7:55-8:30         Unpack, Watch Announcements, Morning Work

-Calendar math: skills practice varies by month

-DLP: edit sentences for grammar, spelling, punctuation

-Word wall work: various tasks for vocab and spelling practice

-Multiple-meaning word books: add today's word

-Partner re-readings for fluency

-Spelling buddy practice

I’m not a morning person.  I thought it would get better, but it’s been 8 years and I need to accept the fact that I am not a teacher who begins instruction as soon as the first bell rings.  I still need lots of time in the morning to feel ready for the kids: I need to read notes from their parents, collect forms, take attendance, deal with kids who are tardy, etc.  Plus, when they come in, they’re generally subdued and get right to work silently, so I like to take advantage of that! These are all tasks they complete independently of me.   I like this morning work routine because it doesn’t require me having to think up new tasks (or busywork) for them each day.  There are set tasks they complete each day, varying throughout the year so as not to get boring, and they can move around the room to complete them.  If they finish early, they can read, which is a great use of their time.  Just think- no ditto to copy or grades! 

8:30-9:00         Morning Meeting (Morning Work Review and Language Arts Instruction)

-Calendar Math                                                                       10 min

-DLP (Grammar/Spelling)                                                       10 min

-Word Work (Vocabulary, Spelling)                                        10 min

Bathroom and snack break                                                                  5 min

If the kids come to school late, they won’t get to finish their morning work, which means they’ll be out of the loop for Morning Meeting- I hope that’s an incentive to be on time, because kids generally love Morning Meeting!  I haven’t done it in a few years but have been wanting to bring it back.  I sit in the rocker with the children on the rug and we sing an opening song, discuss the day’s schedule, and make general announcements.  We’ll go over what they did for morning work- some days specifically, some days quickly gloss over it, emphasizing certain skills over others. There’s time for calendar math (also known as Everyday Math, which helps kids apply math skills to real-world concepts), Daily Language Practice which can include quick mini-lessons on mechanics, punctuation, etc.  We may play a word wall game or too (see the Word Wall page for more about that) or play another game that builds vocabulary or reinforces spelling skills.  The format will stay essentially the same throughout the year with the activities changing to fit the skills we’re learning. Afterwards, we’ll go to the bathroom quickly and students can eat snacks from home if they want to while I begin the Reading/Writing Workshop.

9:00-9:45         Language Arts Workshop

                                    -Shared Reading/Think-Aloud/Mini-Lesson                            30 min

                                    -Centers/ Independent Practice                                              15 min

Some days we’ll focus on writing: we’ll create a shared story with me modeling writing strategies, and then the kids will write independently or reinforce their skills through writing centers.  Other days we’ll focus on word work (suffixes and root words, homophones, etc.) and the kids will do a follow-up activity on their own so I can assess what they’ve learned.  Mostly we’ll do comprehension think-alouds or shared readings using the basal series: I’ll model the use of reading strategies as I read and have the children interact as we make connections and create meaning together. We’re not going to go through every story in the basal and take weekly tests like I’ve done in past years because a) some stories are boring, b) the tests are poorly worded and don’t provide me with enough meaningful information to help plan my future instruction, and c) the kids can practice reading strategies just as well using other texts such as magazines and novels that they help select.  Some weeks we’ll just read an excerpt from the basal story so I can do a think-aloud, or I’ll read the whole story to them as a read aloud or shared reading experience to model using a reading strategy.  This will be followed by independent time to practice through reading, centers, a worksheet, or project. I don’t want to focus on spelling or grammar very often here since there’s 20 minutes for that daily in Morning Meeting.  Sometimes we’ll need to use this time for practice in applying strategies in a  standardized test format, but I try not to do test prep more often than once a week (usually Wednesdays).

9:45-10:30       Social Studies/Science (non-fiction reading strategy instruction)      45 min

45 minutes daily is the most I’ve ever allotted for science and social studies, and I’ve found time for it by extending reading strategy instruction.  We’ll use our science and social studies texts, books from the classroom library, newspapers, online articles, magazines, Time for Kids, etc. to practice non-fiction reading comprehension strategies.  Some days we’ll be focused more on the content itself, completing science inquiry projects and going in-depth with historical events, etc., but I’m going to be very mindful of how I approach the text.  I want kids to be aware that the strategies they learn are not just supposed to be used during reading groups, but are actually useful as they learn more about their world through interesting texts of all kinds.  I think I can strike a good balance with the language arts workshop: if we’re doing writing during that time, we can do non-fiction reading strategies during science; if we’re doing reading strategies in language arts workshop, and the kids need a break, we can use that day to focus more on science content.  There should also be some on-going science investigations and social studies projects that kids can work on. I’d like to have the whole thing be very student-centered so the instruction meets their needs.  I also know, realistically, that things will come up and something in the schedule will need to be cut on a particular day, and this is the block of time I will probably steal from most often for mandatory testing, computer lab, spelling pre-tests and post-tests, copying weekly HW packets, Fun Friday, to finish projects, etc.  If I can get in just 2 or 3 days a week of solid content area instruction, it will be a huge improvement over what I’ve done in past years!

