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January 1, 2016

1st Grade Schedule: A Day in the Life

What does a day look like in my classroom? How do we organize and structure our time together? These are two of the most common questions I receive each week, so today I wanted to share with you a basic overview of our daily schedule (barring no interruptions).

Throughout this post, I’ve linked lots of different blog posts if you are interested in learning more or seeing pictures, as well as, Amazon affiliate links for easy shopping if you’re looking for resources.

8:15-8:30 School-wide Morning Meeting

At 7:45 students may start arriving for breakfast or they may wait for Morning Meeting to begin in the gym. Our school uses a whole-school morning meeting where we do the pledge, sing an America song, recite our school mission statement and the Leader in Me Habits, and sing our school song.

8:30-8:40 Preparing for the Day

After morning meeting, we walk to the classroom together and I greet each student at the door with a hug. Students come in, unpack their backpacks, put their Home Folders in their mailboxes, put their backpacks in their cubbies, make a lunch choice on the smart board, and then, may read with a partner or by themselves. Every Monday we have a new set of themed books on our library display shelf (read more here) and my friends love exploring these books in the morning.

8:40-10:20 Daily 5

Students meet me on the carpet where we begin with our Good Morning song. We use Thomas Moore’s song and love the handshakes and smiles we exchange with our friends. Then, we talk about our game plan for the day.

I have a few friends who THRIVE on schedules, so everyday we walk through what our day is going to look like, who will be in our room, and any changes to our normal routine. Within 2-3 minutes, this quickly transitions into our must-know words for the week and our phonics mini-lesson. These are 5-6 sight words that are displayed on the Whiteboard. Each Monday we assign motions to each word, on Tuesdays we practice identifying the words and introduce our phonics skill, on Wednesdays we use Whiteboards to practice writing the words, on Thursdays we practice using the words in a sentence including our phonics skill, and on Fridays we try to combine as many of the words into a mega 1st grade sentence.

By 8:50 we are transitioning into our first Daily 5 choice. This is the time where I meet with my lowest group of readers. I meet with this group for 20 minutes, or so…sometimes longer if we are really jamming with our Daily 5 choices! (See what our Daily 5 choices look like here and snag a free editable rotation chart here.) Our choices include Word Work, Listening to Reading, Read to Self, Work on Writing, and Lexia (an online reading program provided by the District.)

After our first choice (9:10 or so), we meet back on the carpet for a 10 minute comprehension mini-lesson. This mini-lesson follows our comprehension skills for the week and is based on a book we read the previous day during read-aloud. (Read more about how I use Duke on a Bike for making predictions.)

After this mini-lesson, we make our 2nd choices and I meet with my first grade-level group. Students record their choices on this accountability log.

Again, after this group, we will return to the carpet. Many times I will lead a writing or grammar mini-lesson but this is also the most flexible of our transitions. If students are working on something or reading something they want to share with the class, they know to bring it to the carpet. This is their signal to me that they need to share. During this time, we celebrate what is going on during our Daily 5 choices, the goals we are working toward, and give advice/tips for next steps in writing and reading. This is one of my favorite times in the morning because it is so personal to the students and completely student driven. (Below is an email of a friend sharing their book review of a book he/she listened to during Listening to Reading.)

The last two reading groups have changed throughout the year. Although at the beginning of the year, I had 4 guided reading groups that I met with every single day, I am at the point in the year where I will alternate my two highest groups (based on how long our reading block is running). Both of these groups are reading Level J or higher and we work a lot in chapter books. Often times I will meet with one group for 15-20 minutes and then, check in with the other group for 2-3 minutes. Sometimes I will meet with both groups for a shorter amount of time…it really depends on the skills we’re focusing on and the texts we’re reading.

     

10:20-10:35 Bathroom Break, Snack, Heggerty, & Read Aloud

This awkward snack time is perfect for Heggerty Phonemic Awareness! It’s a quick and simple routine that helps warm-up our reading b rains. It’s also the perfect time to READ! When choosing read alouds, I try to think ahead to the next day’s reading mini-lesson or a science lesson I’ll be teaching later in the day. I use a later read-aloud time for just-for-fun books, but this 10 minutes I love devoting to texts we will be using later in the week.

10:35-10:50 Number Talk

Using Parrish’s Number Talks, we love starting our math block off with sharing our thinking. For our number talks, students don’t raise their hands instead they give a thumbs up/down on their chest. This helps everyone to continue thinking even if a few friends already have an idea. During our Number Talk time, I am a facilitator and scribe. While students are explaining their thinking and their math processes, it’s my job to write exactly what they are saying. Acting as a scribe gives other students the chance to ask their friends questions and give suggestions without feeling like I am judging or looking for a right or wrong answer.
Some of our favorite number talks include subitizing dots (what do you see), blank hundreds charts with rows colored in (how many are filled), and already solved word problems (what was the mathematician doing). You can read more about our conversations about numbers and give 5 weeks of FREE conversations here.

