Calendars and Dates: a week of ready-to-teach maths

Five days of lessons for Year 2 Measurement. Print this pack and the week is prepared: each day has a one-page plan and a student worksheet, plus cut-out calendar and event cards, a mini-check and every answer.

Start here: five minutes to Monday

1. Skim the week at a glance on the next page.
2. Print the five days. Each day is two A4 sheets: a plan and a worksheet.
3. Cut out the two card sheets once; they are reused all week. Children fill the blank month grid on Day 1.
4. Open the free interactive unit on your board. Every plan tells you which picture to show and when.
5. Teach straight from the plan. Timings, talk prompts, misconceptions and answers are all on the one page.

No maths background needed

This pack is written for the busy generalist teacher. Each plan explains the idea in plain words, lists the misconceptions children bring, and gives model answers, so you can walk in and teach it.

One day, one lesson

The five lessons fill a week of maths, one lesson of about 50 minutes a day. Run them in order: each day stands on the one before. Every lesson can also split into a short warm-up and a main session if your timetable runs small blocks.

The week at a glance

One lesson a day for a week. Each day stands on the day before, so run them in order.

How the week builds

Day 1 reads the grid; Day 2 counts the nights to one event; Day 3 turns that into the days between two dates and checks it with subtraction; Day 4 uncovers why the grid is built in sevens; and Day 5 plans dates forwards and back. It builds on telling the days and the adding met earlier in the year, and it opens the way to the clock, where time zooms in from days to hours next in the strand.

Materials for the week (one trip)

• From the classroom: scissors, pencils, this pack printed.
• Handy to have: a wall calendar or a phone calendar to compare with our model month, though the pack stands on its own.
• Cut out once, use all week: the blank month grid (children fill it on Day 1), the day-of-week cards, the event cards and the days-between number strip in this pack. No maths equipment to buy.

Dear families

This week in maths, Year 2 reads calendars. We find dates, name the day of the week, count the days between two events, and plan dates a few weeks ahead.

Try this at home

• Find today on any calendar. What is the date, and what day of the week is it?
• Count the sleeps until something your child is looking forward to. Count the nights, not the dates.
• Pick two dates in the same month and work out how many days apart they are.
• Notice that next week is the same weekday, seven days on.

My calendar week

Fill one row a day. Write the date, name the day, and tick when you have found it on a calendar.

Printed from the free seegongsik Calendars and Dates teaching pack · seegongsik.com/au/y2/measurement/AC9M2M03/pack

Reading the calendar grid

A calendar is a map of a month. Time runs left to right, then drops a row, like reading. Today children build our model June and learn to read it: find a date, read its day, and find the date of a named day.

We are learning to

• read a calendar as a grid of weeks,
• find the day of the week for any date,
• find the date of a named day, like the first Friday.

Success criteria

• I can name the day of the week for a date.
• I can find the date of a named day.

You need

The blank month grid (cut-out sheet 1) and the day-of-week cards, one set per pair. The worksheet, one per child. A wall or board calendar helps but is not needed.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A once the grid is built. Start Session B by reading it: days for dates, then dates for days.

Watch for these ideas

• Reading the number but guessing the day, instead of sliding straight up to the column heading.
• Naming the wrong date for a named day: the first Friday is the earliest Friday, not the Friday in the first full week.
• Thinking every month starts on a Monday: ours does, so the weeks fall as neat sevens, but real months vary.

Answers

• The 3rd is a Wednesday, the 20th is a Saturday, the 25th is a Thursday.
• The first Wednesday is the 3rd. The third Sunday is the 21st.
• There are 4 Fridays: the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th.
• Built grid: row 1 is 1 to 7, row 2 is 8 to 14, row 3 is 15 to 21, row 4 is 22 to 28, row 5 is 29 and 30.

Make and read our June

This is our month: a June that starts on a Monday. Write the dates 1 to 30 into the grid, with the 1st under Monday. Then use your calendar to answer the questions.

June has 30 days. The last row holds only the 29th and the 30th.

