Daily Calendar Activities for Second Grade
A daily calendar activity can be a great way to start off the school day. Coming up with a full month's worth of activities for second graders is actually quite easy. All you need to do is think of approximately five themes, and then alternate between them. For example, daily activities could come from these five topics: fun facts; riddles and jokes; fun math or reading questions; thought for the day; and quotes.
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Fun Facts/Did You Know?
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A "fun fact" can be a great daily calendar activity. Simply look for fun facts for kids and choose approximately six that you like. Put them on your calendar of activities. Have a student read it out loud at the beginning of the day. Some great fun facts include: "Butterflies have 12,000 eyes" and "Your nose and ears continue growing throughout your entire life." A website called Kidzone has great fun facts for kids in many different topics, including animals, geography,\ and magic tricks.
Riddles and Jokes
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Riddles and jokes are a fun and interactive calendar activity. They are especially great because they can get the entire class involved. Look for five or six riddles or jokes, and then place them on the calendar in whichever order you would like. One example is: "Question: What did one torpedo say to the other? (Answer: Are you sinking what I'm sinking?). Squigly's Playhouse is a website with a great list of riddles and jokes for kids.
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Math or Reading Questions
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Use math or reading questions as calendar activities to show your students that learning can really be fun. If you choose math or reading problems that are silly or directly relate to their lives, they will really enjoy them. Again, use approximately six days of the month for math or reading questions. A good example of a problem would be to have your students do a problem with Roman numerals, which would require their recalling what each Roman numeral means. Another example of a problem would be to have the children match up certain countries with their capitals, or states with their capitals, depending on what they have been learning in class.
Thought for the Day
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A thought for the day can be a motivational statement or one that teaches a moral or value. There is a great thought for the day website listed below (see Resources), or use ones you have heard of before. For example, you could make "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" one calendar activity. From here, you could ask the class what they think it means, and how they feel about the statement.
Quotes
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Use six or seven quotes for one month of calendar activities. Quotes can be humorous or serious, but should be able to be understood by a second grader. For example: "Be yourself, who else is better qualified?" This is another great opportunity to discuss with the class what they think the quote means and whether they feel that it's true.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit calendar with bow image by Photoeyes from Fotolia.com