10:50-11:30 Guided Math Groups

Guided Math groups are my favorite part of the day. Our learning is hands-on and targeted specific to each of my groups. I run my groups for 20 minutes – usually having time for 2 groups before specials and 1 group after RtI. I’m often asked if 20 minutes is long enough to get a math mini-lesson in. My answer? Absolutely! Unlike whole group where you have to do a general overview with a little of everything, with small group I target the specific needs of each of my groups! With careful and intentional planning, I’m able to slip in a hands-on activity (as students come to the teacher table), a mini-lesson, guided practice, and then, 2 ish days a week, a quick Exit Slip.
While students are not in my Guided Math group, they are using DreamBox (an online math program provided by our District) or at centers. You can read more about our centers and guided math routines here.

11:30-1:15 Specials, Lunch, Recess

Our school is blessed with a 40 minute planning each day during Specials and we have a duty-free lunch. After lunch, we go straight to the playground for 15 minutes of recess.

1:15-1:25 Calendar Math

Coming back from recess, my friends get a drink of water, grab their calendar math journals from their desks, and find a spot to work in the room. Some friends sit in their seats, some sit on the floor, some lay on the library carpet. At this point in the year, students do most of the calendar independently, but we love sharing ways to represent our Number of the Day. The bottom corner always acts as a great spiral review (and introduces content we won’t reach until the very end of April). This is our team’s first year using the Lakeshore Math Journals and they were definitely worth the investment!

1:25-2:25 RtI Math and Reading

There are 5 1st grade classes and during RtI we split students among all 5 classes. The actual ‘intervention’ classes have 12 students in them (max) and are restricted to Tier 2 and Tier 3 students. These intervention groups are all small-group based. Our RtI Reading Class is blessed with 2 push-in adults, and our RtI Math Class is co-taught by the Primary Special Ed Teacher and myself. With these classes being so small, our other RtI groups are much larger, typically ranging from 24-29 students. While these numbers make it tough, it pays off for our strugglers and we as a team make it work.

For reading, students are grouped by their independent Guided Reading Level. While the reading groups are fluid, the reading groups don’t change as much as the math groups do. To allow for differentiation in spelling tests, we do give Spelling Tests in our RtI Reading classes. For math, we use the District Common Assessments to group students. These groups change every unit (~every 6 weeks) and target the specific skilled assessed in each unit.

2:25-3:10 Writing/Theme

Most weeks, this post-RtI time is devoted to writing as our team is really intentional about integrating science and social studies into our guided reading and read-aloud times. Since this afternoon time is more flexible, it’s not uncommon for us to split this 45 minute block between science and writing. Our hands-on science experiences do happen during this time (rather than the morning core). From sound experiments to testing magnets, we use the Next Generation Science Standards to guide our explorations.

In terms of writing, I use a Writer’s Workshop model with loads of mentor texts. The first few minutes of our time together are a mini-lesson (focusing on a very specific skill – adding quotation marks, using commas to separate items in a list, using a hook to grab a reader’s attention). Then, students are given the time to put our mini-lessons into practice while I conference with students. We love listening to Yo, Yo, Ma and since our visit to the orchestra, we’re all about the Vienna Philharmonic.  Then, we wrap-up our time with 5-10 minutes of friends sharing their writing.

3:10-3:20 Reflection

Each afternoon, our school has a 10-15 minute block of reflection built into our afternoon schedule. As a Leader in Me school, we use Stephen Covey’s terminology of “Plus and Delta” reflection. A Plus is something that went really well or something we are proud of. A Delta is not necessarily a negative, rather it is something we want to change in the future. In 1st grade, we meet on the carpet and as a class brainstorm some pluses/deltas for the day and then students individually record their highs/lows for the day. You can read more about our school-wide reflection time in this blog post.

3:20 Dismissal

As soon as I check a student’s reflection sheet, they add it to their green home folder, pack their backpack, put on their coat, and do their classroom job. From straightening crayons in a caddy to sharpening pencils, to organizing our classroom bookshelf, these classroom jobs keep our classroom looking neat. After students finish their job, they meet on the carpet with their friends or they can partner read. If we’ve finished Reflection quickly, I love to sneak in an extra for-fun read aloud.

Friends, you’ve made it – a day in the life of a 1st grader! We have a long but wonderful day. Sometimes it feels like a race, but I am blessed to teach in a school that values instructional time. What questions do you have for me?  How does this compare to your schedule? I’d love to hear your ideas, thoughts, and questions. It’s always interesting to see how other classrooms organize their time!

Join me for weekly classroom updates and free resources that are just-right for your guided math classroom!

