It Happens Every Month!

This is a special project that my class does every month.  When I started teaching first grade ten years ago, the other first grade teachers shared this idea with me.  At the beginning of the month, the students create a calendar to go home and hang on the fridge or bulletin board to remind their families of upcoming events.  (Or at least that is where I hope the calendar ends up.)  I supply the calendar and then lead my students through an art lesson so the calendar becomes beautiful.  I used to create the actual calendar by hand, writing in all of the important dates, but that was before I owned a Mac.  Now I do it the easy way.  Since I already add all class and school events to my class calendar in iCal, I just print out a copy of that.  No, it doesn't look cute at all, but it is fast and accurate.  I tell my students that the calendars are boring, but they get to decorate them and make them beautiful!  The photos are my samples for January and February.  I give my students squares in January and they have to cut out circles for the snowman.  Then I lead them in a directed art lesson to decorate their snowman.  In February they have to turn their squares into hearts.  As always, their calendars turn out much cuter than mine.  But since we send them home the same day we make them, I have no student samples to show you.

Love to all,

Camille