Knowing where to start when planning your schedule for the first time and in a new grade level can be very daunting!
Many times it is very dependent on when your specials (art/music/PE), recess, and lunch are which are usually decided for you. Here is my basic daily schedule and what happens during each part of our day.
Certified staff start time is 8:05. I'm not a morning person so I usually roll in about 8:00. This is the latest I've ever started at any of the schools I've worked at. 7:30 was more typical. From 8:05-8:20, I start my computer and smartboard. I open up my slideshows for the day and log in for attendance. I will also check my email. If I haven't the night before, I'll put out a morning work worksheet on their desks. I've done different things over the years, but currently, it is something to review that they can do completely independently. We will have staff meetings during this time, so on those days I try to get in a little earlier. All my copies and materials have already been prepared and organized so I don't have to worry about that in the morning.
Students gather and line up in the gym by class. The aides send the classes down to their hallways. Teachers stand near their classroom doors in the hall to greet students and help with any unpacking. Certain students will need some reminders to get out their folders or send to the nurse for medicine, etc.
Student expectations:
- Take folders out of their bags and put them in the folder box.
- Hang up their things in their lockers.
- Put their water bottles in the holder.
- Put their cold lunches in the basket.
- Come to the carpet and sit down.
As soon as the majority of students are settled, I start our morning meeting. These are an example of the slides I use. I purchased them from Natalie Lynn Kindergarten. I have also used some things from Kindergarten Smorgasbord, Responsive Classroom, The First Five, and Erin Waters.
We greet each other. We practice deep breathing. We share something with our neighbors. We do some kind of group activity or listen to an SEL book. Then I read the morning message. We use Second Step for SEL on Fridays. It has 4 units: Growth Mindset, Emotion Management, Empathy and Kindness, and Problem Solving. We have a goal for each week that correlates with the unit we're covering. This can also be something we are struggling with as a class that I want to focus on. Then I take attendance and lunch count. Finally, we watch the daily announcements video (whole school) which includes the Pledge of Allegiance and we also echo our classroom pledge.
Students go to their desks and complete morning work. I will check folders during this time to collect homework or notes. I will have the day's helper put the empty folders in their mailboxes.
Sometimes I will have other tasks to complete and can get set up for our phonics lesson. I have also done Morning Work first and then Morning Meeting which worked fine too. Students who complete their morning work put it in my turn in basket and then read a book for the remaining time. Students who don't complete it put it on my desk for me to redistribute if I want them to finish it later.
In first grade, phonics is the most important lesson of the day, thus right away in the morning is the best time for their brains. Here is another post about how I teach PHONICS.
Click the picture below to see how I run centers.
I will also encourage restroom breaks during centers to prevent them from needing to go during direct instruction.
I have 1 helper each day who does all the helper jobs.
The helper helps with the calendar routine, counting the days of school, and putting students who are absent in the middle of our school family board.
We go back to our seats and do two story problems together. These are "math talk" style where I circulate and ask to show student work on the document camera. We then say if we agree or disagree and why. At least one of the work samples I display is incorrect and one is correct so I can see who can explain why they are right and I can explain and show why it is wrong. I always praise mistakes because without them, I couldn't use them to teach.
We come back to the carpet. Then I will use slides to teach the day's lesson.
After that, we usually play a partner game or do another activity. We close with some independent practice.
We have an ELA basal. During the opening of the lesson, I do phonemic awareness. I would prefer to do that before my phonics lesson, but I don't have time. Phonemic awareness takes no longer than 10 minutes.
Our ELA basal has grammar and vocabulary activities that usually go with the text we will read. We have 3 texts each week. I will usually read one of them twice during that week, the first time just reading it and the second time, asking questions to foster discussion. I also like to include other read aloud books that I find valuable to the topic of study or something seasonal on subsequent days of the week.
The most recent research suggests that listening comprehension trumps reading comprehension in first grade. They can comprehend more difficult text than they can decode. Therefore, reading TO them is a better use of time to teach comprehension.
I love that our school does recess first. That way they aren't rushing through lunch to get to play more. The tattling is also decreased because they forget what they were fighting about during lunch!
I take the whole class for a restroom break after lunch. I make them all go in and try and wash their hands (and faces if needed).
I send a few students in at a time to prevent conflict and silliness. While students are waiting, we practice counting and then play "guess my number" using the 120 chart. I choose a number. They take turns guessing. I tell them "greater than" or "less than" to narrow it down. This is great for number sense. It also is a quick assessment for me to see who understands greater than and less than.
I run math centers just like reading centers, just with math activities. Click the picture to see my post on centers.
If I didn't have a special in the morning, I would take a recess then and vice versa. They need a break about halfway through the morning and halfway through the afternoon.
Student supply their own snacks and water bottles. I read from a chapter book, usually 2 chapters, during this time. Some of my favorites are Henry and Mudge, Frog and Toad, Junie B. Jones, Magic Tree House, and my newest favorite, Zoey and Sassafras.
Depending on how our morning went, sometimes I don't get to our reading lesson or don't get the whole way through it so I will finish that. Our ELA basal incorporates science and social studies topics, but I will still bring in some science experiments and social studies activites throughout the year.
For writing, we will practice writing a gist for a text we've written. This includes writing a sentence that tells who? did what? when? where? why? or how? We start small and expand as the year goes on.
My first writing unit is foundations to write a good sentence. Next we do a unit on informational writing, learning how to write topic and closing sentences as well as facts about a topic. Opinion or persuasive writing comes next. Finally, I teach personal narrative writing which I think is the hardest for them. After we've learned the basics for each, we use the different types to respond to texts we've read.
At the beginning of the year, I make sure to build free time into my daily routine. It is a long day for them, and they deserve a break at the end. As the year goes on, I make it shorter and then phase it out and only have it sometimes when we complete all the tasks I have for the day. The helper will complete his or her jobs at this time, and I will finish behavior charts or notes I need to send home.
I will call students individually to get folders packed and get their things from their lockers in the hallway to get ready to leave. Then they sit at their desks for a video or I read a book or do an SEL story or lesson to wrap up the day.
The other first grade teacher takes the car riders and I take the bus riders to their respective locations. Dismissal is at 3:20.
Teachers can leave at 3:35, but I rarely do. As I said, I'm not a morning person! Before I leave, I like my room set for the next day so I can just walk in and get rolling. My desk MUST be cleaned off so I can start the next day fresh. This helps eliminate those papers piling up.
