Covid19 Adjustments for Preschool Block Center

 As I was setting up my classroom this year, I felt as if I were a beginning teacher.  There were so many new issues to think about and plan for.  One of the things that was central to my planning was figuring out a safe way for my young pre-k students to continue to have opportunities to play!

In my district, any child over the age of two must wear a mask when on a school campus.  My students are all ages 3-5, so this includes my class.  We also are required to meet social distancing requirements to the greatest extent possible.  This was the biggest challenge in planning my center time this year.

I have referenced the TATS site, my district's guidance plan and of course my knowledge of the benefits of visual supports and the importance of developmentally appropriate practice.  My students start Monday, so this is not kid tested yet!  I may come back next week with a new plan.

In previous years, I had a colorful ABC carpet in this center and would typically have enough materials and space for 4 children to play productively.  This year I rolled up the carpet and am storing it because I felt like it would be too visually distracting.  We have reduced the amount of blocks and supplemental toys in the center and have reduced the center to two students.  I want the students to learn a new procedure of entering the center, so I wanted the visuals and the painters tape to be prominently seen. 

The materials in the center are two bins of lightweight foam blocks and some cars and trucks.  One child will be able to play on one side of the painter's tape while another child can play on the other side.  This is not supporting cooperative play, but at this moment, it was the best I could come up with and still meet the social distancing guidelines I must adhere to.

I chose the foam blocks over the unit blocks because I have a ton of them!  I also chose them because our toy storage rotation system is on top of cabinets and it will be much easier to lift the lightweight foam blocks than the heavy wooden unit blocks.  

My current plan is to only allow the two children who choose blocks to play with these toys.  When they are finished, they will go in a laundry bin to be sprayed with our disinfectant and then sit out of the rotation for 3 days.  If the student does not want to stay in blocks for the entire center time, he or she will be able to choose another available center, or chose a personal play bucket that we set up for each child.

I will post more pictures on the toy rotation system we are planning, other centers, and the individual play buckets later!

Tough Puzzle!

My class, my assistants and I have dubbed this the "hardest puzzle in the world."  It's not, of course.  But it IS a very challenging 750 piece puzzle.

I like to have a puzzle table with an ongoing puzzle set up in my room.  It's a nice anchor activity for my students when they finish work and it also lets me integrate some team building and cooperation conversations throughout the day.  It's also nice to hear the students start to compliment each other when they find pieces and the picture starts to come together.

This particular puzzle was intended to be finished by December.  We finished it the first of May!  There was a period of time when they students really weren't motivated or interested in going back to it because it was so hard.

I was stuck.  Do I take it down and start a new one or push through it?

Luckily, I have the most wonderful paraprofessionals in the world! One day one of them encouraged a student to go over and put one piece in "the hardest puzzle in the world."   He did and then was congratulated for helping us with the "hardest puzzle in the world."  That threw down the challenge and regained the kids' interest in the puzzle.  They started talking about finishing the "hardest puzzle in the world" and actually started to enjoy the challenge of it again.  The crazy thing had been up for so long in the classroom all kinds of pieces were now missing (which made it even harder!)

I'm glad we finished it (to the best of our ability with all those missing pieces.)  It gave them a sense of accomplishment and pride.  They even asked if I would take their picture by "the hardest puzzle in the world."  It also gave us some funny conversation and teasing....they asked me to "Please, never buy another puzzle from Goodwill."  :-)

Silent Reading Procedures

I like having my students practice sustained silent reading.  So often in special education classes we are so focused on providing direct instruction and therapies, managing interventions or collecting data; it seems like we forget that students need to be able to choose their own literature and read on their own!

My goal for my students this year was for them to be able to choose their own book and read silently (or at least quietly in a whisper) and independently for 20 minutes.  Since three of my third grade students started the school year with reading levels below beginning first grade, we obviously had to provide some structure and scaffolding to help them reach this goal.

The first thing you see labeled in this picture is the "book bucket."  It is a simple plastic box purchased at Big Lots for about $2.  Each student in my room has their own personal book bucket.  Within this book bucket we store the child's whisper phone, their sight word rings and Reading A-Z books at their individual levels.

I chose to start our sustained silent reading with book buckets because it was an organizational system that we had previously taught the students in my class.  They all had their book buckets and had spent individual reading time with my assistants and me reading the material within.  I knew that every child could independently read more than 90% of the material in their book bucket.

