Please click on the link below to see the flow of the day for the 2015 – 2016 school year.
Flow of the Day in Blue Jay’s Nest 2015 – 2016
Read on for a general explanation of our day.
Was it a week of coincidences…? I have been thinking about the TCDSB Summer Literacy Program, the balance of literacy instruction and support with inquiry and emergent curriculum in kindergarten. It was also the week of Welcome To Kindergarten and meeting parents of new JK students. In both occasions, the question of the flow of the day in our classroom came up. Or, as a parent said, “What do you do all day?” My response was, “That’s a great question!” I then rambled on about centers, transitions, music, gym, outdoors, circle and sharing times, etc. So, here is, hopefully, some clarity on the flow of the day in Blue Jay’s Nest. Of course, it is always responsive to change, surprises, and spur of the moments.
The day begins in the cubby area, greeting friends, catching up on news, settling in, O Canada, prayer, and announcements. We found that trying to hurry to the carpet before O Canada began was frantic, so we take our time and stand at attention in our boots sometimes! It works wonderfully. Students check in for attendance by answering a survey question. Survey questions are written by both teachers and students depending on what is happening in the classroom or who remembers! This particular question reads, “Do you think the balloons will fall?” It is related to a balloon inquiry that we were involved in.
At the gathering carpet, some relaxing music and video or picture is playing. Students are encouraged to sit and use this time for themselves. Whether it is deep breathing with eyes closed, quietly reflecting on the video, or praying, we all use this time to get ourselves ready to be in the classroom with our minds, our hearts, and our bodies. A short reading of a morning message and data from the survey question is collected and shared. The teacher speaks about what is available at centers, sometimes explaining what might be new, or sometimes providing reminders about wonders from other days that need further exploration. (Click here to see some of our centers.) Then students make a plan. This is essential in our learning through play.
This is a co-created success criteria. Students thought that the word “think” was important, so they circled it! We used to require a written documentation of learning from each student every day. We no longer do this. Read here to see why. However, students still share their play intentions orally.
After they share their plan, students disperse to play. Snack is always available as a center. Hungry students start their day there!
Generally, we like to have a long time at centres all morning. Some mornings may have interruptions, but usually we enjoy a long play time all the way through lunch. Lunch is incorporated into centre time as a centre. Students are divided into 3 lunch groups. While one groups begins eating at 11:00, the rest of the students play. We pause every 20 minutes to call another lunch group to come to the dining table. This way, play is paused, but never stopped. The food mess stays in one area of the classroom. And, we found it is really hard for everyone to do the same thing at the same time – including eating lunch!
I (teacher) leave for lunch from 11:45 – 12:45. At around 12:00 centres are cleaned up. Students then go outside with a lunchtime supervisor. Miss Minnema (ECE) takes her lunch and afternoon break together from 12:30 (ish) to 1:15 (ish).
We stay outdoors until 1:30 “ish”. It is unstructured play with invitations to explore, build, collaborate and pretend.
We go back inside the classroom and prepare for some small group teacher-led activities that are either literacy or numeracy based. These include games, mini lessons, shared reading, and phonemic awareness activities. These groupings are not static, but are changed according to observations and needs identified during assessment for learning opportunities throughout the day.
The last part of the day has undergone a variety of transformations and names. It started out as “Quiet Time”…but being quiet wasn’t really working. It became “Reflection Time”…but that didn’t fit either. So now we are on “Whisper Activities”…we’ll see if this feels better! Basically it is a time for students to enjoy a book, work on a writing activity, or have a snack. This is when teachers can read individually with students. I love this time because I often find myself lying on the carpet reading with or being read to! What a treat!!
Sometimes this reflection time is cut short to allow for a knowledge-building circle depending on what has emerged during the day. We end with a prayer and then move to the cubby area to get ready for home.
All of this took many months (plus all of last year) of trying, tweaking, practicing, revisiting, refining…and it is still based on the sense of “ish”…nothing in stone. Rather a desire to uncover and use the natural flow of time, attention, and interest balanced with the necessity of school schedules, transitions, and time limits.
That is what we do all day!
