Peek at My Week and Plans . . . Daily 5 Here We Go! - Differentiated KindergartenTop

Differentiated Kindergarten

Differentiated instruction in the classroom

Peek at My Week and Plans . . . Daily 5 Here We Go!

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Well, I made it through the first week of school.  In one piece and with my wits still about me.  I call that a ‘win.’  I’m trying to get myself in some kind of routine to post my plans for all of you.  Slowly but surely, I’m making my first attempt of the year.  It’s a bit tough when your class is still in the ‘learning procedures and routines’ stage and when you start school about three weeks later than everyone, but for what it’s worth,  here is a peak at my up-coming week.  I’m linking up with Deedee at Mrs. Will’s  for her weekly peek, so make sure you click on the link at the bottom of the page to see others’ great plans too.

I started Math Stations on Day 2 of school this year, and I am sooooooo pleased at how well my students have gotten into the routine and the procedures and steps for each activity. This will be the 2nd week of stations (it takes about 3 weeks for everyone to work at each station twice).  

All of these activities are from my Back To School Math Stations Galore pack (and I actually had a couple of activities to spare — I’m placing the extras in my exploratory ‘Learning Centers’ to get good use out of them.)
If you would like a print copy of this Math Station schedule, go ahead and click on the schedule above to get it. 
 
Otherwise, here’s a quick overview and you can click on any picture to get more information:
 
1. Back To School I-Spy
 
 
2.  Sensory Table Color Sort
 
3.  Lost Lunch
 
4.  Write The Room for Back To School Supplies
 
5.  Linking Back To School Numbers
 
6.  Count Your Supplies
 
7.  Play-doh Back To School Numbers
 
8.  Back To School Crayon Patterns
 
9.  Counting On Friends
 
 
 
This week’s big goal is to introduce rotations for Daily 6 (my version of Daily 5).  Half the battle is establishing a good system.  In my class, I do not have my students choose where they go (this is a huge difference between what Daily 5 preaches and the reality of what has worked for me in my classroom) but once the routine is established, my kinders get plenty of opportunities for choice within each station.  
Here’s the schedule of stations and how we rotate through them. You can click on the picture if you would like to print this out.
 
If you downloaded this earlier, I went back and tweaked it because it didn’t flow with my room layout but it’s the same idea.  I wanted to update it though so if I ever referred back it would match up.  
For these first two weeks (and perhaps more depending on how ready they are) we are doing a revised schedule in order to acquaint everyone with the stations and expectations.  I have an extra body in my classroom this year with my student teacher, and I’m taking full advantage of it with help getting Daily 6 stations started and going. 

We are still working on building stamina for ‘read to self.’ So at that station, I have an activity for them to use instead.  Once they build stamina to 15 minutes, I will implement read to self as a permanent station for them.  

I also have an extra Word Work station in place of ‘Read to Someone,’ because my students just aren’t ready for that for several months.  Once they are, I will replace Word Work 2 with Read to Someone.

Also because it is only the second week of school, I still have some assessing to do and will not start differentiating these stations for another week or two unless I see they are ready for it sooner.

Here’s a quick overview of Monday and Tuesday Daily 6 Stations:
1.  Work on Writing – Back to School Write the Room (I have an adult walk them through this first together before letting them go out on their own.)


2.  Listen To Reading- I have individual reading bags with personal CD players, a book, clipboard, pencils and crayons.  We won’t start response to listen reports until a bit later.  



3.  Word Work 1 – Back To School Play-doh Letters.  These are the same picture cues that are used in my Early Learners Alpha books and Charts.


4.  Read to Self- Since we aren’t ready for this quite yet, my students will be working on Back To School Linking Letters.




5.  Meet The Teacher-This is the time that I will be doing guided reading.  We won’t be quite there for a while so I will be working with students on the Early Learners Alphabet Chart with Magnets at this station.


6. Word Work Station 2- Back to School Bingo Dotter Letter Fun. 


And so then Wednesday-Thursday Schedule of events are the following:

1. Back To School Write the Room Fun- This time they are on their own and independent.  (Same as above)
 
2. Listen to Reading
 
3.  Word Work 1- Back to School I-Spy Fun.  My kinders have been using I-Spy activities over in the Math Stations so they won’t need to much guidance… even so…there will be a little exploring going on still with magnifying glasses before they get down to work.
 
4.  Read To Self-Of course they aren’t there yet so this time they are going to be doing Bead Exploration.  We use beads a TON in my classroom, so getting them started on a small scale with sorting and writing their name and just getting acquainted with how to string them on pipe cleaners really helps.  If you don’t have this yet, it is a freebie in my store.  Just click on the picture for the link to get it. 
 
 
5.  Meet the Teacher – We are going to working at Back To School ‘What’s Missing’ at this station.  It ends up being a self-correcting, independent station, but I like to work with my students to make sure they understand the concept.
 
6.  Word Work 2 – Time for Recess.  This is a pocket chart game where students take turns hiding and guessing where the recess slide is hidden.  Students take turns guessing letters by naming them until the slide is found.  Whomever finds the hidden slide gets to hide it next.  It’s part of Back School Word Work Stations Galore.
 