The first day I introduced silent reading time, I didn't give them many choices.  I asked them all to get their book buckets out on their desks.  They were allowed to read anything that was in their book bucket.  I then set a screen timer for 5 minutes on the Active Board.  We use a free download like this.  I challenged them to see if the entire class could read silently until the timer beeped and cut this grid so that it showed only 10 squares and glued it to a piece of green construction paper with the phrase "We can read silently for 5 minutes."  They were all required to read for 5 minutes out of their book buckets.  When they successfully read for 5 minutes, we put a sticker towards the class goal.  After they reached that goal of reading silently for 5 minutes on ten different opportunities, we congratulated them and told them how proud we were of them and that they were ready for a new goal.

After we met that goal, I made another simple grid and set the screen timer for 7 minutes.  When we met that goal, I bumped them progressively to 10 minutes, 12 minutes, 15 minutes and then finally 20 minutes.

As they showed they could manage the silent reading, I loosened up on the control a little bit.  I would let them choose three books from our classroom library or their library books.  (Remember while some of my students are reading chapter books, I still have a group reading first grade level books.  I needed them to have enough material that would keep them reading for the full 20 minutes.)

A little bit after that, I loosened up the control even more and allowed them to find personal space in the classroom with a laundry basket, a throw pillow or a throw blanket.

Through each little step, I wanted them to maintain their sustained reading but gradually have it become something that they enjoyed and got to choose rather than something I imposed on them.  I'm hoping that this will help them to view themselves as readers and ultimately read for leisure rather than just for work.

Reading Block

This past week I had a first year teacher and her mentor visit my classroom.  I've finally arrived at the point in my career where I actually enjoy this.  My assistants and I "do what we do" every day and to have some one come in to observe and ask questions often prompts further reflection on what we do and why we do it.  I had one of those moments with this observation.

I'm in a rather unique teaching situation within my district this year.  I have a self contained, varying exceptionalities (cross categorical) of all third graders.  Most of our self contained classes across the district are multi-grade.

The teacher observing teaches a class of students kindergarten to third grade.  She provides direct instruction during the reading block for the first through third graders.

Her question was "How do you expose the students to grade level content in reading but still provide direct instruction at their instructional levels?"  Great question!  We always talk about exposing kids to grade level curriculum, but the reality is that most students in self contained classes are significantly below grade level expectations in their skills.  So HOW do you do that?  How would you organize teaching them at their instructional level, but still provide them exposure to grade level materials?

For my class this year, it is actually quite easy.  All of my students are third graders, so we start reading block with a shared reading lesson from the grade level materials.  Within this time frame we introduce the listening comprehension selection, the focus skill and the robust vocabulary words.  After we complete this, we move into instructional level groups for direction instruction in strategies, phonics and comprehension skills.

However, most of the time, in a self contained class, I would need to expose the children to grade level material at three different grade levels.  For example, all of the third graders need exposure to third grade materials.  All of the second graders need exposure to second grade materials and all of the first graders need exposure to first grade materials.

After thinking and reflecting about it, the following is what I came up with as a structure for accomplishing the balance between grade level exposure and direct instruction at instructional levels for a multi-grade class.  Keep in mind, that this is where I would start.  It might need some tweaking based on student needs, assistant skill sets, school resources, etc.

I would use the two different methods (grade level, instructional level) of grouping during my reading block.

The first set of groups would be based on the child's instructional level.  So no matter what grade the child is in, all the kids that are functioning in a 1.5 grade level for reading would be in one instructional group, etc.  Within these groups we would work on decoding strategies, phonics, fluency, comprehension of passages the child reads himself, and focus skills that go with the INSTRUCTIONAL level rather than the grade level.

The second set of groups would be based on the child's grade level. Within these groups we would work on listening comprehension, robust vocabulary and exposure to grade level materials and focus skills.

I base my lessons on a two week schedule, so I typically have 10 instructional days. 

It is important to note: My district uses StoryTown Materials.  The StoryTown materials are organized into a selection lesson for one week.  They also have a focus skill that crosses over 2 selections and practiced over two weeks. The pace of one story every week (addressing the vocabulary, focus skill, grammar and phonics rule) was too fast for my students.  I have decided to align my lessons with the focus skills and a two week period.  In short, this year, my students are only completing the even numbered selections from StoryTown.  We are not using the odd numbered lessons at all.  I am attempting to systematically teach the focus skills and third grade curriculum, but do so at a pace that my students can handle and master!  I started the year at the pace the curriculum suggests and I had students failing left and right.  Clearly something needed to change.  I wanted the kids to be exposed to all of the focus skills, so I opted for using all of the even numbered lessons instead of using every lesson at a slower pace.

