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Fitting It All In: How to Schedule a Literacy Block for Kindergarten

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**Looking for 1st grade literacy block schedules? Click HERE. Or for 2nd grade literacy block schedules, click HERE.**

Building a literacy block for Kindergarten was always one of the most challenging parts of creating my daily schedule. There was SO much I wanted to fit in – and that was especially true when I co-taught in a half-day Kindergarten classroom!

Whether you teach full day or half day Kindergarten, creating a literacy block schedule can be tricky. Keep reading to see the components of my Kindergarten literacy block, how long we spent on each component, and some sample schedules for full-day and half-day Kindergarten.

Components of a Kindergarten Literacy Block

There are many different ways you can structure a Kindergarten literacy block, but you may want to include the following components:

Now for a little more detail on what I teach during each component, and how long I spend on each part of the literacy block:

Readaloud & Vocabulary (10-15 minutes):  If I can swing it, I actually do a readaloud twice a day:  one time, we read a book for pure enjoyment, and another time, we read a book to focus on comprehension strategies and vocabulary. You might choose to focus on comprehension and vocabulary during your literacy block readaloud. Then, you could do a readaloud for enjoyment after lunch or recess. You don’t necessarily need 2 brand new books for each day, however. For example, you could read aloud a book for enjoyment on Monday after lunch. Then, you dive into that same book more deeply on Tuesday during your literacy block. I’ve found that kids can better focus on practicing comprehension strategies when they’ve already listened to the book previously. If you don’t have time for two readalouds in a day, you might focus on comprehension Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and read just for enjoyment on Tuesday and Thursday.

Shared Reading (10-15 minutes): This is when I read aloud (and have students help me read) a big book or one of the projectable books from Reading A to Z. Students sit on the rug so that they can see the print. We typically read only 1 or 2 books per week, because we read each text multiple times (first time for comprehension and enjoyment, and additional times for teaching points like “Point once under each word.”). At the beginning of the year, I use shared reading to teach concepts about print (directionality, concept of word, punctuation, etc.). As the year goes on, I focus more on decoding strategies and fluency.

Guided Reading / Small Group and Centers (45 minutes – less at the beginning of the year):  During this block of time, I meet with students for guided reading or small group while the other students work independently (as much as Kinders can be independent!!). In guided reading at the very beginning of the year, we work on simple tasks like learning the letter sounds, but I try to get them reading emergent books as soon as possible (get the lessons I use HERE). The students who are not meeting with me work in literacy centers. At least one of the center activities provides students with further practice on the phonics skill taught during the day’s phonics / word study lesson. Later on in the year, I differentiate that center to give students practice with phonics skills that are more appropriate for their current skill levels.  I usually incorporate a picture or word sort from my phonics program From Sounds to Spelling.

Reading Workshop Minilesson (10 minutes): I teach a decoding, fluency, or comprehension skill (just one per lesson) that students can practice in their independent reading. This is a very brief, focused lesson and can be combined with shared reading.

Independent Reading (20 minutes +5 for sharing time): Students read independently (not silently, but whisper reading). You can also incorporate independent reading time into your literacy centers, but I’ve found that kids are more focused when the classroom is quiet and everyone is focused on independent reading at the same time. I confer with kids individually while everyone is reading. After independent reading time, we come back together as a group so the kids can share about their reading and strategy use with a partner or the class.

Writing Workshop Minilesson (10 minutes): I teach a brief, focused lesson on a writing skill that students can use in their own writing. I structure my writing units by genre, so whatever skill I’m teaching is related to that genre. I model real writing during almost every one of these minilessons.

Independent Writing (25 minutes + 5 for sharing time): Students write independently, and I confer with kids individually. After independent writing time, we come back together as a group so students can share their writing with a partner or the class.

Phonics / Word Work Lesson (10-30 minutes):  At the beginning of the school year, while I’m teaching the alphabet, our whole group phonics time usually lasts about 30 minutes. As the year progresses, I do more phonics work in small group. However, I still do teach a short phonics lesson or review in a whole group setting. For a free yearlong guide to teaching phonics in Kindergarten, click HERE! (Note: We work on phonics for more time than is listed here. We work on phonics during our small groups, and students also have independent phonics practice activities.)

