A Differentiated Kindergarten's Daily Schedule
By far one the most common requests I get on my kindergarten blog is for my daily schedule. This has always been a bit of a strange request for me, because no two of my days of the week are exactly the same so I can’t really imagine how it could help someone else to see it. But when I polled my Facebookusers about their daily schedule, I got such a wide range of answers I can now kind of see how looking at a few different examples would be helpful, especially for those teachers moving to a whole day schedule or moving to kindergarten for the first time.
Seriously, I can't imagine trying to work in all that our kinders need to know into a half day schedule. You teachers doing that are miracle workers. I applaud you. I don't think I could do it. As it is, it's a tight schedule trying to get it all in.
As I mentioned, no two days of my schedule are exactly alike. In a school with 19 classrooms and only one PE instructor and Art and Music shared by another school, scheduling can get hairy. Don't get me wrong, I SO very much appreciate those specials, but there is no way we can create a schedule where specials are the same time every day. That's just not possible. So you have to focus on what's important. (If you need to see an example of each of my days, just click on the picture below and you can download these to look at from last year.) I like to keep these schedules around for the beginning of the year when I need a quick reference or in my sub folders for teachers covering my class. Of course, nothing ever stays exactly the same from the beginning of the year. You are always tweaking and changing things a bit here and there, but it will give you a place to start.
For me, having my Daily 5/Whole Group Literacy time in the morning when kindergarteners are fresh and ready to learn is sacred. I will give up almost anything as long as I can have that time the same time every morning. That consistency is so important.
For my actual lesson planning, I use planbook.com Have you wandered over to take a look at their site yet? I don't really have an other program to compare it to, but I do really like how planbook worked for me last year. I was able to put in my weekly schedule and then attach my differentiated Daily 5 and Math Station lesson template to it. So all the documents were in one place. For me that was really important because I like to be able to keep it all together without having to sacrifice my differentiated station templates. Without them, I would be lost. Another plus was that I was easily able to add Common Core Standards to my plans. BONUS!
Morning Work Our mornings start with Morning Work. I know that many people have different ideas about morning work and what 'works' for them. This is the time when my kiddos come in and make lunch choices ( I use these cute little butterflies and bugs from Michael's for my lunch choices!), use the restroom, get a drink and then get some of their socializing and chatting out of their system while they practice a skill or an activity.
At the beginning of the year, I like to offer a hands-on, fine motor activity during this time. Pokey pins are FABULOUS. If you don't know about them, click the picture and it will take you to a blog post all about them. They are from Mrs. Miners Kindergarten Class. Love, love, love Krissy Miner.
But I never do the same activity two days in the row. So I am constantly looking for new ways to get their brains primed for learning when they come in without shoving a worksheet in front of the them. As the year goes on, you can add in a printable here or there if you choose. I am very careful about the printables I choose to put out during this time, however. If there isn't a differentiated option, I won't use it. If it isn't asking them to cut, color, find, or something active, I won't do it.
I don't want kids sitting in morning work unable to complete the task nor do I want them so bored that they are done in a 5 seconds. Make it meaningful! It should engage them and get them ready for learning.
Whole Group Literacy During this time of the day we are completing an interactive morning message, read aloud and introducing new skills, letters, sight words or word family.
Again, even though this is a 30 minute slot of time. My students are not sitting the whole time. We take a brain break about every 8 minutes or so. That break may be spelling out sight words kinesthetically, or making words with placards. Whatever you do, don't expect your students to sit for long periods of time without moving. You need to be creatively thinking of ways to let those little bodies move or they will be moving anyway.
Daily 5 During this time, I am doing three 20 minute rounds of Daily 5. If you would like to know more about how I set and run my Daily 5 in kindergarten, I have listed some of my most popular posts here. Just click on the titles below to take a look.
Organizing Daily 5
Getting them from here to there-Getting your stations started.
Daily 5 at A Differentiated Kindergarten-This will show you all of my Daily 5 posts in order from newest to oldest. There are a lot of freebies in these posts so scroll through them.
This time is when the meat and potatoes of reading instruction, practice and skill building takes place. I feverishly protect this time. I know that it has built great readers in my class so I am very reluctant to change it.