Read your calendar

1. What day of the week is the 3rd? ____________
2. What day of the week is the 20th? ____________
3. What day of the week is the 25th? ____________
4. Write the date of the first Wednesday: the ____ th.
5. Write the date of the third Sunday: the ____ th.
6. How many Fridays are in this June? ____

How many sleeps until?

Children already own a unit of time: the sleep. Today they count the nights to an event by hopping from date to date. The one big idea to plant: count the hops between dates, never the dates themselves.

We are learning to

• count the days until an event,
• count the hops between two dates, not the squares,
• use the word sleeps for the nights in between.

Success criteria

• I can count the sleeps until an event.
• I can say why we count the hops, not the dates.

You need

Your month calendar from Day 1. The days-between number strip (cut-out sheet 2) and the event cards. The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A after the countdown cards. Start Session B with the off-by-one check.

Watch for these ideas

• Counting the squares, not the hops, so the answer comes out one too big.
• Counting tonight as a sleep: the first sleep is the night after today.
• Losing count over a week: hop in ones, or jump a whole week and then the leftover days.

Answers

• From the 6th to the 10th is 4 sleeps. From the 18th to the 24th is 6 sleeps.
• From the 2nd to the 9th is 7 sleeps.
• Show the hops: seven hops drawn from the 2nd to the 9th, one for each night.

Counting the sleeps

Here is our June again. Count the sleeps, which are the hops between the dates.

How many sleeps?

1. From the 6th, how many sleeps until the excursion on the 10th? ____
2. From the 18th, how many sleeps until the concert on the 24th? ____
3. Tonight is the 2nd. How many sleeps until your birthday on the 9th? ____

Show the hops

Draw a hop for each night from the 2nd to the 9th. Then write how many sleeps.

Days between two events

Yesterday’s sleeps grow up today. The number of days between two events is the count of hops from one to the other, and that is exactly a subtraction: the later date take the earlier one. The calendar and the subtraction must agree.

We are learning to

• find the number of days between two dates,
• count the days by hopping, and check by subtracting,
• see that a week apart is seven days, on the same weekday.

Success criteria

• I can find the days between two dates by counting the hops.
• I can check my answer with a subtraction.

You need

Your month calendar. The days-between number strip and the event cards (cut-out sheet 2). The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A after hop, then check. Start Session B with the week-apart pair.

Watch for these ideas

• Counting the two marked squares, not the hops between them, so the answer is one too big.
• Subtracting the wrong way round: it is always the later date take the earlier date.
• Reading a week-apart pair as six or eight days: seven hops land on the same weekday.

Answers

• From the 3rd to the 9th is 6 days (9 take 3).
• From the 8th to the 15th is 7 days (15 take 8): one week, both Mondays.
• From the 6th to the 24th is 18 days (24 take 6). The week-apart pair is the 8th and the 15th; both are Mondays.

How many days between?

Find the days between the two dates. Count the hops on the calendar, then check with a subtraction.

Look again

1. Which pair is exactly one week apart? ____________
2. Those two dates both fall on a ____________ (day of the week).

Built in sevens

Why is every calendar seven squares wide? Because the week repeats, and the grid is drawn so the repeat falls straight down. Add seven days and you land in the same column, on the same weekday, one row lower. Today children discover that structure by jumping.

We are learning to

• add a whole week to a date,
• see that seven days on is the same weekday,
• find the next day of a given kind, like the next Saturday.

Success criteria

• I can find the date one week after a date.
• I can find the date of the next named day.

You need

Your month calendar. The day-of-week cards (cut-out sheet 1). The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A after same column club. Start Session B with next Saturday.

Watch for these ideas

• Adding seven by counting single days and losing one: jump straight down one row instead.
• Thinking the weekday changes each week: it repeats, because the grid is seven wide.
• Running off the bottom of the month: our June stops at 30, so some jumps leave the month.

Answers

• The 3rd is a Wednesday; one week later is the 10th, still a Wednesday. The 10th plus a week is the 17th, still a Wednesday.
• The 2nd is a Tuesday; two weeks later is the 16th, a Tuesday.
• The Saturdays after the 6th are the 13th, the 20th and the 27th.