On Day 1 in my reading block, I would spend the time entirely within grade level groups rotating between the teacher, an assistant and an independent center (probably the listening center.)  This would give the students a good long and repeated exposure to the grade level shared reading selection.  As the teacher, I would want to spend this time so that I know I am introducing every child to their selection at the beginning of the unit.  This also tends to be fun for my students.  We act out the vocabulary words, think of pictures that help us remember the meaning and discuss the story.

Then on days 2-9, I would break my reading block into 3 time periods.

1) 60 minutes: rotation with instructional level groups
Instructional group station 1: Teacher led
guided reading and strategy work
To be perfectly honest, this is the station where I spend the bulk of my planning time.  I need to think about what the kids are doing, make changes as necessary, push when they are ready for a push and pull back when content is too frustrating.  I like to get a program in place for my other two stations so that I can spend the majority of my "thinking" time on my direct instruction group.
Instructional group station 2: Assistant led
If you have a scripted phonics program (i.e. SRA Reading Mastery) I would use that, if not, materials such as Explode the Code are a bit more affordable than purchasing an entire scripted program.  If that is not available, I would also look to leveled readers from Science materials, media centers professional library, Scholastic News.  I try to keep this station using materials that are familiar to my assistant.  That way, I can spend less time planning for her and explaining what I want the students to work on.  Just as kids like things to be familiar, adults like things to be familiar too!
Instructional group station 3: Independent
computer programs, independent worksheets, silent reading, TEACCH task baskets, etc.  Find something that you have available that your students can do WITHOUT your help.  This is critical!  If your students cannot independently complete what you assign them, you will never get through your reading instruction with other groups.  Even if you have to decrease the level of difficulty, this center MUST be independent or you will sacrifice your instructional time.

2) 5 minutes: Poem or Choral Read
Pull all of the kids back together at their desks or a carpet and do a poem or a choral read.  This works as an instructional method working towards improving fluency, but also as a management technique.  I find that transitions are easier if the students are moving to a designated place.  And then leaving that designated place to group work.  So the idea is to pull them all together annd then send them off again to different groups.

3) 20-25 minutes: Grade Level Groups
On days 2-9 I would probably only see one grade level group a day.  The grade level groups would move through a similar rotation: teacher group, assistant group, independent group, but would differ in how many times I see them.  I see every instructional group every day.  I would not see every grade level group every day.  Over the course of the 10 days, I would see each group 2 or 3 times, my assistant would see each group 2 or 3 times and they would be independent 2 or 3 times.
The three groups would be as follows:
Teacher led: Shared reading, critical thinking skills and grade level focus skills
Assistant led: Vocabulary bingo or other related games
Independent: Listening center with the targeted selection

On the 10th day, we would rest....oops, I mean test!  I would keep the same structure as days 2-9 and complete the instructional level tests in small groups first.  Then I would figure out how to fit in the listening comprehension and robust vocabulary for the grade level groups somewhere.  I would probably have to steal from another time in the day somewhere!


I would love to hear what others are doing to address this question!  Since I've just moved back into the elementary level this year, I haven't been in on these kinds of academic conversations and troubleshooting in a while.

Memorable Moment # 9: I Need the Keys

Today was the first day of school for students. Since I learned my Harry Wong lessons on the importance of procedures long, long ago, the first few weeks of my pre-k classroom are spent on learning the centers, how to play in the centers and how to clean up the centers. That means I don't open every center every day at the beginning of the year.

Today one of the new students in the class asked if he could play in our puzzle center today. My assistant told him that "puzzles are closed." He stood for a second or two and then replied to her, "Ok, I need the keys."

I thought that was a pretty clever response. :-)


image from stopnlook@ flickr.com

Time/Portfolios...How do you balance?

I'm finishing my last class for my Pre-K Disabilities Endorsement. This week our discussion has been centered on portfolio construction. There are two common threads upon which most of my classmates agree:



1) Portfolios are a great way to document student growth.


2) Constructing portfolios takes an enormous amount of teacher time.


In the class I teach at the community college, I am constantly telling my students to ask themselves "So what?" We've learned a new concept. We've been reminded about something we already know, but haven't been implementing. So what? My purpose is in asking them "so what?" is to get them to think about the action component. We can learn many new ideas, but if we don't apply the concept or the theory to our practice, then so what?


So here's my "so what" about portfolio construction.


