3rd/4th grade 6:1:1 Classroom Schedule Tour

Here is how I structure my daily schedule in my 3rd/4th grade 6:1:1 classroom!

Pictured above is a schedule that one of my students keeps on his desk that he checks off throughout the day. It includes our daily schedule along with his pull outs (and its dinosaur themed- dinosaurs are his favorite!)

Background about my Classroom

I work at a K-12 Special Education school that is run through an agency. Many of our students have experienced trauma and have an emotional disability (ED). We also have students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ADHD, etc. For these reasons, our students require a consistent, predictable schedule. Of course, the overall schedule (class period times, lunch blocks, etc.) is set by admin.

My 3rd and 4th Grade Schedule

Here is a layout of my day with explanations of the “special” parts I have added in that work well for my students!

8:10-8:35: Arrival/Breakfast

8:35-8:45: Morning Meeting

8:45-10:07: ELA

10:07-10:54: Specials/Planning

10:54-11:41: Math/Group Counseling on Tuesdays

11:41-12:03: Goal Time

12:03-12:24: Lunch

12:24-1:06: Gym/Planning

1:06-1:53: Science/Social Studies

1:53-2:40: Catch up time/choice time

2:40: Dismissal

*brain breaks/mindfulness activity at the beginning and end of each academic period

Morning Meeting

I worked at a school for 4 years that required every teacher to do a daily morning meeting, which is part of Responsive Classroom. I grew to love it so much that I now implement a shorter version of it every morning. I ask the students a daily question (staff answers too, this is shown in the first picture above) that fosters classroom community. I typically tie the question into whatever the “national day” is that day. I use the site National Today to look up each day.

I then end with a morning message (second picture above). This is just a quick letter to my students explaining what the day will look like. On Mondays, I have my students choose jobs for the week. One of the jobs is Morning Meeting helper, which allows them to read the morning message to the class. My students look forward to the daily question and learning more about their classmates and teachers!

Learn more about morning messages here!

Goal Time

With the way our lunch periods are set up, we have about 20 minutes before it is time for my class to eat lunch. During this 20-minute block, the students use their “goal bins”. In each bin, there are worksheets, games, and activities related to their IEP goals. For example, one of my students has a goal to independently write 5 sentences using proper grammar and punctuation. In his bin are activities where he can practice fixing sentences to include the correct grammar/punctuation (like this cute narwhal game shown in picture above), writing prompts, etc. If a student doesn’t have any academic goals and only has social-emotional goals, I include resources like social stories related to the specific goal (following directions, using coping skills, etc.). The above photo shows an example of an “I Spy Coping Strategies” game that requires the student to find different coping skills and think about what they mean. The students can choose any activity out of their goal bins to work on during this time. They must complete all activities in the bin before I update it with new resources. If it is something like a 2-player game, one of the support staff will play the game with them or they can play with a friend if they are following directions, being safe, etc. You can keep data tracking sheets in these bins as well. You can find some from SSE here!

Catch up time/choice time

Our last period of the day is for students to catch up on any work they have missed due to pull-outs, absences, or not being in the classroom due to behaviors. They are expected to use this time to work on any missing assignments. If they are all caught up, they can then choose from several activities. These activities include math/ELA games on their Chromebook (they love abcya, Splashlearn, Epic, and BrainPOP). All of those sites are free except for BrainPOP, ask your principal if your school can get a subscription! I also include the options of reading a book or completing an activity from our “early finishers bin”, which contains activities like word searches, puzzles, etc.

Brain Breaks/Mindfulness

I am a huge advocate for breaks throughout the day! They benefit both students and staff. I allow my students to choose a brain break before and after each academic period. I have a spinner on my Promethean Board with the students’ names on it. I spin the wheel and if it lands on their name and they are following directions, they can come up to the board to choose a brain break from Youtube. My kids love Kids Bop dances, would you rather, the floor is lava, etc. I remind students that they must be next to their desk, and will even put tape on the floor for a visual of where they should be standing if needed.

My students have gym every day in place of recess. I started noticing that they were coming back from gym every day stressed and upset about the game they played, fights with friends, etc. I now take the first 5 minutes they return to class to do a mindfulness video. There are several great channels on Youtube for this, including “The Mindfulness Teacher”, “Brighten Up! Kids”, and “Go Noodle”. These videos guide them through breathing exercises and help create a calm environment. If a student doesn’t want to participate in the activity, I tell them that they still need to be sitting at their desk doing something silently, like drawing or reading.

These breaks also provide me a few minutes to gather materials needed for the next lesson, answer a quick email, etc.

Having a predictable schedule that also incorporates choice and engaging activities is beneficial for all students, especially those with special needs.

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