Jump a whole week

To add a week, jump straight down one row. The day of the week stays the same. Use your June to check.

Down the column

1. The 3rd is a Wednesday. One week later is the ____ th. It is a ____________.
2. The 10th, one week on, is the ____ th. Still a ____________.
3. The 2nd is a Tuesday. Two weeks later is the ____ th. It is a ____________.
4. Netball is every Saturday. The first is the 6th. Write the next three Saturdays: the ____ th, the ____ th, the ____ th.

Plan the week ahead

Planning is where the grid pays its way. A date some weeks and days away is whole weeks straight down and leftover days along the row. And how many days until an event is the days-between work from Day 3, read forwards. Today children plan real events.

We are learning to

• find a date some weeks and days away,
• work out how many days until an event,
• plan forwards and backwards on the grid.

Success criteria

• I can find a date weeks and days from now.
• I can work out how many days until an event.

You need

Your month calendar. The event cards (cut-out sheet 2). The worksheet, one per child.

Lesson flow (about 50 minutes)

Two half-sessions instead? End Session A after plan the events. Start Session B with back the other way.

Watch for these ideas

• Counting single days for a whole plan: jump the weeks first, then walk the leftover days.
• Mixing up until and after: how many days until counts forwards to the event.
• Forgetting to narrate the move, so the down and the across get muddled.

Answers

• One week after the 4th is the 11th. One week and two days after the 5th is the 14th.
• The excursion is the 25th and today is the 18th: 7 days until (25 take 18).
• Two weeks before the 27th is the 13th. Two weeks and three days after the 1st is the 18th.

Planning dates

Jump whole weeks straight down, then walk the leftover days across. Use your June to check every plan.

Plan it

1. One week after the 4th is the ____ th.
2. One week and two days after the 5th is the ____ th.
3. The excursion is the 25th. Today is the 18th. How many days until the excursion? ____
4. Two weeks before the 27th is the ____ th.
5. Plan your own: a class party is two weeks and three days after the 1st. What date is it? the ____ th.

Blank month calendar

Cut out the grid and the day cards. Write the dates 1 to 30 into the grid to make this month, with the 1st under Monday. Keep this calendar beside you all week.

Day-of-week cards

Teacher note: build our model June by writing the 1st under Monday, or make the real month you are in. The day cards head the columns, or lay them in a line to practise the order of the week.

Event and date cards

Cut out the cards. Put an event card on your calendar and write its date on a date card. Use the days-between strip to count the days from one event to the next.

Event cards

Date cards (write the date)

Days-between number strip

Teacher note: lay the strip under two dates and count the hops between them, one hop for each day. The count of hops is the days between the events, the same as the subtraction.

What we know: Calendars and Dates

Work on your own. Use our June below: it starts on a Monday and has 30 days.

1. What day of the week is the 17th? ____________
2. Write the date of the second Thursday: the ____ th.
3. From the 7th to the 13th is how many days? ____
4. Today is the 21st. Camp is the 28th. How many sleeps until camp? ____
5. The 4th is a Thursday. What day of the week is the 11th? ____________
6. The 2nd is a Tuesday. Write the date of the next Tuesday: the ____ th.
7. One week after the 8th is the ____ th.
8. The fair is two weeks and one day after the 6th. What date is the fair? the ____ th.

Answers and marking guide

Answers

1. Wednesday.
2. The 11th (the Thursdays are the 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th).
3. 6 days (13 take 7).
4. 7 sleeps (28 take 21).
5. Thursday (a week later is the same weekday).
6. The 9th.
7. The 15th (8 plus 7).
8. The 21st (two weeks and one day: 6 plus 15).

A quick three-level guide

Eight questions, four ideas. A child at standard answers most questions and counts the hops, not the squares.

Weekly class record

Jot a tick as you move around the room; the mini-check fills any gaps. A tick a day is plenty.

The five columns are the five days: read the grid, count the sleeps, days between, built in sevens, and plan ahead.