building a student centred calendar routine

I am SO excited about the calendar I've developed this summer. There has always been something I didn't like about the calendars I've used in the past... numbers too big, holiday cards blocking numbers, too distracting, too random... and not enough student ownership. In my classroom I really strive to make student work the focus of the walls and displays. I don't like to have too much commercially made things on the wall, or random decor for the sake of decor. Of course, some of it is fine, I'm just trying to limit the random distractions for some of my kiddos.

So I combined all of my thoughts together and planned a calendar that is simple, low prep, and has student work as the central focus. The way this calendar works is there are 31 day cards (that I laminated for durability, since I'll be reusing the same ones every month), month cards, and days of the week cards (both the months and days come in a black background or a white background).

There are also tons of holiday cards. The holiday cards are not as wide as the date cards, allowing you to place them on top of the date card without blocking the number. The holiday cards have simple, clear designs, so they aren't too busy or distracting.  And THEN, on top of it all, I've made student reflection cards that can go in the pocket, keeping the holiday title and date visible. You can use the included cards (with a variety of sentence starters, blank, or editable so you can write your own), or just use post-it notes. 

This is a great way to end the day. Students gathering together, reflecting on the day and then choosing one student's work to go up on the calendar and represent that day. I'm going to try to make sure that each kiddo gets a chance to have their work displayed each month.

This product is available in my TPT shop here:

Minimalist Calendar