By no means do I think the students in my class have the greatest portfolio, there are always things at the end of the year that I wish I had done, but my assistant and I are getting better at it each year. The trouble with portfolios is that they are so vague. We have CARE portfolios, work files and portfolios...what goes where and what information is important? How do you categorize information? How do you access information needed daily? Where do you keep it?


I currently have three systems that I think help me organize my data.


1) The student's portfolio (This is 4 inch three ring binder. We put plastic page protectors in it at the beginning of the year. We add work samples inside the page protectors as the year progresses.)


2) The student's work folder (This is a file folder in my desk drawer.)


3) My anecdotal record book (This is a smaller 3 ring binder with page dividers. Each student has a section. I keep this behind my desk so I can easily pull it out at any point in the day and jot down an anecdotal or other data.)


Between the work files, the anecdotal record book and the portfolios, we usually have pretty good examples of the student's skill development and continuing challenges.


Here is the list of things that I keep in my student portfolios:

1)Digital pictures of classroom activities glued to construction paper. The child chooses a picture and then tells about the activity for a language sample. (we do approx 1 per month during small group time...by the end of the year I typically have 8-10 language samples)

2)Self portrait (one at the beginning of the year one at the end...again done during small group time)

3)Work samples from units (we pick 4 units from the year and keep 2 or 3 samples from each of the 4 units. Out of the two or three samples, the student then chooses one of them to talk about/reflect on. We end up with a total of 4 pieces for their student led conference.)

4)Any random/miscellaneous piece that I think really showcases skill development (i.e. one girl was drawing picture about a recent field trip to Mote Marine. I asked her if she could write the sounds for the pictures she was writing she wrote "stnra" and "rjn" (stingray and urchin)...I wasn't planning on keeping that piece when we started the activity,but for her I did because it was such a great example of her writing development. Another boy made the coolest picture of a robot by cutting and gluing scraps when we were making collages. I didn't plan on keeping his when we started but it was such a neat showcase of his fine motor and visual spatial skills that I kept his.)



In work folders I keep the following:

1) Brigance data (This is the assessment inventory that my district is currently using.)

2) Daily reports if the child has one

3) Any notes from home/school

4) Any discipline/referral documentation

5) Copies of IEPs and quarterly progress reports



In my anecdotal record book I keep:

1) Anecdotals (running log from day to day, I file these in the work file at the end of the year)


2) Any RtI data and intervention forms (when we go to CARE I pull the documentation and put it in my work file)


3 things help me the most with portfolios/work files.


1) My assistant rocks! I give her a list of the things I want in the portfolios and approximate time frames and she helps to remind me....we haven't done a language sample in a while, we don't have anything in the portfolio for this unit, etc. She also helps me file work samples during nap time when we have one of those rare days and every child is sleeping.


2) We schedule structured small groups every Tuesday and Thursday so if I need something for the portfolio we can build it into small group lessons during the day.


3) I almost always take at least some portion of my planning time. Pre-k teachers seem to always end up fighting for their plan time. Some teachers don't take it and some teachers can't take it. We need it. I build it into our schedule and take at least a portion of it almost every day. This is when I can look at work samples, file daily reports, write progress reports etc.






What do you include in your portfolios? What systems do you use to help you keep up with the work load? I'd love to hear others' ideas on how to keep authentic examples of student work in practical ways for teachers!

Anchor Activities

An Anchor Activity is an activity that is readily available in a classroom at all times. Anchor Activities are one of the most important classroom management techniques because they allow for children to be productive after independent work is finished or if the teacher has to attend to something unexpected.

Anchor Activities answer the age old student question, "What can I do now?"

The value of having your Anchor Activities established as a classroom routine, is that students should ALWAYS know the answer to that question. They should ALWAYS know what they are allowed to do if their work is finished or if the teacher has to attend to another situation.

In my classroom, after I decide what activities would be my Anchor Activities, I make a big poster with the words and pictures of the activity. This is posted in my room so that every student can see it. During the first week of school, we review this procedure and practice it so the students know what it means.

The following are some guiding questions that may help you decide what activities you can use as an anchor activity in your classroom:

~ What is the length of time required to complete the activity?
~ Does it require another student?
~ Can each child do it independently?
~ Is it always available?
~ How do students begin and end the activity?
~ Where will students complete the activity?