Phonological Awareness (5-10 minutes spread out throughout the day):  This is when we do quick, oral activities to increase students’ awareness of the sounds in words. Phonological awareness activities can include rhyming, segmenting words into their individual sounds (cat -> /c/ /a/ /t/), blending individual sounds to make words, substituting sounds, clapping syllables, etc. I don’t usually write phonological awareness into my daily schedule because we do these activities during transition times and small group/guided reading.

Morning Message (10 minutes):  I didn’t include morning message in the list above, but I also use this routine to teach literacy each day. Before the kids arrive in the morning, I write a sentence or two to start the message. We read those sentences as shared reading (you can quickly teach decoding skills, concepts of print, and phonics – just choose one teaching point per message). Then, I tell the kids that I want to add on another sentence, and we write it together as interactive writing.

Sample Schedules for a Kindergarten Classroom

So what does this look like in a full-day Kindergarten classroom? Here are a few sample schedules – the first one is what my schedule most closely resembled, and the second one follows more of a Daily Five / rotations approach:

This is an example of what Kindergarten daily schedule can look like with a balanced literacy block! Read the blog post to see more sample schedules for full day and half day Kindergarten. - Learning At The Primary Pond   This is an example of what Kindergarten daily schedule can look like with a balanced literacy block! Read the blog post to see more sample schedules for full day and half day Kindergarten. - Learning At The Primary Pond

Or, if you teach half-day Kindergarten, here are some possible schedules:

This is a sample half-day Kindergarten schedule with a balanced literacy block. Read the post for more tips on creating an effective Kindergarten schedule! - Learning At The Primary Pond   This is a sample half day Kindergarten schedule with a balanced literacy block and Daily Five type of setup. Read the full blog post for more details about how to create a schedule for your Kindergarten classroom! - Learning At The Primary Pond

If you teach half-day Kindergarten, kudos to you! Seriously. Trying to cram everything into a couple of hours is such a challenge. Although my students were always tired at the end of full-day Kindergarten, I would much rather deal with that than have only a few hours to get everything in.

If you look between the full-day and half-day Kindergarten schedules, you’ll notice that I did the following to consolidate the literacy block:

  • Cut down on the time allotted for guided reading and centers (45 minutes to 30 minutes)
  • Placed the readaloud and shared reading in a single time slot – you could do a readaloud on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and then do some sort of shared reading on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Either way, you’re still reading to the kids – your focus would just shift depending upon whether it was a readaloud or shared reading.
  • Allowed very little time for science / social studies. You can absolutely still teach science and social studies, but you will need to integrate the content into your literacy block. You can create units of study about a content area topic, and then use your readaloud and guided reading books to address that topic.

General Tips for Scheduling

In an ideal world, you could choose one of these schedules, adapt it slightly, and go with it. However, I know from experience that it’s not always that easy! If you can’t use any of these schedules and have to write one from scratch, here are some general tips that I keep in mind when doing my scheduling:

  • Plan to teach the most important skills right at the beginning of the day. Students are most focused at this time and are more likely to retain what you teach. At the beginning of the year, I go over the letters and sounds right after our morning meeting.
  • Alternate activities that involve sitting quietly/listening with activities that involve movement. For example, you might teach a minilesson, have students work in centers, and then read a book aloud. If you must have two “sitting and listening” activities back-to-back, make sure to include a movement break in between them.
  • Prioritize student practice time. When I have limited time, I tend to want to fill it with teaching, to squeeze in every possible lesson I can. But what kids really need is time to practice with your support. I try to distill my lessons so that they are short and to-the-point, and then give students as much time to practice as possible.
  • Remember that you don’t have to do every activity in the same way every day. You may not have time to meet with 3 guided reading groups every single day, even if you teach full day Kindergarten. You don’t have to plan for a shorter guided reading block for the entire week – just meet with 2 groups some days and 3 groups other days. Or, if you don’t have time for a full writing workshop every day, make your minilesson super short some days and give students time to write.
  • Begin and end the day as a group. It builds community for students to come together for morning meeting or an end of the day song/routine. Those are my favorite times of the day for sure!

I hope this post gave you some ideas for structuring your literacy block! If you are looking for reading and writing curriculum for Kindergarten, click on the images below to read more.

KinderWritingWorkshopBundleCover.001

ABCD Guided Reading Bundle for Kindergarten

Do you have any other strategies or suggestions? Please comment below!

