Calendar Routine: Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday

Discussing the time concept concerning "today, tomorrow, and yesterday," can be confusing for many Kindergarten students. My suggestion is to print this sheet onto some heavy paper and cut-out  the individual words and laminate them. 

 

This sheet is available to you by clicking HERE. This will take you to my Google Drive where you can download or print it for FREE!  Please leave me a comment if you plan to try this idea.

First, introduce the word "today" only, and use it for 2 weeks. Place the cut-out on the calendar so it indicates the current date.

As you discuss the calendar, point to the word as you ask questions similar to these:

"What is today's date?"

"Who can tell me the name of today's day of the week?"

"Is today Tuesday or Wednesday?"

During the 3rd week, take a picture of something that happens during the day and print that photo. Place the photo on the calendar on today's date.

Next, during the 4th week, before talking about today's date, discuss the photo and when that event happened.  

"Did we read the book, Frog and Toad today? 

No, we read it "Yesterday."

Then place the "yesterday" cut-out above it. 

"We read the book on Wednesday, which was yesterday. Today is Thursday. (Place the cut-out above the current date.) So today is Thursday (point) and yesterday was Wednesday."

Do this for a month. 

I know that seems like a long time, but I've seen students still confused about the different time concepts in February if you don't introduce them slowly and with a concrete picture of an event that happens during the school day.

Lastly...

Introduce the concept of tomorrow with a written word like Gym Class, or Field Trip,  a picture of a parent helper that comes each week on a certain day, or a students picture whose birthday is going to happen tomorrow. Again tie the abstract word "tomorrow" with an event that they will experience.  The tomorrow picture then turns into the Today event, and finally to the Yesterday event. 

"Was Mary's birthday yesterday, or is it happening today, or did it already happen Yesterday." 

If you have a Multi-grade Class, like K/1st, add the words "Last week", "Next week", or "In 2 weeks", to raise the difficulty of the task. 

Now students can make sense of these time concepts and it is not something they chant rotely as a group.

What do you think of this idea? Leave your comments below as your thoughts are important and I will respond to any questions you may have after reading this post.

Smiles,

Deborah