of course, the more components you add to it, the longer it takes a class to complete it.  So you can "tweak it" to make it last as long as you want it to last.  Usually, a calendar book contains (at least) a copy of the monthly calendar, to which the children add the date.  Then after that, usually there would be a 1-100 chart to which the children add one number each day when the teacher adds a number to the big one on the wall (assuming you have one, of course!).  Beyond that, you can have children write the date, tell whether the date is an odd or an even number, make a tally mark for each day, graph the weather, note children’s birthdays, color in Zero the Hero on every tenth day, etc., etc., etc.!

You will find many of these pages here as free downloads for you, just in case you want to start a calendar book of your own.  My kids had trouble fitting the letters of the months into the spaces on the Write the Date paper, so I gave you a couple of versions with the months written in for the children in a traceable font.  As you can see in the pictures, I added a whole language arts component to our calendar book with the “Word Family of the Day” and the “Sight Word of the Day.”  Basically, the children would copy one of the words from the wall per day into their books.  I always have these words stapled up next to my calendar (and I change them often, if not monthly) so it was a natural progression for me to include it in our calendar book.  I am including these sheets for you as your free download this week, too!  Other things we added were:

1. A Zoo Animal Probability Graph.  To do this, we had a bag with one of each zoo animal in it, and the helper of the day reached into the bag and pulled one out without looking.  Then we colored in a square for each animal that we pulled out.  We just did one animal per day, and worked on it over time.  But if you do not have time to commit to doing a whole calendar book, this would be a fun activity to do whole group, and just let the children take turns pulling out an animal until one of the columns is filled.

 2.  A Word Problem of the Day.  To do this, I gave them a very simple sheet of paper that was divided into sections that were large enough for an equation and a picture, and then I would make up a random math word problem on the spot, such as, “There were two ducks and two more came.  How many were there in all?  Draw a picture and write the equation.”  So we did one of these problems each day.  It really helped the children prepare for their problem solving test.


Shari Sloane's website, www.kidscount1234.com, has lots of calendar book pages that you can download free!  But since the better clip art is usually copyrighted, she had to strip most of it off, so you may wish to add some of your own or eventually recreate your own papers with your own clip art.  I personally started with her copies, and then gradually created my own as time went by.  The ones that I have posted for you here today use only the artwork that I drew myself, so the copyright issue is not a problem for me. 

When we first started, I was worried about some of my struggling students being able to keep up and understand what was expected of them during this time.  So I decided to do our first week of Calendar Book entries in small groups as a part of our morning rotation.  That allowed me to help each child understand what I expected and get them started.  Once I was confident that they could all do it, I switched it to a whole group activity.  I also pulled a few of my high kids aside and gave each of them one of my lower students as a buddy to help as we went along.  I told them to show their buddy where to fill in the answers if he or she was lost, and to help them stay on the right page.  I also learned to xerox the different pages each on different colors, and that made a HUGE difference for some of my low kids in knowing where we were in the book.  They could see that in my book, I was on the pink page, and so they should also be on the pink page as well, etc.  For children with fine motor or other issues, sometimes it helps to fill in the answers with dotted print on the computer on their pages only.  That way, they can follow along without extra assistance in a whole group situation.

The Calendar Book is a great thing to do in the afternoon, if you have a long block of time to fill.  We just waited until the afternoon to update our entire calendar. The only problem is, if you decide to do it, the children will want you to do it every single day!  By the end of the year, you can have so many components in there that you really are reviewing a LOT of concepts in during this time every single day.  I finally got my children to accept doing the calendar book on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays only, and then we would catch up on the missed days (just the very basic calendar sheets) on the Monday of the following week.  I did this because for us, Thursdays are a Compact Day, and we never had enough time to do finish our calendar book.  Then on Fridays, we were supposed to go to the library right in the middle of our block of time that we usually set aside for the calendar book, so it just wasn’t working out well to do it five days a week.  You can read more about my “adventures” with the calendar book in an earlier blog posting at this address:  http://heidisongs.blogspot.com/2008/08/calendar-books.html. 

Last year, I had such a “chatty” group that I knew that this activity would be quite a challenge.  I also had a student teacher that was supposed to be taking over for the last six weeks of the year!  I must admit that I just couldn’t visualize my student teacher managing this activity with this particularly challenging group of children.  There were a few of them that really never mastered keeping their thoughts to themselves during whole group activities like this, so for the first time in YEARS, we did NOT do the calendar book!  I just felt that it would be an exercise in frustration for all concerned.  I also really didn’t have the volunteer help to keep the calendar book updated with fresh papers each month.  So I opted for more activities that we could learn from that would still allow them to talk and move around a bit more, since this seemed to suit the learning style of my group last year.  We also did more journaling and more science experiments, so it all turned out okay.  I can’t wait to see what next year will bring!   I am hoping (and praying!) for a group that loves to sing, learns well through singing, and with lots of supportive parents.  What does your “dream class” look like?   :)  Enjoy what is left of your summer, (if there is any of it left!) and keep on hoping and praying for that “wonder” class!