Happy teaching!

Alison

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Julie
8 years ago

Thank you so much for your ideas with half day Kindergarten! I teach two sessions of half day Kindergarten and some days it feels impossible to fit everything in. So thank you for not only acknowledging that it still exists, but also giving ideas of how to schedule it all!

Lorraine
7 years ago
Reply to  Julie

Yes, that’s the same problem I have. Our language arts block is really only an hour and 15 minutes and it is extremely difficult to fit everything in

Lee Ann
8 years ago

Thank you for all of the schedule suggestions! I would definitely use one if I had a self-contained class, but our school is departmentalized so it limits the time we have. I teach ELA to 2 classes for 1 hour, 4 days/wk. in which 30 minutes of that is for our phonics/handwriting program. We also have to work around our specials time (50 minutes) and lunch/recess (1 hour). Having your own class gives you more freedom to do your own schedule.

8 years ago

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!

Thanks for linking up to Great Blog Posts for Kindergarten Teachers.

Jennifer with Simply Kinder

Janet
8 years ago

What about recess, and traditional centers (dramatic play, blocks, etc.)? Even in our half day K we have continued to place importance to children’s social, emotional and physical development. We need to advocate for our youngest learners.

Stephanie
4 years ago
Reply to  Janet

I’m trying to sort out the same dilemma. In Ontario, we have full day kindergarten that is supposed to be play-based. There is still the expectation of juggling guided groups (literacy and math) within that play-based framework, as well as inquiry-based learning! It’s a LOT of juggling, as you can imagine! I’m trying to think of effective ways to make centers and workshops work in our classroom, where play is also important

Lindsay
8 years ago

I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing all of this information and insight. I have been teaching Kindergarten for 7 years now and we are now switching to full day, so this is really helpful since I am looking to revamp and expand my schedule and I know how important literacy is so this was a really great refresher and resource! Thank you again for openly providing these tips and tools! Have a great rest of your summer and a great start to your school year and I look forward to following more of your posts… Read more »

Jenny
8 years ago

Are your literacy stations different from your free play stations and do you have math ststions?

Jershyla
8 years ago

I have seen many sites list mini lessons for reading/ writing. Could you please guide me towards what a mini lesson looks like? I have been unable to find lessons that are under 20 minutes and I know if I could see an example I would be able to create better plans. Please help.

Thank you

Wendy
8 years ago
Reply to  Alison

I was wondering how you fit any play into your day? We try to have a play-based program and fitting everything into a balanced day can be difficult. Does anyone else have a play-based or enquirey based schedule that work well for a JK/Sk split?

Marja
7 years ago

Hi Allison, thank you so much for sharing your great ideas. I just happen to find your blog on Pinterest when I was searching got decoding activities. I find myself struggling with time because I want to fit in phonics and guided writing within each guided reading rotations. This schedule helps. Can I ask besides a-z books what other grade level books would you recommend for like an independent reading center? Thanks again ?.

Melissa
7 years ago

This is great information. Thanks for creating such a wonderful blog!!

Iracema
7 years ago

Thank you so much for posting this. I taught kindergarten for 14 years and had to stop for a while. I am ready to go back to teaching kindergarten again and your post helped me remember what I thought I had forgotten.

Jeanne
7 years ago

Thank you for the schedules! That is the hardest part for me right now! I very much believe it is important for children to play everyday. How long did it take for them to pick up their free choice centers before it was time to exit the classroom for dismissal? Scheduling a closing circle (10 minutes?) plus clean up (5 minutes) leaves me with 20 minutes of free play. In reality is this about what Schedule A would look like at the end of the day?

Tammy
7 years ago

Alison,
Do you think the Reading components in Grades K-3 should be taught in a certain order? Our county has started a program and it suggest to do Read Aloud first then lead into Shared, then Guided, and last Independent. Writing does have a set time, but can be at teacher’s choice. Phonics is suggested during transitions, too. I REALLY like your schedule and want to get your opinion/advice when have time.
Thanks for your help!

Megan
7 years ago

When students are independently reading, practicing the skill you taught, are you all reading the same book or free choice? Thanks!

Caryn
7 years ago

Do you phase in the 20 minutes of independent reading? If so, when do you start (i.e. week 1?) and for how many minutes at the beginning?

perpetua clifforf
6 years ago

what do you teach during the reading lessons? Children between4 and 6 are aloud to read what ?

