Remember the plan?
A few months ago, I made a solemn promise. In a post about how to create a circular, tentacled calendar for teaching purposes, I promised that I would write about one I made for myself. Better a few months late than never, right? So here it is.
Delve into the details
Intricate detail, hidden patterns, and discovering the function or significance of every component are all ways to make the process of learning about the Roman calendar immersive and fun. Especially for young learners, the names of the months, their order, the number of days in each, and how they correspond to seasons (and how seasons work in different hemispheres) are boring and out of context. The repetition required to achieve a high level of accuracy is tedious. But when the object we use to teach is strange, beautiful, absurdly detailed, or otherwise engaging, students might find it interesting enough to investigate. If that investigation lasts long enough and the students come to care about the object and take pride in their familiarity with it, they may well be better disposed to learning the mundane facts about spelling, order, and so on.
Let’s look at January
All the tentacles/antennae/branches of the calendar are constructed in similar ways.
The structural features offer more opportunities to interact with the calendar and make choices about how it looks and how to use it.
In the image below, you’ll see that this design is sustainable. Unlike traditional wall calendars, the BerryFig (what do you think? Good name?) does not have to be discarded at the end of the year and the information can be updated continuously.
Seasons and hemispheres
I am really excited about this part. I was given tiny adorable clips for Christmas, two of which now allow the calendar to have two modes: one for the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere and one for the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere. This is definitely my favourite part.
(Tiny adorable clips not pictured, but can be seen on the image of the whole calendar at the top of this post.)
For the sections representing the seasons themselves, they are patterned, but not labelled. This is an opportunity for a discussion about which pattern represents each season, referencing the weather, plant life, seasonal activities, and sunlight. The patterns for the seasons are also different for the two hemispheres, so this conversation can be had twice, thus slowing down the discovery process enough to help students fully grasp the switch.
Beware of the Math(s)
Coming soon…
There’s so much more! I’ll show you more of this calendar and tell you more about ways to use it.
Post Script: What really matters
This project took up my entire Christmas vacation (I am a very exciting person with a flourishing social life), so it isn’t meant as a blueprint for student projects. Making these calendars with students is nearly always the best way to teach them about the system. As I said in the original post, these projects are the most fun when they’re made using easily available materials. The students will feel ownership over the object they’re learning from if they have made it themselves. This post is meant as an example of the sorts of details that can be included. These don’t require fancy paper, hours or work, or bizarre structural components. Some construction paper, a glue stick, and coloured markers can achieve the same effect, with the added benefit of being the student’s own work. So just enjoy the silliness here and go make your own! When you’ve made one or your students have, share the images and I’ll repost them! Find me on Instagram: @blueberry_fig.