Whole Group Games: Entry #8

Well, this is it!  This is the very last set of whole group games in my series for the summer.  That’s a good thing, since school is starting for me on August the 23rd, so my time has definitely run out!  I hope you have enjoyed this series.
On a side note, we have just completed our DVD for Sing and Spell Vol. 5!  It is now available for purchase on the website.  To celebrate our newest creation, we are offering a free shipping code for you from now until the end of this month, August 31st!  It is SPELL5.  You will find lots of new combos and sets on the website, too, as well as a brand new book with Mini-Songbooks and worksheets that go along with Sing and Spell Vol. 1.  So check it out!

And now for the games!  The first one is an outside game.


What Time Is It, Mr. Fox?

What you need:
A big grassy field with lots of room to run, plenty of energy and good running shoes!
The set up:
The kids line up on one side of the grass, preferably along a fence.  The teacher is on the other side of the grass.
How to play:
The kids call out, "What time is it, Mr. Fox?"
The teacher answers, for example, "5 o'clock."
So the kids take five steps forward, towards the teacher.
Again, the kids call out, "What time is it Mr. Fox?"  The teacher answers again, choosing any random number from 1-11 o'clock.  AGAIN, the kids call out, "What time is it, Mr. Fox?"
Finally, the teacher answers, "12 O'CLOCK MIDNIGHT!!!!!!"  The kids all scream and "try" to run past the teacher.  The teacher tries to catch the children.  Anyone who gets tagged must join the teacher and help be a fox.
The game ends when: the last child is caught.


Dance Your Teens and Twenties, and Write Them Down!

What you need:
Jumpin' Numbers Vol. 2: 11-30 CD or DVD, a CD or DVD player, some space to move, and a white board and marker for each student.

What to do:
After the children get tired of singing and dancing, pass out the white boards and markers, and play the songs again and have them write the numbers as the songs play.  I tell my kids to write it as many times as they can until I stop the song.


Act Out the Addition Equation

What you need:
A paper with an addition sign on it and one with an equals sign on it.  We usually start by singing the addition song from my Musical Math CD also.
To play:
Make up a story problem and have the kids come up and act it out.  When the time comes to solve the problem, have all of the children move to the other side of the equals sign, and then count the children and see what the answer is!


Check back next week for a fun "Calendar Book" activity with a whole bunch of free downloads. It's a perfect school year starter.

Whole Group Games and Activities - Entry # 7

Here’s my next set of games that you can do as a whole group with your class!  My favorite here is definitely the Cup Game!  This one is a “classic” that I use every year, without fail.  The kids always love this guessing game.  Be sure to watch the little video of my class playing this game.  It’s cute!


What's in My Pocket?
What you need:

Some small toys that can fit in children's pockets, and a bunch of kids!
How to play:
Have the children bring something from home that fits into their pocket, (or give them each something when it is their turn.)  Ask them to give the class a hint as to what might be in their pocket without giving it away.  The rest of the class should take turns guessing.  It helps to model what a hint is for them, so that they can figure out what you want.  Some children may have no idea and will just blurt out the answer!  One little boy last year stood up in front of everyone and said, “It’s a car.”


The Cup Game
What you need:
Paper cups numbered 1-10 (or 10-20, etc.), and a small toy to hide underneath.
How to play:
The kids hide their eyes while you hide that toy under a cup.  Then they must guess what cup it is under based on your "more/less" clues.  They must first tell you what number they thin it is under, and then lift the cup to see if it is there.  Give clues by telling them, “The number is more than three.”  “Or, the number is less than seven.”  Eventually, they will narrow it down!  This game helps them learn the concepts of more, and less, and helps them practice number recognition as well.
This is a great game to leave for a sub when you know you are going to be out, because it is easy and it is always a hit with the kids.  There is no prep, and no clean up.   Believe it or not, I have been using the same cups and toy for almost 20 years in my classroom!  I keep them in a plastic shoe box with the instructions for the game in it.  I know how old this game is because the little “toy” that I hide under the cups is actually a nipple cover from the baby bottles that we used to use when my daughters were babies- and my youngest ones (twins!) were born in 1991!  This game is great to play in small or large groups both.