The following are some Anchor Activities I have used in the past:

~ Read a book
~ Write in journal
~ Do a puzzle
~ Draw
~ Bonus Work: "Bonus work" is extra skill worksheets that I keep in a basket on the counter. I use a Sharpie to write "Bonus Work" at the top and just keep them all together in one stack. Students can pick whichever one they want. I think that reviewing a previous lesson isn't going to hurt anyone. :-) The bonus points are recorded for our treasure box day.

More resources on Anchor Activities:

Best Practices: Instructional Strategies and Techniques

Differentiated Instruction and Anchor Activities

More About Anchor Activities

Vocabulary Anchor Activity

Anchor Activities

6th Grade Anchor Activities

4th Grade Anchor Activities

Student Led Conferences

My school was recently authorized as an International Baccalaureate School. One of the requirements of IB schools is to hold Student Led Conferences each year.

At a student led conference, parents are invited to school for a conference where the student is in charge. The teacher does not lead or guide the conference, this job belongs to the child.

As an educator, I was excited about this event. As a pre-k educator, I was a little bit nervous. How would I teach children, especially children ages 3-5 with disabilties to lead their own conference? How would I ensure that the conference was student driven, but supported enough that it would be meaningful for 3-5 year olds?

We just finished our student led conferences. They were wonderful and worth every minute of planning involved!

I explained the prep work and student led conference experience to my husband (not a teacher) with a roller coaster analogy. You wait in line for an hour and the ride is over in 2 minutes. But, if you are a roller coaster junkie, it is well worth the wait. You'll wait time and again. Year after year. That's how our first student led conferences went. An incredible amount of planning time went into them, and they were over very quickly. But they were well worth the time invested and we'll willingly schedule them again, year after year.

Tips for successful conferences:

1) Keep work samples throughout the year.

We kept 2-3 pieces for each major theme and then let the child choose which piece s/he wanted to talk about. When they chose the piece for their conference, we completed a student reflection worksheet with Boardmaker icons. The reflection worksheet helps to guide some of the conversation with parents and children.

(Note: The students did not talk about every theme that we taught nor did they talk about every piece that we saved. They spoke about 4 pieces total. Three that they chose and the fourth was a book of their oral language samples about photos of class activities.)

2) Structure and organize the work samples in a way that is easy for students and families to use.

My students are familiar with Boardmaker icons. We created a "worklist" of 4 icons about work samples they were going to talk about. A matching icon was taped to the work sample. Students removed the icon from their worklist, matched it to the work sample and then talked about that piece (very similar to TEACCH task baskets).

Parents had clues from the reflection worksheet and the work sample to talk to their help prompt their child if s/he stopped talking.

(The picture on the top is the "work list." The picture in the center is a bucket that held the work samples and the work list. The picture on the bottom is the student reflection form.)

3) Walk away!

As the teacher in the classroom you are an authority figure. Walk away from the table! This leaves the parents as the only authority figure in close proximity. If you walk away, it minimizes role confusion between the authority status of the teacher and parent. (who will prompt, who will ask a question, when to wait, etc) It also minimizes the "on the spot" climate for the student. We observed more authentic conversation about work samples when the teacher was not at the table with the parent and child.

4) Let go!

The goal of our student led conferences was to generate meaningful conversation between the child and the parents about topics they had learned. The tools and the structure were in place....let the rest go. Let the conversation emerge.

5) Listen from a discreet distance.

You'll be amazed at what the children explain and how they explain it. Student led conferences are truly a rewarding experience for the child, the parent and the teacher.

Classroom Procedures: Continuation of the Benefits of Daily Routines

In two previous posts, The Benefits of a Daily Routine and Entrance Procedures we discussed the importance of establishing, teaching and maintaining classroom routines and procedures. A routine or procedure is different than a rule in that it teaches a student the steps to complete a task. (i.e. The line up routine teaches students the steps to successfully line up.) Harry Wong is an advocate for only a few classroom rules (i.e hands and feet to self) but supports the widespread use of many classroom routines/procedures.

The following list are some of the routines that I find important and useful. While I cannot give specific advice on how to structure your classroom procedures without knowing details about your class dynamics, your physical layout and your school rules; I can offer some guiding questions that may help you to determine routines for yourself. I can also give examples of routines that I use and you can modify them to fit your teaching situation.

Bathroom
When can students go?
When do they need to wait?
What will I do for students who need help?
Where do they wash and dry hands?
Where is the trash can?
How do I get custodial help for accidents?
Have I shown respect for all students?

