Top Ten Fun Calendar Time Videos

As part of our calendar time routine each day, we sing a months of the year song and a days of the week song. When I first started teaching we did the Addam's Family days of the week adapation - where you snap or clap in between each line. We sang it EVERY DAY because it was the only days of the week song I knew. We also did the Months of the Year Macarena EVERY DAY. Within a few months I was bored with calendar time, the kids were tuning it out and it was becoming a waste of time.
I knew I had to do something, so I started to try to find ways to jazz up calendar time. I searched YouTube and found so many awesome calendar songs! There are short ones and long ones, silly ones and loud ones. Now I can switch up my calendar routine daily - if the kids have extra energy we get up and dance, if they're bouncing off the walls, I calm them with a song. Since they're being exposed to the names of the months and days through so many songs, they learn them so much better! I've had years when I've had students who were too shy to join in with the Months of the Year Macarena, but are perfectly fine with a different song. Since the video plays on my SmartBoard, they get to see the words as we sing too, which helps with recognizing the words in print.

So today I'm bringing you my Top Ten Calendar Videos - hopefully you'll learn a new one or two that you can use to spice up your own calendar time! In no particular order, here are my favorites:

Months of the Year:

The Learning Station - my students love the animation and its a simple tune they pick up quickly.

Harry Kindergarten - I love this one because it emphasizes that after the 12 months you "start back over". It's only 1:59 too, so its a go-to if I have to cut calendar time down for some reason.

Jack Hartmann - you can never go wrong with Jack - especially when he puts on a cowboy hat! My kids loved learning this simple dance too!

Dream English Kids - the kids love pretending to play the different instruments in this one. I have a secret crush on Matt - he's just so mellow and chill, I bet he would be a blast to hang out with! I use a lot of his songs, they make me happy!

Miss Rossi - I had several ELL students in my class this year who only spoke Spanish. Playing videos in their home language helped to connect the English months of the year songs so they understood what we were singing about. My goal is to become more proficient in Spanish, so it helps me learn too!

Busy Beavers - I love this one because we can sit down and sing it calmly, plus it has ice cream in it! It also has the days of the week, so its a two-for-one lol. On those days when admin calls down needing something asap during calendar time, this is the song I go to - because the kids are sitting and singing so my attention can afford to be divided (which I don't do if they're up and moving and grooving to a song).

Days of the Week:

Dr. Jean - This one is amazing because it involves sign language and memory work! The kids love it, and it really helps them remember the names of the days!

The Learning Station - my students LOVE this one! We get loud during the loud part, but luckily I'm far enough down the hallway we don't bother anyone!

Jack Hartmann - who can resist Jack doing a rap?? My students love this one too - they think they're such cool little rap stars!

Dream English Kids - here's my pal Matt again - the kids love trying to do the little hand dance thing he has going on in this video.

Pink Fong - these guys have some great dinosaur videos that my son LOVES,  and this simple days of the week song is short and sweet!

Mr. R's Songs for Teaching - this one is nice because its long and calm! It also reinforces which day comes after the next! This is another one I might play when I HAVE to reply to an email or read a note from a parent during calendar time. Again, I try to keep those kind of interruptions to a minimum, but sometimes, things come up! Its good to be prepared with something that will still keep the kids in routine, but will allow me to divide my focus for a minute!

Bonus:

Scratch Garden - If your students don't know left from right yet, throw this video into your calendar time mix and reap the benefits. My students asked for this one all the time and would giggle like crazy at the salamander! 

Caveat:

You cannot simply put on a video and sit back. I am actively dancing and singing with the kids. We make up hand moves, throw in sign language and do all we can to make it an active learning experience. The minute you don't put 100% into INTERACTING with the video, you will lose the kids and all the cute songs in the world won't be able to get them back. That means marching, stomping and clapping along, making funny faces and generally doing embarrassing things - even when someone else enters the room! If my principal walks in, I just keep singing and dancing with my kids, regardless of embarrassment! We also pause the videos periodically to identify letters on the screen, make a predication about what comes next or count something. Anything to bring novelty into calendar time - because the brain craves novelty. Keep those litle minds actively thinking all day long!

Alright, this was actually 12 songs, but if you know of any other fun ones, please rustle up a comment below and share!