The first step in making a schedule is finding out the fixed times, or activities that have a time that you cannot control. There are many examples: start time, dismissal time, lunch, recess, and specials. Enrichment is another common name for specials such as music and art. Depending on your school, you could have a fixed intervention time or recess could be flexible.
Fixed Times
Morning Work: 7:25 to 7:55
Start: 8:00
Lunch: 10:15 to 10:40
Specials: 10:45 to 11:35
Recess: 1:40 to 2:00
Dismissal: 2:45
Now we can move onto broad subjects and break them down after. What subjects are required? Is your school departmentalized where you only teach one subject? Does the district mandate a specific allotted time for subjects?
Broad Subject Minimum Duration Times
ELA Block: 90 minutes daily
Math Block: 75 minutes daily
Intervention: 60 minutes daily
Science: 60 minutes per week
Social Studies: 60 minutes per week
Take a look at your fixed times and see where you can fit your broad subjects in. Also, what order do you prefer? Some people like math in the morning, especially teachers who make calendar time a warm-up to math. My preference is language in the morning because of the potential of heavy content.
Minutes between Fixed Times
Start to Lunch: 2 hours and 15 minutes = 135 minutes
-ELA Block: 90 minutes
-Writing: 30 minutes
-Math Warm-Up: 15 minutes
Specials to Recess: 2 hours = 120 minutes
-Math Block: 60 minutes
-Intervention: 60 minutes
Recess to Dismissal: 30 minutes
-Science/Social Studies/SEL: 30 minutes
Of course, the subject blocks can be broken down into smaller chunks. For an in-depth breakdown of how I set up my intervention block, you can click here.
Blocks Broken Down
ELA Block: 90 minutes
-Phonics: 30 minutes
-Whole Group Reading: 30 minutes
-Small Group Reading/Computers: 30 minutes
Math Block: 75 minutes
-Math Facts: 5 minutes
-Math Warm-Up/Spiral Review: 10 minutes
-Manipulative Discovery: 5 minutes
-Whole Group Math: 40 Minutes
-Independent Math/Exit Ticket: 15 minutes
Intervention: 60 minutes
-Click above for more details!
S/S/S: 30 minutes
-Social Emotional Learning: Mondays
-Social Studies: Tuesdays and Thursdays
-Science: Wednesdays and Fridays
Final step is to put everything together! Write it on the whiteboard or put it on display! Don’t forget to make a copy for your Sub Tub!
Daily Schedule:
Breakfast & Morning Work: 7:25 to 7:55
Phonics: 8:00 to 8:30
Whole Group Reading: 8:30 to 9:00
Small Group Reading: 9:00 to 9:30
Writing: 9:30 to 10:00
Math Warm-Up: 10:00 to 10:15
Lunch & Specials: 10:15 to 11:35
Math: 11:40 to 12:40
Intervention: 12:40 to 1:40
Recess: 1:40 to 2:00
S-S-S: 2:00 to 2:40
Dismissal: 2:45
