I am the latest victim of this flu bug. I was miserable yesterday so I took today off and feel a little better. Luckily, I think my immune system is strong (like me! OR my thunder thighs are squeezing the crud out…) so I’ve been sick but it could be worse. I stayed home today and will probably stay home again tomorrow to give my body a chance to recover.
I have had several people asks me two questions a lot lately so I want to answer those questions today and then you get a freebie!
Question #1: What is our daily schedule like? We have a schedule that is dictated by our school master schedule. So here is the kindergarten schedule:
7:45-8:10-Students arrive and put things away.
Breakfast in the classroom is from 7:45-8:00. After breakfast, students write in their journal.
8:10-8:30-Morning Meeting
8:30-10:10-Literacy block
Letters and sounds, sight words, Poem, Emergent reader, phonics, phonemic awareness
Story and Comprehension
Guided reading groups and centers
10:10-11:10-Specials
11:10-11:40-Writing
11:40-12:15 Lunch
12:15-12:45 Calendar
12:45-1:15 Recess
1:15-1:45-Math Whole Group Lesson
1:45-2:15 Intervention (word study)
2:15-2:45-Art/Science/Social Studies
2:45-3:15-Math Centers
3:15-Afternoon Meeting
3:40-Dismissal
That’s what our day looks like. The afternoon can be very flexible with intervention not happening every day, our reading dog Bear visiting, library visits and other things that come up. I recently moved math centers to later in the day because I’ve found that this time allows me to get things organized for the end of the day. I also am able to pull small groups or individuals during this time to work on math skills.
Question #2: Do you have a curriculum you are required to follow?
The only curriculum we currently are “required” to follow is the Common Core Standards and our district pacing guides! Those pacing guides tell us what to teach when. We are free to teach those skills however we choose! My team met over the summer and we plan out our skills for the whole year!
We do have textbooks that we are “encouraged” to use a “resource” but our grade does not use them. We have Treasures for our reading series (we’re getting a new series next year!) and we use the order of letters/sounds from Treasures just because it works and it’s less work for us! We use Envisions for math and honestly I haven’t touched the books because they just aren’t useful for us.
And since you made it through that, you’ve earned a freebie. Today’s freebie is a special request from my niece. She is in pre-school and would like some numbers to trace. So of course she gets what she wants. I made these for her. If you have students who still need help forming numbers, these will be helpful Click the picture to head to the freebies page to get your copy!
And look what my friend Nancy at Joy of Kindergarten created for me! Yep, that’s Mr. Kindergarten Smorgasboard riding his famous red Vespa, Ms. LooseWheel Ball! Nancy is a very talented clip art creator! Be sure to visit her and tell her Mr. Greg says: BEEP BEEP!