My procedure for K-2: Students could go to the bathroom anytime during the following: morning work, independent work, centers, recess, snack or lunch. They were not allowed to go during direct instruction time (i.e reading group, math group, writing). If they asked, I usually asked them if they could wait. Most frequently, they could wait. Sometimes they could not and I would let them go. However, if this became a pattern, then I began to think it was an escape behavior. I would then ask my (meticulously organized) assistant to help me remember to send them before instructional groups started.

Drinks
When can students get a drink?
When do they have to wait?
Is permission required?
How do they request permission?
When during the day can you schedule drinks in your routine?
Have I provided enough opportunities for hydration?

My procedure for K-2: Same procedure as bathrooming. Verbal reminders were given to students to get drinks after recess and physical education activities.

Pencil Sharpening
Provide an opportunity for students:
~during the first 15 minutes in the morning
~during choice time, independent work, centers

Teacher always has sharpened pencils available:
~at the teacher's table
~at the assistant's table
~on the counter for student use
Do I have a system in place to provide materials in a timely manner?

My procedure for K-2: I have to confess, this is one of my pet peeves. My procedure was created out of a need to maintain my sanity. Pencil sharpening is one the of the most distracting and irritating sounds for me. I hate it! No pencils are allowed to be sharpened during my direct instruction time. It is like nails on the chalkboard for me!

Students could sharpen pencils during the first 15 minutes of class or during center time. After that, if they needed a sharpened pencil they had to use one of mine or my assistant's. We always had pencils at our teaching tables and on a counter for students.

Line Up
Do I have a cue to tell students when to line up?
Is there enough physical space for all students to line up?
How will students move to line? (in groups, one at a time, all together?)
How will students know their place in line?
Will I have specific jobs? (line leader, door holder, light monitor)

K-2 procedure: We created a line order. The first person in line was, obviously, the line leader. The last person in line was the door holder. Each week the line leader went to the end of the line and the next person in line moved up. This allowed each child to have a turn at both jobs.

Visual tip: My husband introduced me to painter's tape. Painters tape is blue tape (easily found in the painting department of Home Depot and Lowe's) that does not leave a sticky, gooey mess (like masking tape does). I now use painter's tape as a visual cue on the floor to outline a shape for each child to stand on when lining up.

Transitioning to a new activity
What cue do you use to let students know it's time for a new activity? (timer, verbal cue, chimes)
How much time do students have to move to the next activity?
How do they know when to start the next activity?
How will they move (if required) to the next activity?

K-2 procedure: We transitioned to the next reading or math group according to a timer. When the timer beeped, it was time to move.

These are just some examples of classroom procedures that I have found to be beneficial. Teaching a procdure helps students to understand how you want them to complete a task. Procedures help students to be successful in the classroom and they help to maximize time on task by directly teaching expectations.

Entrance Routines and Procedures

I'm a procedural person. I like having a procedure set with the over-riding goal understood by all classroom staff. This helps me when I'm lesson planning.....I can quickly figure out if new ideas will work with the structure of a procedure or if they need modifying to be successful.

Teachers and/or parents sometimes fear that creating a routine will stifle creativity or limit a child's imagination. While that fear is understandable, my experience is quite the opposite! I see children becoming more creative and more willing to take risks because they have a safe and familiar way to access materials and interact with peers. Exploration, discovery, risk-taking, problem solving, inquiry....all can be embedded into a routine. (Check out an earlier post about daily routines: http://michellespecialeducation.blogspot.com/search/label/daily%20routine)

A natural place to start with classroom procedures is an Entrance Routine or Procedure. At every level of education students have to enter the classroom. The beginning of your lesson will be more effective if you SET and then TEACH your students an Entrance Routine or Procedure.

I have observed quite a few master teachers at work in their classrooms. I have seen a number of ideas for Entrance Routines, however, they all have certain characteristics that are similar. Things to think about before determining your personal entrance routine.

1) What are staff assignments? (bus, parent drop off, classroom)
2) Have a consistent routine in place. (the option or activity may change as the student's skills increase)
3) Can EVERY child participate in the routine? (Is staff support available for those who need it?)
4) Have I set the tone for the day/lesson? (SMILE :-), staff greets student, student greets staff)

I first observed how effective an entrance routine was in my Level 2 internship. (Thanks, Heather, for teaching me such a valuable lesson!) I was interning at a middle school. The teacher I was assigned with taught several different levels of math throughout the day, however at the beginning of each class all of her students did the following:

First: "Do Nows" (board work, usually review problems)
Second: "Mad Minute" (precision teaching based, math fact drills, http://www.fldoe.org/ese/doc/ndexlist.doc)
Third: Homework Review

Heather posted her routine and every class period completed this routine when they entered her class. She varied the assignments according to the class and student needs, however, everyone was able to participate successfully. Inevitably, a smooth entrance and preparation for learning made her instructional time much more effective also!

