Managing
a combination class can be tricky, but this year with some careful planning and
amazing team teachers, I feel that everyone is getting what they need. The fabulous second grade teachers at my school take my five second graders for math and the science or social studies unit they are doing. It is an amazing help that I am so thankful for. Here’s my daily schedule and a little
debriefing below:
Daily Schedule
8:15
Daily PE rotations
(Mon-Thursday)
8:40
Math (Second
grade goes to 2nd grade teachers classes for math –truly a
blessing! Since we are working with
Eureka Math (Engage New York) this is super helpful because both grades are
getting the program in full. Because Eureka is not the most teacher friendly program in the world (but is full of awesome methods) I create Power Points for each day (some available at my TPT store). I click through each slide and they keep us moving and on track.
9:55
Daily Math (A
variation of Daily 5) where there are rotations: math writing, independent practice, and math
with a partner (usually learning games) *This is my time to pull kids/groups
that need remediation or advancement.
10:20
Recess
10:40 Fiction (Narrative) Text Instruction: This is
when we cover all the CCSS Reading Literature standards. I connect the Fiction to the Non-Fiction
texts for the kids. For example, in
first grade our connected text for Rules, Rights, Responsibilities is Bud’s
Day Out in our Houghton Mifflin anthology.
I do a CCSS based mini-lesson and then students finish work from the
mini-lesson (I circulate to make sure there are no misconceptions that need to
be corrected) and then I release to Daily 5 time for the early finishers.
11:10
Non-Fiction Text (Informative Text) Instruction- I pull both groups together
across a social studies or science topic. I create informative articles at a
higher level (good for some of my advanced first graders and my second graders
–those kids can read it as an independent text). For those who need more scaffolding I use the
texts as more of a shared/instructional reading text. Both groups do activities based on the CCSS
Reading Informational Standards and the CCSS Writing Standards. I use my close reading units that I created. Right now I’m using Rules, Rights, and
Responsibilities and then I’ll move into Being an American, both close reading
units that are tied to writing (available at my TPT store if you are interested in looking at what they are).
Integration is the key here.
After the mini-lesson, work is given, monitored and as kids finish the
students do Daily 5. This is my time to
pull reading, writing, and skill groups for remediation or advancement. This is also the place that I really check in with my second graders to see if they need help with the science, math, or social studies that they get in their second grade partner class. Although some topics in first and second grade overlap there are a few,
like biographies and letter writing for example, that need to be explicitly
taught to the second graders. I do this
through units that I’m creating and specifically targeted guided reading texts
that I either created or found.
11:45
Writing
(Mini-lessons and workshop writing done through mentor texts). This is easily done for both grade levels
because both grade levels have all the same three text types to cover. The only thing that differs is the rubric
that they are held accountable for (which is based on CCSS for their grade
level). I hit CCSS language standards in
this area as well. I teach all three text types at once, so that the kids can get a full year's practice in each type. In fiction and non-fiction text blocks I do units that practice all three types of writing so this block of writing is for specific modeling of things like introduction writing, similes, description, etc. I use an interactive notebook to teach a lot of the components (in my TPT store).
12:25
Lunch
1:10
Phonics -I
pull both groups at one time – currently for first grade I’m instructing short
vowels and second grade long vowels (for example: short a/long a). We brainstorm together, do a collaborative
activity, and then for word work I use the fluency vowel units I have on TPT. The short vowel unit even includes CCSS
language standards as well. I put the
independent phonics work in the Daily 5 tubs for word work that the kids
complete after my second Daily 5 block after the Fiction block. To manage the different Daily 5 tubs for each
grade level I use two different colors or you could also label them by grade
level.
1:35 Daily Five-During this time of the day the students choose either Read to Self, Work on Writing, Read to a partner, Word Work, or Reading Technology (where they listen, read, or respond to a story). I pull small groups during this time to give individualized instruction in reading and writing. Often, we all start out with a fluency read block where we build stamina with independent reading from their book bags and then they go to choose. If you haven't read the book The Daily 5, it is a great read, and has forever changed my classroom. It builds independence, responsibility, and choice in a structured, manageable way.
2:30
Clean up/Daily Gratitude “I am grateful for _____”
2:45
Dismissal
There
are things I still have to add in like daily goal setting, but I want to
gradually work that in. I am so grateful
that the kids are so amazing and for the wonderful second grade teachers who
take the second graders for math, science and social studies. The
use of effectively using integration of writing and reading across all
disciplines makes achieving the common core standards doable. I also incorporate technology throughout the
units and the writing block. Such things
as iMovie, Power Point, and Story Kit are three great resources that I use to
have kids show their knowledge. I hope
this helps anyone with either grade level or both imagine their day.
Here's a link to some FREE lesson plans:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/First-grade-lesson-plans-Freebie-1670975
Here's a link to some FREE lesson plans:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/First-grade-lesson-plans-Freebie-1670975