Sweet! Thanks so much for joining me. Now check your email to confirm your address & snag your freebies. Happy Teaching! -Catherine

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Filed Under: 1st Grade, My Classroom, Organization Tagged With: 1st Grade

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mona says

    January 1, 2016 at 4:06 pm

    Thank you for sharing your schedule. One of the most difficult things our grade level has grappled with is scheduling everything into our day. I especially found the way that you incorporate your mini-lessons into your guided reading block of time is so helpful. I also want to check out the Lakeshore math journals. I'm excited to share your ideas with my grade level team. Thanks for such an informative post.

    Reply
  2. Christa Swaney says

    January 1, 2016 at 5:37 pm

    Wow! Our school day is from 8:05-2:10. I could get so much more accomplished if I had your school day and I wouldn't feel so rushed. Where do you teach at? Thanks so much for sharing! Even though I teach second grade I look forward and love your blog posts. Happy New Year!!

    Christa
    sweetlifeofsecondgrade

    Reply
    • Kate says

      January 1, 2016 at 9:20 pm

      Hi Christina! I teach at a fabulous school of 750 in South-Central Kentucky. Our school day doesn't technically start until 8:30, but our school does add-on the extra morning meeting time!

      Reply
  3. Jessica Preece says

    January 3, 2016 at 12:20 am

    Thank you so much for sharing this valuable schedule with a first year FIRSTIE TEACHER (but teacher for a total of 11 years)! I find the biggest challenge knowing how to structure everything into the day and this is so helpful! 🙂

    Reply
  4. AngelMama says

    January 3, 2016 at 5:45 pm

    As a first year teacher in First i am so greatful to have found your site. I just love your posts and attitude about education and learning. As a result, I have purchased tons of your products on TPT to show my appreciation for all of the free help you provide; not to mention your products are amazing! My biggest struggle is figuring out how to integrate science and social studies into ELA so that I can use those times for more math review and have more time to really dig into writing. I would love to see a post (or several) about that.

    Jessica

    Reply
  5. Melissa Hutchison says

    January 3, 2016 at 11:51 pm

    Thank you for sharing! Are you required to use a language arts and math curriculum? I find it hard to incorporate mini-lessons/daily 5 with a curriculum.

    Reply
  6. Sarah Paul says

    January 5, 2016 at 5:59 am

    I would LOVE to be a fly on a wall in your classroom. Thanks for a great blog post! You are incredible!

    Reply
  7. Kristen says

    January 9, 2016 at 5:00 am

    I sure wish my day was just a tiny bit longer like yours!

    Reply
  8. A Simple Southern Life says

    January 10, 2016 at 1:29 am

    Wishing I lived in Kentucky so I could A) come work at your school and B) observe you!!

    Reply
  9. Cristina says

    April 29, 2016 at 1:44 pm

    Hello! I teach first grade in Spain, and my day is soooo different. It was really interesting to read about yours, there are so many things that I would like to add to my days! Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  10. Barbara says

    August 8, 2016 at 5:29 pm

    Hi! Where do you fit your social /science? Do you have any time for projects?

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      August 9, 2016 at 1:49 am

      Hi Barbara! Content is integrated into the reading block and then, the hands-on things happen during theme! It works for us. 🙂

      Reply
  11. Whitney says

    May 25, 2017 at 4:36 pm

    Hi, I am thinking of teaching first grade next year. My question is: when you are meeting with small groups, what is keeping other students busy/on task? How do you manage children you’re not meeting with?

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      June 10, 2017 at 4:51 pm

      Hey Whitney! When I am pulling small-groups, students are working at Daily 5 choices. You can read more about how we make it work here: http://brownbagteacher.com/the-daily-5-in-primary-classrooms/

      Reply
  12. Kenzie says

    July 6, 2017 at 5:31 pm

    Catherine, thank you so much for this great resource! I just got my first year of first grade under my belt in a school that doesn’t have an established mentor program. Your blog posts and Facebook live video served as a wonderful too for me! Hope you are having a wonderful summer!

    Reply
  13. Jennife says

    July 16, 2018 at 1:55 am

    Hi-

    I am nervous bc I am possibly going to be teaching 1st grade and have been a Speech Therapist for the past two years and I am waiting to get into Grad school but your blog is very informative and interesting!!!

    Reply
  14. Flora says

    June 28, 2021 at 2:09 am

    Where can I get the Calendar math journals? do you have the ISBN number so that I could find it? Searched in Lakeshore and it is not there. Thanks

    Reply

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My name is Catherine Reed, and I am in Year 10 of my elementary life, residing in small-town, Kentucky.  I student taught in 1st grade and never ...

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Sweet! Thanks so much for joining me. Now check your email to confirm your address & snag your freebies. Happy Teaching! -Catherine

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