Ideas for Entrance Routines (Please share your entrance routines in the comments section!)

Idea #1: Journals:
The teacher assigns an option based on student's skill set:

Option 1:
Student draws a picture in journal
*tell an adult about the picture, adult writes dictation
*write beginning sounds to match picture, adult writes dictation
*write a sentence about picture (adult only re-writes sentence if it is not easily decoded)

Option 2:
Student writes sentences only
*student reads journal entry to adult

When daily journal entry is finished:
*student moves journal to corner of desk to "cue" adult they are finished and ready to talk
*adult listens and draws "star" or "smiley" at top of page
*student returns journal into his/her desk until the following day

Completed journal (last journal entry finished) goes home

New journals
*pre-made new journals are stored in a tray on a bookshelf or counter for easy student access
*students independently get a new journal from the tray when needed
(Journals I have used in the past are pages of developmentally appropriate writing paper, stapled together with a construction paper cover. Easy and cheap!)



Idea #2: Visual Entrance Chart
*Create or purchase a poster large enough to accomodate all student pictures or names (leave room for new students/growth). Laminate poster. Stick loops (soft) velcro squares or dots on poster. (We started with a school house poster purchased from a teacher supply store....easy and got us going! Since then we have created posters to match theme units or skills: shapes, colors, numbers, harvest, insects, sea animals, etc.....more work but helps to develop skills and vocabulary.)
*Write students' names on poster board/tagboard. Laminate or cover with sealing tape. Stick hooks (hard/rough) velcro on back of name.
*Stick loops velcro (soft) velcro dots on cubbies or below backpack hooks.
*Place student name on velcro in cubby or below hook.
*When students hang up back pack, they take their name and place it on the chart


Idea #3: Independent Work Folders
*Create a file folder for each student. Fill file folder with individual worksheets based on IEP goals. (I used these a lot with math goals. i.e. Adding to 10 with blocks. Adding double digits with re-grouping. Multiplying single digit by double digits.)
*Work must be able to be completed WITHOUT adult assistance.
*Post goal and mastery chart on or in file folder. (I used a small strip of paper and wrote the goal and mastery level on it. i.e. I can add to 10 with blocks 80% or better. Then I drew a quick and easy chart with 10 small squares.)
*Put sticker or star on chart towards mastery.
*10 stickers = mastery
*Change goal when mastery achieved.

Note: This is a great way to collect data towards goal mastery for progress reports. The students are empowered by helping to collect their data and they have "proof" of their progress. My K-2 class got so excited by mastering their goals, we some-how morphed into having a "goal dance" when they reached their goal.... 10 seconds of a dance with the staff and kids saying "Go Jason! It's your goal dance!" Cheesy but effective (with that group!) :-)

Remember: When creating independent work folders, you should be choosing activities that will move the student towards independently demonstrating IEP goal/objective mastery.


Idea #4: Earn Time
Student Must:
*turn in signed daily report and agenda
*turn in completed homework
*hang up backpack
*say good morning/ greet staff

If all are completed then:
*student may choose a center for play
*clean up cue is the bell for school news

If all are not completed then:
*student completes homework at desk
*student may draw at desk



Idea #5: Table Work / Desk Work / Bell Work
*Teacher chooses an activity that is placed on students tables/desks as they arrive
*Student completes work/activity
*Pre-K example: choice of puzzles, book exploration, choice of selected manipulatives (I choose the type of activity. The child chooses which specific item he/she wants.)
*K-2 example: math pages, Explode the Code, individual whiteboards/chalkboards
*3-5 example: calendar work, cursive handwriting, Explode the Code (check out link) http://www.epsbooks.com/dynamic/catalog/series.asp?subject=02S&subjectdesc=Phonics%2FDecoding++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++&series=1460M


Entrance routines allow students and staff to start the day on a positive note. Entrance routines establish a framework teaching students HOW to enter the classroom and prepare themselves to learn! There are limitless ways to incorporate this into your day. I love learning successful strategies from other teachers and parents!

I invite you to share your successful entrance routines in the comments section!

