Did you know that you can celebrate national days everyday? Did you know that November 5 is National Donut Day? Or that March 31 is National Crayon Day? And on August 31 you can celebrate National Eat Outside Day? I was inspired to share these national holidays with my students because my uncle always shares them with me! We bond over our love of chocolate, cheese, and travel, so anytime a fun holiday is coming up, he will forward it to me! After seeing so many fun holidays, it made me realize that these are great conversation starters and can be fun writing or discussion prompts in the classroom.
Plus, every day of the year can be celebrated as a holiday! You don’t have to wait for the big days like Christmas, Halloween, and Easter to throw a party or celebrate something special. Make every day a holiday in your classroom with National Days Calendar Talk.
What is Calendar Talk?
Calendar Talk is a great way to begin your class everyday. With this routine, you show the monthly calendar and get students talking about the date, weather, seasons, how they feel today, etc. It is a useful activity for practicing target language communication in a world language classroom or developing a routine in an elementary morning meeting class. Take a look at these sample slides where students talk about the current day.
Typically, during Calendar Talk routines, the teacher leads the class in a very similar conversation each day, sometimes adding new questions about an upcoming holiday, student birthday, pending storm, etc. But it can feel monotonous for students to see the calendar everyday and to answer basic questions.
So why not switch it up!? Try a National Days Calendar where everyday is a holiday. In addition to the weather, date, season, etc. students will identify what the current day is. They can also answer fun questions about the national holiday.
How to Celebrate National Days with Calendar Talk
Research what each day’s national days are. Here are some websites that highlight daily national days.
Each day may have a lot of national holidays to choose from, so pick one that would interest a majority of your students. Here are some activities you could do to celebrate National Days with Calendar Talk
- Ask fun personal questions about the day (What is your favorite cookie? Which sport do you participate in? etc.)
- Have students explain how they would celebrate this day.
- Create greeting cards for the holiday
- Students can create questions for their classmates about the day – post the questions around the room and do a gallery walk style discussion
Want a National Days Calendar Already Made?
I have created an entire product line where every month costs only $5 or you can grab a bundle of all 12 months for only $46.75! That is an entire year’s worth of warm-ups for one low price! With this product (in English or Spanish), you get:
- A colorful PowerPoint presentation that includes 3 discussion/writing prompts for each day, an image or infographic, and a calendar talk slide with calendar vocabulary
- An easy-to-assemble daily notebook. Each book requires only 4 pages and you just simply fold the pages in half to assemble! It keeps students organized and accountable – what is better than that?
- An end-of-the-month reflection worksheet for students to highlight their 4 favorite days
- Monthly calendars for future years (that will continually be updated) so you can use this product for a lifetime of teaching!
- A one-page list of the month’s holidays
You can project the daily PowerPoint slide on your screen as students enter your classroom and they know to get out their daily notebook and answer the 3 daily questions. Students can turn/talk, share aloud, or turn the notebook in for a participation grade!
Try it Out for FREE
Grab the ENTIRE month of September for free here in English or Spanish. Test it out with your students. Once they try it, they will want to keep going! Grab the bundle in English or Spanish, which is 15% off the total. You save over $15 and can use this product year after year!
Why You Should Celebrate National Days Everyday
Start a Routine
Having a routine in your classroom can make a huge difference in student behavior. Make the National Days calendar part of your daily warm-up or bellringer. Whether you are an elementary teacher during a morning meeting or a high school teacher getting students into a routine with a bellringer, this new take on Calendar Talk is perfect for you!
Not a Boring Calendar Talk Routine
With calendar talk, sometimes the students and teacher can get bored talking about the date, weather, and emotions everyday. But when you celebrate national days, every day is different. Of course you can still talk about the weather, date, and emotions, but this adds an extra element of fun and surprise each day!
Get to know your students on a deeper level.
I always try to start the school year with fun get-to-know-you style questions as warm-ups. My goal is always to keep those going so I develop strong relationships, but once the school year kicks in and we get going, I tend to use the warm-up as review time or pre-assessments for the upcoming lesson. And guess what… by the end of the year, I always regret passing up that valuable time to make connections.
So, learn from me. Take 5 minutes to celebrate a national day and ask fun questions. Your students will love the break from traditional bellringers or morning meeting activities. They will look forward to sharing their personal opinions.
Learn Fun Facts to Celebrate National Days
On my national days calendars, each fun fact day is different. Sometimes, students answer personal opinion questions like “What is your favorite candy?” or “On a scale of 1-5, how much of a nerd are you?” But there are other days with brief infographics that share fun facts like how many species of snakes exist or how many people have climbed Mount Everest before. Your students will love learning these fun facts as they answer questions about the infographics.
Encourage Family Discussions
I bet your students will tell their parents what the national day is when they get home from school. And parents may even start eagerly awaiting to find out what holiday they could celebrate or discuss during dinner! Your students will be sharing about your class at home and parents will notice the impact you are having!
My Birthday is National ____ Day!
Students will look forward to finding out what national day is celebrated on their birthday! So once you start with your FREE September calendar, your students will be waiting for their birthday month to see what they can celebrate!
My birthday is August 21, which unfortunately happens to not have a lot of exciting holidays… but it is National Senior Citizens Day. I would use this day to honor my grandparents and share stories about their lives! What national day falls on your birthday?
Are you ready to celebrate National Days with Calendar Talk? Remember to try it out for FREE with the month of September (English or Spanish), and then once you fall in love with this routine, grab the whole bundle here for only $46.75 (English or Spanish) for a year-long set of materials that can last for a lifetime of teaching! Check out all 12 months and bundles here!
If you’re looking for other fun ways to start your class and develop a routine, I also use daily Social Emotional Images to spark conversation and get to know my students. This could be a fun brain break, Do Now, or interpersonal conversation starter.
