Would you tell me how a typical class period for you is run? I'm trying to figure out how to structure my classes and your input would be very helpful! :thanks:
I follow Reader's/Writer's Workshop. Here is my daily routine... 10-15 minutes...Mini-lesson 10 minutes...Read Aloud (yes, I read aloud to my 7th graders every day!) 30 minutes...Independent/Paired reading, Independent writing, and/or Conferencing 5-10 minutes...Share I have been back to school for a week now and this schedule is working wonderfully for me...I have been very happy with it. The times are not exact, some days I read longer and they work independently less but you get the general idea. Hope this helps and good luck finding the right schedule that works for you!
Wow! I kind of wish that I had a simple schedule that I could easily post, but my days vary depending on what we're working on. Here are some variations that I use: Variation 1 (Reading + Vocabulary Instruction) ~10 minutes -- Do Now (At my school this is standard for all classes. I usually use this time to have students practice whatever skill we learned the previous day.) ~5-10 minutes -- Reading Mini-lesson (I discuss, they take notes about whatever skill we're working on -- inferences, for example). ~10-20 minutes -- Read Aloud (I concur with jsfowler, Read Aloud is a great tool for the upper grades, as well as the lower. As I read I may model the skill or I may pull popsicle sticks to ask a question based on the skill we're learning/practicing or old skills we've practiced.) ~20 minutes -- Vocabulary Notes and Game (I pull their vocabulary words from the text each day and together we use context clues to figure out what the words mean. We then write down our agreed upon definition and a sample sentence. As a game, the students pass around a ball and come up with sentences using our vocabulary words -- This is one of the student's favorite things and I give them points towards their class points based on whether they're using the word well.) ~20 minutes -- Independent work time or group work time (this is when they individually work on a handout that asks them to practice our reading skill or they do the work with a partner or group). My school has independent reading built in to our schedule 3 days a week, so on those days I don't set aside any time for that. On the other 2 days I try to give some time for independent reading -- sometimes it is my Do Now). When I teach sentence diagramming I modify the above and take out vocabulary (and possibly the independent practice time) and teach a new grammar skill, then we do some sample problems together, then students work independently or in pairs to complete a grammar handout , those that finish early put their answers on overheads and I use those to correct the handout with the class. When my focus is writing I tend to use a schedule that is similar to jsfowlers. Although, since I have a longer block, I may ask students to work independently/pairs/teams to practice whatever writing skill my mini-lesson was focused on before they go to work on their writing workshop project. I'm looking to make some changes to my writing instruction though, since I thought it was much weaker than my reading instruction last year. I hope this helps and isn't too, too confusing.
10 min- Writing Prompt 15 min - Mini Lesson 20 min - Individualized/ Group Work/ Partner Work 5 min - Homework and Closing This is a typical day.... On Fridays I have a writing workshop, when I work with them on their writing. On Mondays, I usually do a read aloud that is connected to one of the 6 writing traits we will be focusing on.
daily schedule I usually this Mon.-Thur. and then have review activities/games of what we are working on for the week on Fridays. Mon.-Thur. 15-20 min. vocabulary warm-up 45 min. notes and content lesson 20 min. silent read or teacher read aloud 5 min. daily recap We are on block schedule, so our classes are 90 min.s Hope this helps. Jen
This is a really helpful post! I don't know how long my block periods will be yet but its nice to see how others use their time in the classroom.