10:30-10:45     Recess

10:45-11:15     Specials

11:15-12:30     Math

-FCAT Dailies                                                                         15 min

-Direct Instruction/Guided Practice/Independent Practice     45 min

-Math Fact Practice (Math Tubs)                                            15 min

The FCAT is our state standardized test, and we’re supposed to give the kids practice questions daily.  We have transparencies with 2-4 questions to a page.  When the kids come in from specials, it’s already on the overhead projector.  They get their math journals and complete the work, then practice their math facts silently when done.  After a few minutes, we review the answers as a class.  They actually enjoy this format and it’s great distributed practice (kids have to retain knowledge because the FCAT Dailies include skills learned from throughout the year).  Then I teach my math lesson, which usually consists of having the kids take notes on vocabulary or concepts as I model them, then having them practice (preferably with manipulatives and then with pencil and paper), and then having them try 5-10 problems on their own, bringing the work to me when they are done so I can identify and correct misconceptions right away.  Students who understand start Math Tubs with one another, and those who want or need extra help sit on the rug with me and we go over the problems on white-boards as a small, informal group or individually.  All students get at least a few minutes for math fact practice through the Math Tub partner games (see the Math Tub page for details).  We do addition and subtraction first because most of them still don’t know their facts well from second grade, and then go into multiplication.  The daily review makes a remarkable difference in how quickly the kids solve math problems, and they LOVE doing it!

12:30-1:00       Lunch

1:00-1:40         Guided Reading

-Read Aloud w/ Reading Strategy or Sci/S.S. Integration     10 min

-Flexible Reading Groups/ Individual Conferencing/ SSR     30 min

I use the term ‘guided reading’ loosely to indicate a time when I am guiding children through the reading process- nothing more technical than that, not a definition from any research.  First, I’ll do a read-aloud on a topic that the kids are interested in, sometimes a book they bring in.  Some days I just read and let the kids enjoy it!  Other days I might do a think-aloud with it (modeling how good readers think as they read) to tie in the reading strategy we worked on in the morning, or bring emphasize non-fiction text features if it’s a science or social studies-based book. It depends on their needs and interests that day.   I primarily read non-fiction to the kids because I like to get them excited about history and interested in learning about current events and how the world works, but sometimes I’ll do novels or poetry. After the read-aloud, students read a book of their choice silently (see the Independent Reading time page for more).  I pull one or two kids individually for conferences about their reading, because independent reading time must be structured and monitored for kids to gain the most benefit.  Then I’ll pull a small group of kids to work on a skill (decoding, main idea, cause/effect, whatever I noticed them having trouble during Language Arts workshop or during conferences).  My groups are flexible, not fixed, so that kids work only on the skills they need to and have a chance to interact with different students without a ‘label’.  The majority of my reading instruction is done whole-group with individual follow-up, so lots of small group work is not required.  (See ‘Reading Essentials’ by Regie Routman for more about teaching reading through other methods than small groups, especially in intermediate grades.  Routman states that guided reading groups don’t need to be given as much time as they often are, especially in third grade and above, IF proper modeling is done during daily shared readings and think-alouds. There are people who are horrified that I don’t meet with small groups everyday, but this method is backed by research, and my students’ reading levels and test scores prove that it works!  It might not be right for you… but that’s how I do it).  Students who aren’t meeting with me in a group or individually are reading silently in a self-selected test, followed by a few minutes at the end to share with a partner, small group, or the class a favorite passage, quote, word, or idea that came to them while reading.

1:45-1:55         Class Meeting

-Prepare for Dismissal: Reminders/ HW/ Questions                5 min

-Compliments, SSR Sharing Time                                          5 min

We’ll end the day with a routine that kind of evolved during the 2005-2006 school year.  Kids check their mail (papers to go home), pack up, stack their chairs, and come to the rug. I  sit on the rocker, signing off on individual behavior plans that a few kids have and chatting with the children.. When everyone has joined us on the rug, I give reminders for the following day, give HW reminders (packets are due weekly so I don’t have to discuss much on a daily basis), and take kids’ questions that inevitably come up (When is the field trip?  Can I bring in a book to show the class? Etc.).  We then do compliments (share positive things with one another), which I think are a concept from Responsive Classroom. Then children have a chance to ‘share’.  It’s similar to Show and Tell except they don’t have to show anything, and I encourage them not to because I don’t want it to turn into a contest of who has the best toys.  Sometimes they’ll share a souvenier from a vacation and tell what they did with their family; sometimes they’ll share photos of a new pet and tell an amusing anecdote; sometimes they’ll want to share the dream they had the night before because they thought it was weird and interesting!  It’s great oral language practice and gets them comfortable talking in front of their peers, and also allows them to practice being a good audience and asking thoughtful questions, since each child is allowed to take 3-5 questions (depending on time) from the class afterwards. I'm also going to have them share favorite excerpts from the books they read during SSR.  My kids each have a number (1-20 or however many are in the class), so the first 5 share on Monday, #6-10 on Tuesday, etc.  That’s their ‘sharing say’ and that’s the only day they can share on, no exceptions because they’ll drive me crazy with all these ‘really important’ special occasions!  If there’s not school on a child’s day or the child is absent, they have to wait until the following week- but I always promise to allow double the time so they can share as much as they want, which pacifies them!  When the bell rings, the kids who shared stand by the door with any objects they have to show us (because kids always want to look closer, hold it, and ask more questions) and those with no objects are just available if anyone wants to ask questions or discuss what they shared.  I call the kids a few at a time to give me ’a hug or a handshake’ and go to the door so they can stop and chat with the ‘sharers’, and that’s it!  It’s a wonderful, pleasant way to end the day and always reminds me… these are HUMAN BEINGS in my classroom, not robots ready to be filled up with as much information as I can cram into them… they have real feelings and thoughts and interest and lives outside of school… standardized testing and three digit multiplication are not the most important things about this job… I teach children, not concepts… and however exhausting they might have been earlier in the day, the kids really are cute and enjoyable if you take a few moments at the end of the day to relax in a comfortable chair and watch them interact naturally with one another about the things that matter to them.