I know a bunch of you have asked me about my Daily Schedule, and I’m working on a post that includes that as well…be patient with me.  But for now, you have a peek at my Daily 6 and Math Stations.  I’m still trying to find a plan template for these visual plans that I love but I’m not quite there yet.  I’ll keep tweaking as I go along.  Until them, here’s hoping week two goes as well as week one.
Don’t forget to check out Deedee’s plans and everyone else’s by clicking on the link below.
 
 
 
 
 

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Comments

  5. Tamara Russell says

    Thanks so much for sharing all of those amazing pictures from your centers! 🙂 My favorite was ‘linking back to school numbers’! 🙂 They SO need fine motor skilll practice and that activity gets two birds with one stone…math, and coordination! 🙂 Great ideas! 🙂 I teach first…so…you can send your kinders up to my classroom anytime! 🙂 I am quite sure that they will be more than ready for the challenges of first grade when you are ready to send them on their way! 😉 Glad I stopped in today through the linky and made a new friend! 😉
    XOXO,
    Tamara

    Mrs.Russell’s Room
    First Grade

    Reply

  6. Christina Swan says

    Where do you find the scentos bingo dotters? I think my kids would love them too!
    Thanks for sharing your ideas I start my first day of school tomorrow and can’t wait to use your stations!

    Reply

  7. Brenda says

    I am looking at your TpT package. What kind of application do I need to have to open the zip file? I haven’t done much with zip files, but think I have the capability to open it. I am also a Michigander and would love to support your work!

    Reply

  8. Brenda says

    I am looking at your TpT package. What kind of application do I need to have to open the zip file? I haven’t done much with zip files, but think I have the capability to open it. I am also a Michigander and would love to support your work!

    Reply

  10. Tracey Cameron says

    Hi Marsha,
    I love your differentiated ideas. As a combined Jk/SK teacher I must differentiate my activities and then offer to the mid range as well. I have spent my weekend prepping the resources you shared for organizing your math and Daily 5. I love the different sized printouts. I am wondering if you have one page with each Daily 5 activity on it rather than having to print 6. The place where I plan to store my student resources will not accommodate the larger size and I don’t want to print a full sheet (waste of ink and paper :)) when I only need one. I have need all 6 on the pages already printed as I have 27 in my class.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  12. rudi says

    This post was fantastic!! you have just inspired me to try this out! I am a first year teacher in K and this was so helpful as a starting point!

    Reply

  13. Tanya says

    This year I am going to try your Daily 6 idea. I have another teacher to help so the kids can meet with teacher daily. I’ve always had Read to Self at a separate time because I use Readers Workshop and I think kids really struggle to concentrate if there is too much movement. This is when I 1 on 1 confer.

    I envy that your students can do ABC activities the first week! About 50% of my kids come in with no letter knowledge!

    I’m still going to do traditional Daily 5 training and 6 centers while I train. Then after 2 months, Station 1 will be word work, station 2 is work on writing etc. The kids will have built the stamina and they know where to go.
    Thanks for your great ideas!

    Reply

    • Marsha says

      Sounds like you have a great plan. This will be a new year for me with kids not knowing letters like my previous years. Our district has done away with young 5s and I’ll have 6 year olds who can read and then 4 year olds who have never held a pencil.
      Should be interesting.
      Marsha

      Reply

  14. Tammy says

    i am a home daycare provider: I love all these ideas to use in my Daycare. So glad I came a across your items. My kids like hands on Activities. Toy time they like less time. Which is ok with me.

    Reply

    • Marsha says

      Awww . . . it’s never to early to learn to love to read! And, if you’re doing stations correctly, they think it’s play anyway.
      Marsha

      Reply

  15. Lauren says

    When you are first launching this, do you have the “meet with the teacher” center right away? I would love to start incorporating that ASAP, but I sometimes find it difficult because then I can’t monitor how the kids are doing in their independent centers. They also have a hard time learning to stay at their assigned center. Any tips for this? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Marsha says

      No! You need to let your students get into the routine and master the expectations of stations before you can do ‘meet the teacher.’ Even though they may physically go to the spot where ‘meet the teacher’ takes place (because that’s part of getting used to the routine), they are still doing activities that are more exploratory and that allow me to move around to redirect as needed. After about 2-3 weeks (depending on your group), you will be able to start guided reading at meet the teacher.
      Hope this helps.
      Marsha

      Reply

  16. Allison says

    Hi! I love the idea of starting daily five right away! Your organization is wonderful and I love all of your ideas! Thanks so much!

    My school is starting a “Power Hour” for differentiated, tiered instruction for language arts on days 1, 3 and 5 and math on days 2 and 4. I may be sending my students to another teacher and I may get other students according to needs. Do you know anyone who does this or know of a model of how this may look?

    Thank you very much!!

    Reply

  17. Amy says

    Do you have an editable lesson plan template where you plug in the links to your activities? How do you do this? I LOVE it!!

    Reply

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