A Day in the life {Linky!}

Hello everyone!

I came across this fun linky hosted by Where the Wild Things Learn to show everyone what your daily schedule is like!

Honestly, because my specials are at different times Monday and Thursday and I only have computer lab Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, my day to day schedule varies. Luckily my 3rd graders can handle it, and I always have our schedule posted so they can keep things straight.

Isn't this graphic adorable?!

My kiddos can start entering at 8:15, tardy bell is at 8:30. Unfortunately, most of my schedule wasn't created by me. I hope I can do things differently next year! My kiddos come in and take care of business like taking AR tests, going to the library, and writing in their assignment notebooks. I check for parent signatures for the previous day in assignment notebooks. I don't give them a consequence, I simply only reward if they have it. Most of the time it's a stamp or sticker, but to keep them motivated I'll occasionally give out new pencils.

I have changed how I do Daily 5 a lot throughout the year. Currently I start with a daily word ladder or grammar review. I also use this time to model a new strategy or a new writing assignment.

I do 3 20 minutes of Daily . We do the traditional choices. Listening to Reading is done with either Playaways or TumbleBooks on student computers. During break, I spent time putting reading groups together and I meet with a group during round 1. I have a coteacher and she also meets with a group. In the small groups they either read passages and answer questions with the teacher, learn new strategies, practice writing, or leveled readers. The passages focus on our basal skill that week. I use passages from ReadWorks.

During rounds 1 and 2 and 2 and 3, I have students share about their book, using a new skill or strategy.

After Daily 5 we move to our Basal Reading book. I'm required to do both Daily 5 and the Basal. On Mondays I introduce the vocabulary. We do an action for each word to help us remember what the word means. On Tuesday I read the story out loud to them. On Wednesday we do some type of guided writing with the story, usually with a graphic organizer. On Thursday we listen to the story on CD. On Friday we take the test. We review vocabulary every day.

After our basal story, we have 15 minutes before our special, so depending on the lesson, I will either start Science/Social Studies, or do some math review.

After special, we continue or start Science/Social Studies. Because I'm required to do Daily 5 and the Basal, and most of my schedule was created without my say, I alternate science and social studies.

That leads us to lunch and recess. After recess, we go to computer lab. In the lab we practice math fact fluency, typing, and do reading and math skills using a computer program.

After computer lab, we have 15 minutes before math. During 1st semester, I took this time to do a read aloud. However, after constant reminders and being completely frustrated with my students' behaviors, I stopped. I had students constantly digging in their desk and putting their heads down. I finally put my foot down and now use this time for D.E.A.R. They're not allowed to go to the bathroom, get drinks, go to library, or take an AR test during this time. It is 15 minutes of nothing but reading. A lot of kids are enjoying their extra time, but many are disappointed that I don't read to them anymore.

After D.E.A.R. is math. My district got a brand new math series K-5 this year. We use EnVision Math Common Core by Pearson. Personally, I think it is very difficult. It requires a lot of reading, reasoning, and explaining.

After Math is recess. After recess, students take care of more business. I usually assign a couple pages of cursive for them to work on and they also have time to do homework, go to the library, and take AR tests. I hardly ever teach anything after that last recess, but I'm going to start doing grammar lessons at least 3 times a week.

I send kids to get their things at 3:00, we pass out papers, and walkers and riders are dismissed at 3:10. Bus students have to wait in the classroom until their bus number is called. I usually have all students gone by 3:20.

I'd love to read about your schedules, so go grab the graphic here!

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