ESY, or Extended School Year, is right around the corner and it is time to start creating a schedule! I know it seems a bit early to be thinking about creating an ESY schedule. Trust me, I think so too! However, here at Simply Special Ed, we have made it SIMPLE for you to do! Let’s get started!
Drafting an ESY Schedule
Before I get into the nitty-gritty of preparing materials, I create a draft schedule for ESY. My district conducts ESY two days a week from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM. I use this information to create an ESY schedule outline.
I always start our day with morning meeting, even throughout ESY. Since this is such a structured way to start our day during the school year, it helps with transitioning into our ESY sessions more easily. I include a work center rotation to work on basic skills and maintaining IEP goals. Lastly, I am sure to complete a whole group activity. More on these details below! Don’t forget to include any meal times, toileting breaks, movement breaks, and pack up times.
ESY Plans
Hear me out! In the SSE shop, you will find this ESY resource that includes 8 weeks of lessons PLANNED FOR YOU! Excuse me?! Could this get any more simple?? This resource gives you so many options to help create an effective ESY schedule that works for YOU and your students. Here’s a preview of my first week:
Weekly ESY Schedule Breakdown
The Simple ESY resource gives me already prepared lesson plans that I can pick and choose the lessons and activities I want to teach to my students. Since I don’t have 8 full weeks of ESY in my district, I like to choose the lessons that will be the most meaningful to my students. I like to make sure that I include at least one activity from each topic for each week: vocabulary, social story, comprehension, basic skills, and hands on learning. During our work center rotations, students will work on vocabulary, comprehension, and basic skills/IEP goal work. The social stories and hands on learning will be completed during whole group times.
Planning Activities
There is an abundance of activities in this ESY resource. The best part? They can all be printed OR used digitally! Some of the resources included are:
- Editable schedules and planning guides
- Digital and printable adapted books and social stories
- Digital and printable comprehension worksheets
- Digital vocabulary
- Choice boards and visual schedules
- Recipes
- Science experiments
- Sensory activities
- Basic Skills worksheets
- Cut and paste worksheets
So. Which activities will you choose??
Creating an ESY schedule has never been easier when using this amazing resource! Don’t let the overwhelming feeling of teaching ESY this summer stress you out. We’re here to help! Leave any questions you have in the comments below!
Additional Resources
Here are some additional resources for ESY from the SSE Shop:
Here are some additional blogs to read to get you ready to teach ESY:
4 Tips you Need to Know for Teaching ESY
ESY Routine for K-2 Special Education
