Calendar Ante Up

I'm at school working and taking a break from going through eight filing cabinet drawers...three are done and my back is killing me!  I have filled two paper boxes with recycling.  (Filing is my LEAST favorite thing to do in the world!  Which would be obvious if you could see the piles of stuff I've saved up over the last year.  But since I am the one in control of the camera you won't see those piles.  {evil laugh!!}

I did find an idea from an old Mailbox magazine to make for my calendar.  As a second grade teacher I am always trying to make my calendar "new" so that it is relevant and instructional and the kid don't just tune out.  That can be hard since the kids get so much of calendar during kindergarten and first grade.  Any way, I found an idea for a tooth line graph.  (If you teach second you know the kids still love losing teeth and all that goes with it.  But the tooth shapes are a bit "worn out" by second grade.)  Line graphs are not something we do a whole lot of naturally when graphing so...ta da!...the Lost Tooth Line Graph.

Print out and laminate.  In the space at the bottom have students who have lost a tooth sign their name.  On the last day of the month count up the total number of teeth lost and put a dot on the appropriate spot of the line graph.  Erase the bottom for the new month and start over.  Connect each month's dot and ask data interpretation questions as you go along.  (Ties into reading grid coordinates too!)

Lost Teeth Line Graph

Lost Teeth Line Plot Graph