Last year, I color-coded my calendar routine and ended up loving how much it helped my students! Even if my students could not read, they could match the day of the week and the month of the year by following the color cue. My calendar is jam-packed with songs. I have gotten several requests to share my playlist so I have several options for each page listed below.
The calendar pack comes with several versions, including a Velcro version and a compressed version. My favorite version, however, is the simplified book. It is print-and-go, making prep easy. With each page of calendar having its own page in the book, my students have an easier time following along. See inside the book below!
There are a lot of different cover options in the file. This allows you to make customized versions for each student in your classroom. Last year, each of my students had their own book. This year, we are sharing one book. I’m hoping to work us up to having individual books soon!
We always start with a greeting. Students can wave, give a hug, or shake my hand. I also start with a greeting song. I have both a morning and an afternoon greeting song linked below. We switched our calendar to the afternoon this month, hence changing the song!
This is where the color coding is key! My students might not be able to read the word Monday, but when I point to the pink box, they can more easily find the pink word in their book! We go through “Today is,” “Yesterday was,” and “Tomorrow will be,” before listening to our song.
We use the color-coding here, too. We go through “This month is,” “Last month was,” and “Next month will be,” before listening to our song.
We always discuss upcoming holidays to get our kids ready for schedule changes. We switch songs as soon as a holiday is over. For example, we will stop the Halloween song and start the Thanksgiving song on November 1. Here is the song we listen to for each holiday.
We just work on four weather types to keep it more simple for our students. We also provide an opportunity to describe the weather as hot, warm, cool, or cold.
We also work on identifying the season. We call it Fall, but you can also refer to it as Autumn!
We always end the calendar with how we feel. I love hearing the kids describe themselves as being happy!
Would you add any songs to my calendar routine? Leave links below!