The Benefits of a Daily Routine

Have you ever watched John and Kate Plus 8? It's a TV show on Discovery Channel about a married couple who has two sets of multiples (twins and sextuplets). The twins are in elementary school and Kate is a stay at home mom with the sextuplets. Well, in one episode (I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember the exact quote) Kate says that her days with the sextuplets are.....vastly different yet shockingly the same. I laughed out loud when she said that because it completely mirrors what I do as a special education teacher. The framework is the same every single day, but the conversations and lessons are so very different. The method to ensure that each day is the same is by scheduling the day according to a routine.

Why would I bother with a routine? As an adult, think about your comfort level related to activities/events where you are familiar with and know what to expect. Think about knowing expectations.

Each morning I drive to school. I know that I need 17 minutes to drive to school, park and enter my classroom by 8:00am. I also know that students begin arriving at 8:10. I know that my plan book is on my desk, my assistant will have read what I want for table work and will have it placed on the tables. That gives me 10 minutes each morning to touch base with my assistant.

Having my routine set when I get to work REALLY helps me. Knowing how much time I need to get to school, what I will be doing and what my assistant will be doing helps me get through my grouchy morning self (also the perfect cup of coffee: just the right temperature with just the right amount of creamer hand delivered to me by my husband...that helps me get through my grouchy morning self, too.) :-)

Setting classroom and home routines helps children understand expectations and boundaries. It helps them to become familiar and comfortable within the day. A routine (as illustrated in my personal anecdote) also becomes a strategy to use during moments of stress or emotion. We tend to revert back to what is familiar and comfortable. Knowing this, it is important to create an effective routine that becomes comfortable. When scheduling an effective routine there are several things that must be kept in mind.

1) Developmentally Appropriate Practice (Ask yourself, what should my students/children be learning? What must be included? reading? centers? math?)
2) Natural times for specific activities (Children get hungry in the middle of the day. If your lunch time is not determined by the school, plan an appropriate time. Young children typically learn best in the morning block and often become tired by the afternoon. Plan academics or pre-academics in the morning and quiet or less demanding activities in the afternoon.)
3) Use the Premack principle! (The Premack principle states that students will generally perform a less desirable task to get to a more desirable task. Check out this wikipedia link for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack I have a friend who calls this "Grandma's rule." I also use the Pink Floyd song lyrics: "If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?" to explain this principle to my college students. One example of applying the Premack principle in my classroom practice is clean up and snack. When we clean up centers then we go to the table and have a snack.
4) For teachers: check school policies/routines! (Many schools have school routines in place for entrance/dismissal, recess, lunch, specials, reading blocks, computer labs, etc. Your classroom schedule may have some flexibility in some areas but limited flexibility in others. Check first!)
5) Post your routine (Once you have scheduled your routine, post it in your home or classroom. In moments of stress, you can point out where you are in the routine and remind your student/child what comes next. It helps children conceptualize the idea that this activity will not last forever and a more desired activity will follow. Think of you posted routine as if it were an agenda for a staff meeting. When you have a printed agenda in front of you, you can check your progress throughout the meeting.)

Following are three examples of a daily schedule. One is designed for students with special needs in pre-kindergarten, the next is for students with special needs kindergarten-second grade and the final schedule is for third-fifth graders with special needs. You will notice that more specific classroom routines are embedded within the daily schedule. In his book The First Days of School, Harry Wong discusses and stresses the importance of classroom procedures. http://www.harrywong.com/

(I will discuss other specific classroom procedures in later posts.)

Pre-Kindergarten:
Entrance Routine (hang up backpack, put folder in tray, put name on chart, choose table work)
Table Work
School News
Breakfast
Morning Circle
Centers (discovery play, small group work)
Clean Up
Snack
Bathroom
Story
Gross Motor Activity
Lunch
Bathroom
Nap
Video/Interactive Stories online on the projection screen
Closing Circle (Tuesdays: computer buddies, Thursdays: book buddies)
Gross Motor Activity
Dismissal


Kindergarten-2nd grade
Entrance Routine (hangup backpack, put folder in tray, choose bell work)
Bell Work (calendar work, journal writing)
Mainstreaming
Morning Circle
Reading Groups
Snack
Recess
Math Groups
Lunch
Language Arts
Specials (art, music, pe)
Affective lesson
Developmental centers
Pack Up and Dismissal


Third Grade to Fifth Grade
Entrance Routine (hang up backpack, folder in tray, choose bell work)
Bell Work (calendar work, cursive handwriting practice)
School News
Math Groups
Specials
Class Meeting
Writers Workshop and Language Arts
Lunch
Recess
Reading Groups
Computer Lab (individual reading and math practice on computer)
Dismissal