Create and Maintain a Calendar

Beth JoynerEducation 35711-03-09

Social Studies Standard 1: History

Indicator 2.1.6Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Research: Create and maintain a calendar of important school days, holidays and community events.

Taken from:http://dc.doe.in.gov/Standards/AcademicStandards/StandardSearch.aspx

VocabularyCalendar

Definition 1: a chart of the days, weeks, and months of one or more years.

Definition 2: a list of important events arranged in the order in which they happen; schedule.

Taken from: http://new.wordsmyth.net/

Background Information

A calendar is a system of organizing units of time for the purpose of reckoning time over extended periods.The Gregorian calendar we use today was created in the 1580's by Pope Gregory XIII.

The calendar has 12 months. Each month has 30 or 31 days, except February which has 28. There are 365 days per year. Each year has an extra 5 hours and 48 minutes. Every four years this time adds up to 24 hours, and that is why we have Leap Day. In the leap year February has 29 days.

Materials Needed for Activity

Heavy paperScissorsRulerMagazines or old calendars you can cut upFine point markersHole punchStickersGlueBook of quotationsFamily photos (optional)

Activity

Have students decide on a theme for their calendar.

The theme can be any subject of interest to the student.

Examples: horses, flowers, cartoon characters, sports, butterflies, dogs, kittens, family, holidays, etc.

This will determine which pictures are chosen or drawn for each month and also what quotations to add.

Activity

Calendar DesignProvide a variety of old calendars for the students to look at to give them ideas of how they want their own calendars to look.

Students should pay attention to how the different types of calendars are put together and how they are structured.

Activity

Marking the GridsTell the students that the first step is to use the heavy paper, ruler, and fine point marker to mark off a grid with one inch squares, seven across and five down. They will need a page for each month.

Instruct them to get these as straight and neat as possible.

Make sure the squares are large enough to write notes in.

ActivityLabel the Months

Have the students fill in the names of the months in large letters above the grid.

JANUARYFEBRUARY

MARCHAPRILMAYJUNE

JULYAUGUST

SEPTEMBEROCTOBER

NOVEMBER DECEMBER

Activity

Label the WeekdaysHave the students fill in the names of the weekdays across each month’s grid.

ActivityFill out the Numbers

Have the students consult a current calendar to find what day of the week the month starts on.

Tell them to find that square in the first horizontal column and put the numeral one in it, and then fill out the rest of the month.

Also, have them write the year on every page.

ActivityDecorate the Months

Tell the students that the next step is to choose a picture to fit the season of each month.

Have them draw each picture or make a collage to fit each month.

Another option that students could do is bring in family pictures from home to act as calendar pictures. Tell them to try to pick photos that match the season or a holiday found in that month.

Activity

Add Quotations If they would like, allow students to decorate further by adding a quotation across the bottom of the picture or grid.

Activity

Staple and Punch for HangingInstruct students to staple the twelve sections together from the center fold of the pages.

Have them hole punch the center of each grid page so that they can hang their calendars.

Activity

Mark Special Days and HolidaysInstruct students to label or use stickers to mark major holidays, important school and community events, and special occasions.

Examples: Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, 4th of July, Flag Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Birthdays, Test dates, School plays, Last day of school, Spring Break, Sports games/practice, Relay for Life, etc…

Activity

Maintain the CalendarMake sure that students use their calendars on a daily basis so that they will become comfortable using and maintaining a calendar.

Cross of days as they go byAdd or edit events

Resourceshttp://www.surfnetkids.com/calendar.htm

http://new.wordsmyth.net/

http://www.teachkidshow.com/teach-your-child-how-to-use-a-planner/

http://kids-educational-activities.suite101.com/article.cfm/calendars_handmade_by_kids

http://images.google.com