War:  Boys Against Girls
What you need:

Number cards from 0-30 (or the number of your choice!)
How to play:
Choose a boy and a girl to come forward and take a number.  Let the children decide which number is greater.  That team gets both cards.
The game ends when:
One team has all of the cards.
Variations:*  The winner of each round is the number that is LESS rather than more.  OR, spin a spinner each time to see which is the winner:  more, or less?  (It will never be equal if you give them only one of each number.)   

*  Have a child from both teams draw a domino and have them add the dots together.  Then, based on the sums, decide who has more and who is the winner.


Hundred's Chart Activities
We do this a lot at the end of the year, during the last month of school.  I give everyone a clipboard and they all sit on the floor in front of me with a bag of crayons and fill in the numbers that I call out.
What you need:
Give children a 100's chart.  Call out numbers for them to color in.  As they fill in the boxes, they form a pattern, or a picture, etc.
Interactive 100's chart available at:
Apples4theteacher.com  You can print blank ones there, too.

Tip: Turn numbers on the pocket chart over or highlight them with highlighter tape as you call out the numbers.  It helps to describe for the children how you found the number.  For example, “I know that 45 is four rows down, because I can count:  ten, twenty, thirty, fourty.”  (Point to the numbers as you count.)  “Then I keep counting, “41, 42, 43, 44, 45.  That’s how I know where 45 is on the hundreds chart.  Everybody find the ten and put your finger on it.  Now move it down one space to 20.  Now move it one more to 30.  And now move it one more to 40.  Now count on:  41....”


Count Around

What you need:
Nothing!  Just a bunch of kids, and you!
How to play:
Everyone stands in a big circle or square, and someone begins counting with number one.  Every time a child gets to a multiple of ten, then he or she must sit down and is out.  (When you get to 100, you can either keep counting or start over.)  The last child standing is the winner.
To make the game go faster:
Have the kids sit on the fives and tens.
Variation:
Have the kids practice counting backwards from 20.  Every time you get to 15, 10, 5, or 1, that person sits down.  This is tricky and VERY good practice!
Tip:  During the last two months of school, I had the class practice counting backwards from 20 every morning when we did some crossover types of exercises right after our flag salute.  The daily practice in counting backwards from 20 (not just ten) was very good for them and really helped them internalize this skill.

The Bowl Game

What you need:

A bowl that you can't see through, and some blocks.

How to play:
Put some blocks under the bowl.  Make sure the kids see how many you put under it.  Then they hide their eyes.  You move some of the blocks out from under the bowl, and put them next to the bowl.  The kids must guess how many are left under the bowl.
Hint:
Make sure that you start with small quantities of blocks to ensure success, and then work up to the larger numbers slowly.

Clothesline Number Line

What you need:
A rope, some clothespins, and some number cards.  You also need a way to string the rope up in your classroom.
To Play:
First put the “anchor” numbers up for the kids to help them get started, such as the first, last, and middle numbers.  Then, call the kids up and have them each take a number and pin it up in it’s proper place on the clothesline.  Children can also move someone else’s number if they think it is in the wrong place, but the must explain why they think so, or they cannot move the number.  If the game seems to go too slowly, have them come up in groups of three or four to pin up their numbers.  (Of course it is harder to get them to verbalize their thinking in this case.)
Variations on the Clothesline Activity:
Use alphabet or number cards and put them in order, or put word cards in alphabetical order.


More or Less Mix-Up

What you need:
Some number cards in quantities of your choice, and a spinner with "more" on one side and "less" on the other side.  This spinner is from my Musical Math Resource CD.  (as shown.)  A die will also work.  This game, including two versions of my printable “More/Less/Equal die” has been included here as one of your freebies this week!  Just cut it out, fold, and tape or glue it together.

To play:
Give every child a number and start some music.  When the music stops, the children must freeze.  Pull a name stick, and that child comes forward with his or her number.  Everyone else must place themselves either to the right of the number if their number is more, or to the left of the number if it is less.  They can stand right next to the leader if their number is equal.  Then, spin the spinner or the more/less/equal die to see which group is the winner!
Hint:
To make this game easier, keep the quantities smaller, and put the corresponding dots on the cards as well.

The Sphere-Cube-Cone Game

What you need:

The Musical Math CD from HeidiSongs, and one of each of the following shapes:  cube, cone, sphere.

How to play:

Sing each of the shape songs.  At the end of each song, throw the designated shape to someone in the group.  That person must identify it and throw it back.  

When the songs end:

Throw the shapes to each of the children that didn't yet get a turn, saying his or her name as you throw it.  He or she must say the name of the shape and throw it back.

Hint:

Soft foam shapes work best!