Music/Movement/Poetry I like to take this short time in the morning to get my students moving a bit. It breaks up the morning and keeps them alert. I love Jack Hartman music, but I also add in some other tunes that are classroom favorites. Debbie Derryberry and Bare Naked Ladies-Snack Time (I promise it's a kids cd.) are some other favorites. We also practice our weekly poem during this time. We learn one a week to put in our poetry books. Also this year, because I finally have TECHNOLOGY, we are going to give GoNoodle a go!
Whole Group Math I use a small amount of time to introduce new skills and activities as a whole group. Just like with whole group literacy, this time needs to be interactive. One of the things that has help the most with this is by loading a zipper pencil bag with manipulatives that will help students practice and participate during whole group. Sometimes we do this alone, sometimes with a partner, we turn and share with a partner and we talk about it. Students need to be able to understand the why and how of math. This is a good time to practice those skills.
Math Stations Love math stations! Love love love them! Math stations are interactive, high energy, fun and full of learning. Students get plenty of time to practice specific skills that are differentiated to meet their level of readiness. It is also a time that I can meet with certain groups of students to assess, review and instruct.
I have done so many posts on math stations, but here's just a few listed below if you are interested in checking out how I set them up and keep them going.
Math Stations Tips
Introducing stations to insure independence
Daily 3 Math Stations
Differentiated Math Stations, Templates and Answers
The Key to Making Math Stations Differentiated
and all the rest . . . there's a ton.
Lunch/Recess
Just like it's sounds, my students go to lunch and then outside for recess. I get to answer emails, choke down a quick smoothie and go try and steal a hug and kiss from my boys during their lunch break before my own students come sneaking back inside.
Rest/Ball Words We are mandated to give our kindergarteners a short break after recess. I'm so glad we do. At the beginning of the year, I have so many that actually fall asleep. Their little bodies aren't used to all-day everyday kindergarten. But if they aren't tired and don't want to rest, they always have the option of practicing their 'ball words.' I don't force them to practice ball words. That's something they do because they want to do it. They can practice with one other friend during rest, and it's also during this time that I will assess them if they want to try 'passing.'
If you'd like to know more about our ball word sight word mastery system, I have done a couple of posts on these as well. I have listed them below:
The incredible editable ball word sight word master system
Building enthusiasm for sight word study Finding success with ball words . . . a bunch more.
Calendar Math Many kindergarten classes do calendar and mine is no exception. I used to hate calendar, but, ever since gave my students their own calendar books, it has turned calendar time completely around. Calendar time is fun, interactive and engaging. I like to get my students involved in leading calendar, too. It isn't just about learning the month and date. Calendar time is when we are introduced to new math skills and get a chance to practice them with a partner or alone. By the end of the year my students are working with place value to 100s place, time and even money.
PE My students get PE three times a week, 2-half hour sessions and 1-twenty minute session.
Computers We don't have a ton to choose from, but usually my students work on Raz-kids of ABC-Ya for math.
Recess Hallelujah for recess!!!!
Writers Workshop This is NOT handwriting practice, this is writers workshop. They work on getting thoughts and ideas down on paper. I usually start with a short mini-lesson and then students go off and 'write.' Writing should be fun. My goal during this time is to develop the desire to write and to get them to feel confident about writing. We end each workshop with a few students sharing every day.
Snack, Pack and Science My school is making every effort to add more and more science instruction into our day. I tend to use the end of the day to do a short lesson, non-fiction book, video and then we do a hands-on activity each Friday.
Here's an activity that went along with Kristen from A Day in First Grade's Force and Motion pack. Click on the picture above if you'd like to learn more.
This is where I get take a deep breath and say a little prayer of thanksgiving for making through another day.
Remember, I don't do all these activities everyday and there are some activities missing from this day, but it does give you a general idea of my schedule. Fo instance, many of you are going to look at my Wednesday and say, 'there isn't any time for play.' You're right. Wednesday's are a busy. Which is why it is so important to make your Literacy and Math stations engaging and interesting. I do have three other days in the week where I have 'Learning Stations.' (I promised I will blog about these in the future.) These are my play-based stations where students have more time for extended play and exploration. Many of them are academic and differentiated, but if you asked my kinders, they are 'play.' I also have show n' tell once a week, Art and Music. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave me a comment below. I'd love to hear from you.
