My (Jam-Packed) 2nd Grade Daily Schedule

My sweet friends Angie Olson and Ashley Schroeder asked me to link up with you this month to share my classroom schedule! Thank you so much for thinking of me ladies! I am honored to be teaming up with you both!

At my old district, I created my own schedule. At my new district, the schedule is made for the entire grade level, and it works out fabulously! We do this because we swap kids for ELA, so it is essential that we all have the same schedule. It works out really nicely because as a second grade team, we are all teaching the same content at the same time. GENIUS! Here's an overview of our daily schedule:


Morning Jobs: Sharpen 2 pencils, respond to the morning message (Responsive Classroom approach), check lunch choice, shop for new books, begin reading to self if time

Morning Meeting: This is based completely on the Responsive Classroom approach, and honestly, this is probably the most important part of our day! Every morning, we share a greeting, share time, activity/game, and read the message together. You can get tons of these activities for FREE by visiting this website.

Daily 5, Guided Reading Groups: Our ELA block really goes from 8:30-10:40 each day, and it is GLORIOUS! I've always felt like I had to rush, rush, rush to meet with all my groups and fit it all in. With this huge chunk of time, I now feel like I can fit it all in comfortably. I meet with two groups before what my kids call "half-time", and two groups after. We follow a Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday rotation board for Daily 5. Meet with the Teacher is not included on the board, because I really like to be flexible with when I meet with my groups. Each group is called a family, and when they meet with me, we call it family time! On Fridays, I have flexible groups for CAFE strategies. Fluency has been a HUGE focus this year. You can read more about how use technology to imrpove reading fluency by reading this article I authored for EdSurge.






ELA Block: From 9:00-9:20, we use a balanced literacy curriculum to teach comprehension strategies through Read Alouds. We then transition to word study, which is based around Words Their Way, and some built in grammar instruction. I really try to demonstrate the grammar through writing, rather than worksheets.

Writing Workshop: Right now, my kids just finished up expository writing, and they included all sorts of transitional linking words in their work. To simplify this entire process, my kids basically generate ideas, create a storyboard, draft, edit, and publish their writing. 
Content Time: During this short block, science and social studies are taught. I am very lucky to be a Project Lead the Way Lead Teacher, and my students love all things STEM! Our most recent STEM project involved building a seed spreader to spread seeds quickly over a large area. My kids this year are more resilent than ever, thanks to our PLTW curriculum. My students will fail when they are building their projects, but they understand that failing helps us learn, get smarter, and grow! You can read more about the amazing PLTW program by clicking here.


Math Workshop: We teach math 5 days a week, and our math curriculum is Everyday Math. I do mental math, math mesage, a short minilesson, and then math stations everyday. I have always taught using math stations, beacuse I can meet with students in groups of 5 or 6, and I always know who has mastered the concepts, and who needs reteaching after their time with me at my station. I really love the math games, because I really think they help kids solidify concepts while having fun! Station 4 is always iPads, and I think that is my kids favorite station for sure! The kids beg for math stations, and love our math block!



Well, that's a very abbreviated recap of a typical day in our classroom! We really utilize every single minute, and our classroom motto is even "Always Learning!". Don't forget to check out the other fabulous bloggers below that have also linked up for this first linky party! Thanks again Angie and Ashley for hosting!