I am FINALLY linking up with my BBB, Amelia, for her A Day Our Way Linky!
I know, I know. Way late to the party… :o) But since I have the day off, and I’m TRYING to finish planning for this week, I thought I’d lay out my schedule for you to show you what a day in Jivey’s classroom is like! Since I have blogged about parts of my day before, I will link some parts to previous posts to give you more information about it.
Morning Work: I don’t have a set “thing” for my morning work. Sometimes I just have them read, sometimes they work on finishing writing from the previous day, sometimes they work on a Science or Social Studies activity I’m taking for a grade. I really use that time as a “what I need from you” time.
DBQ Time: Our entire school works on Document Based Questions during this time. It is a school initiative to improve writing. You can read more about how I use them in my DBQ post.
Science/Social Studies: Yes, you read that right… we have an HOUR for Science and Social Studies! It’s the first time I’ve ever had that long. The first half of the year, I alternated between Science and Social Studies units, so for example, we would spend the entire hour on Science each day until I finished teaching about the Solar System, then we would switch to spending the entire hour on Social Studies to cover our Colonies Unit. Now, I am using the hour to teach both subjects. Some days, we need the whole hour for just one subject, depending on what we are doing, but most days I can do about half and half. Because my DBQs are usually Science or Social Studies based, it leads right into my first lesson for the day.
Reading Workshop: I will give a quick overview of what this looks like, but you can visit my Workshop Wednesday page and look under the Reading heading to get LOTS of details about what I do during my Reading Workshop. During this time, I have nine students leave, either for ESOL services or Accelerated Reading. I generally start with a 15 minute mini-lesson on whatever skill we are working on, then the students practice the skill during their independent reading while I pull guided reading groups OR the students meet with their partners for Reading Partnerships (imagine book clubs, but with only two or three members). It’s nice because I have a smaller class size during this time and I can really focus on my kiddos that need that extra “push.”
Mentor Sentence Time: All of my students return from their various places just in time for Mentor Sentences. If you have followed my blog at all, I think you are familiar with how I use Mentor Sentences, but just in case, here is the link to my Mentor Sentences page!
Lunch/Recess: We have partner teachers for lunch and recess duty (we’re supposed to alternate days), but my partner and I enjoy having an adult to talk to, so we just eat lunch and go outside together. And yes- you saw the time correctly. We might as well be eating breakfast. It’s no wonder I’m starving for dinner everyday at 4:30!!
Specials/Planning: Once a month, we have staff development on a Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of one week. It does make for a LONG week that week, but the rest of the month for the most part, our planning time is “sacred” to do what we need to do while the kids go to PE, Music, Art, Counseling, Computers, Math, or Writing.
Writing Workshop: It’s very difficult to have my Writing Workshop during the 35 minutes I am given, so this is why my morning work is sometimes to work on writing. Just like in Reading Workshop, I start with a 15 minute mini-lesson, then the students practice this skill in their writing as I confer with students. You can read more about these things on the Workshop Wednesday page under the Writing heading.
Math Workshop: I have seven students that leave during this time for Accelerated Math. Aaaaand, just like the other workshops, I follow the same model: 15 minute mini-lesson, then students practice the skills in stations as I work with groups or individual students. You can read more about these things on the Workshop Wednesday page under the Math heading.
Word Study: Our county requires us to focus on Greek and Latin roots for word study. You can read how I teach these in my Word Work post.
Read-Aloud: This is the time I read a chapter or two of a chapter book to my class. This year, I have read Island of the Blue Dolphins, Wonder, and now we are reading George Washington’s Socks. I am hoping to read The One and Only Ivan next.
I hope that this gave you some insight into my day!
This week’s Workshop Wednesday is going to be for Math- How do you use food/candy to TEACH math? There are so many fun ways to have edible math, and I’m always on the lookout for more! I can’t wait to see what you share on Wednesday!
