One question I get All. The. Time. is, “What does your kindergarten daily schedule look like?” That’s why I thought I would lay it all out in this blog post.
Keep in mind, some times are set for me by my district, but our day is also fluid – things may go shorter or longer depending on how things go. This is just our general daily schedule in kindergarten.
Breakfast and Morning Tubs
9-9:30 – Our schools serves free breakfast, so our day always begins with breakfast and morning tubs.
Students who are not eating breakfast can start morning tubs right away, and then everyone else can join in as they finish eating.
We use my Kindergarten Morning Tubs during this time.
Morning Meeting
9:30-9:45 – We always begin our learning time with morning meeting, no matter what. I know the time seems short, but this time is so routine for us that once we get into it, it goes quickly!
During Morning Meeting we:
* Greet each other
* Do a deep breathing exercise
* Share
* Read our morning message
* Do our alphabet chart routine
* Introduce or review our sight words
* Watch a letter sounds YouTube video
* End with a brain break
Whew! It’s a lot but it goes fast and it gets us ready for a great day!
Whole Group Reading
9:45-10:00 – During our whole group reading time, I use the close reading model to focus on different comprehension strategies. Then, students respond to in writing.
This will look different depending on what time of year it is. I always start with a read aloud. Then, I ask a question and allow students time to do a turn and talk to discuss.
Towards the beginning of the year, we do more interactive and shared writing together and then students draw a picture with their response.
As the year goes on, more of the writing is done independently. When students finish their writing, they can go right into centers so there is no lag time.
Literacy Centers & Guided Reading
10-11 – Students work on literacy centers at their level independently during this time. I allow a lot of choice so that we don’t have to stop and transition.
You can read about how I run literacy centers here.
While students are at centers, I am meeting with guided reading groups:
I like having our literacy center time be more flexible because then I have more flexibility for meeting with guided reading groups, working one-on-one, or progress monitoring.
Phonics
11-11:30 – Phonics is another time of the day that I try to never miss. This time lays such an important foundation for both reading and writing!
During our phonics time, we begin by introducing our reviewing our focus for the week. I will often have students get dry erase boards and then let them practice writing sounds or stretching words out as we practice whole group.
After, students will complete an independent practice page at their table. You can read about what this looks like with CVC words here.
During this time, everyone in the class is working on the same phonics skill, although I do differentiate the independent work slightly. They get more individualized Phonics instruction during their guided reading groups too.
Writer’s Workshop
We go to recess and then lunch at 11:30 and are back and ready to begin Writer’s Workshop by 12:30.
For writing workshop, we have a whole group mini-lesson, independent writing time, and then a share time. I use my Kindergarten Writer’s Workshop curriculum during this time.
You can read more about our Writer’s Workshop schedule here.
Math
1:00-2:00 – Math time looks a little different each day depending on what is planned.
I always start with a warm up and then have a whole group mini-lesson. Our whole group mini-lesson usually has a hands on or partner practice portion. Then, students usually have an independent page to do.
Sometimes this takes the whole time, and sometimes we have time to do math centers after.
We will have recess after math and then specials (art, music, gym, or technology) after.
Science or Social Studies
3:05-3:40 – Science and social studies tend to be more exciting for my kiddos, so I like to have this at the end of the day.
Focus is hard at the end of the day, but having something hands on to do then makes it easier!
Our Daily Schedule
Here is our daily schedule typed out for you:
You can also pin this post for later:
Do you do a calendar routine? I have done it some years and not others. Trying to decide if I want to work it back into my schedule.
I don’t. I work some of the calendar routine elements into our morning meeting time and math warm up, though.
Do you do developmental centers?
Hi Norma! I do differentiated centers and they are free flowing, which means that my students get to choose what they work on within their level.
I have the colored dots that you did for your basket centers. Any chance you could do a yellow and a royal blue? That would be a huge help! Thanks!
Hi! You can email me at [email protected].
Do you incorporate snack into your day? If so, when?
Yes, usually between math and specials. We have a quick snack and sometimes recess.