6 years ago

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for sharing this! These are WONDERFUL suggestions! I’ll definitely implement this 🙂

Amy Woolery
6 years ago

Do you have the students rotating in centers during that time? Do you have guided reading be a “center” they do with you as one of the rotations?

or

Do you have the kids move to different centers on their own and you call up guided reading groups out of centers?

I’ve been doing the rotations and Guided Reading is one of their rotations, but then that only gives me 10 minutes for each group. I teach half day K from 9:15-12. Do you fit in a recess ever?

Amy Woolery
6 years ago
Reply to  Alison

Thank you! Before teaching Kindergarten I taught grade 1-3 over the span of 10 years which was before my 8 year break to have babies. I would pull kids from centers for GR as well. I think next year I’ll be trying that with my Kinder-kids. Then the center groups can more diverse than the kids always being with basically the same kids all year. Looking forward to your post on centers! Thanks again for all your suggestions, ideas, freebies and amazing bundles and such! I’ve learned a lot the last few months!

Carla
6 years ago

Thank you so much for this detailed post! I stumbled upon your blog through Pinterest and I am so glad that I did. This is my first year teaching kindergarten and I am just trying to figure it all out. Your schedule is particularly helpful. I love the variety of activities you put in that target all components of literacy and I think this will really help me in creating a balanced schedule for the full day. I am looking forward to browsing around and reading more of your posts!

Melissa A Velazquez
6 years ago

The best kindergarten schedule in my opinion! Thanks so much for sharing this! This is really going to help plan my instructional time this year!

Teri
6 years ago

Thank you soooo much. This has been very helpful.

Kate
6 years ago

Love your schedule and your blog. My question is, how do you address the needs of your struggling students? If 1-5 of children are dyslexic, guided reading is not going to work. They need the 45 minutes of phonics and the 10 minutes of guided reading. I wondering how as teachers we can “do-it all?” Thanks for the feed back.

nora
6 years ago

This looks more like a typical first grade than a kindergarten schedule.

Have you looked at various guidelines for implementing good practice in kindergarten? I would love to see how you would take that long block of time and integrate it across curriculum areas. I do see there are literacy centers but wouldn’t it be better if the work in the literacy block included social studies, science, art, and other areas?

Deborah
5 years ago

Hello!

Thank you for this post; it will help me greatly next year. How do you incorporate sight words into this schedule?

Mary Louise
4 years ago

Thanks for sharing your schedule. I am always trying to improve my scheduling, I think it is the most difficult part of planning.

Lin
4 years ago

Love your ideas and scheduling

Khushboo
3 years ago

Thank you so much for this. I am a parent and doing homeschooling to my son who is in prep(kindergarten) in Australia.

Ethel Casper
3 years ago

I how you have set up the schedules for Balanced Literacy and give different options. I am a First grade teacher and am using it as a guide for my classroom. thank you so much for sharing!

Editor
Reply to  Ethel Casper

I’m so glad that you’re able to use the schedules in your classroom, Ethel! 🙂

Becky
2 years ago

Thank you so much for the ideas! While I’m not a teacher in the school setting, I do teach in our kindergarten homeschool co-op. This upcoming year, I’m tasked to teach phonics (7 kids), once every two weeks for 45 minutes. This phonics class is in addition to what the kids are learning at home in their daily instruction. My Question is how to structure the class and to structure the year so that we can fit in everything? Should I make each class another sound or a few sounds? What would you suggest? Thanks so much!

Editor
Reply to  Becky

You’re so welcome, Becky! I think your specific daily and yearly schedule would all depend on the particular needs of your students.You can find my yearlong guide to teaching phonics in Kindergarten here: https://lead.learningattheprimarypond.com/free-guide-to-teaching-phonics-in-Kindergarten?_ga=2.98164895.100363009.1622052225-22637090.1609389195. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any more questions! 🙂

Julie Lev
2 years ago

This is so helpful. Just wondering though, where do you fit in handwriting?

Admin
Reply to  Julie Lev

Hi Julie! Handwriting can be fit in either inside the literacy block (before independent writing, in the phonics section) or at a different point in the day. I’ve known teachers who have students work on their handwriting for the first 10 minutes of class as others are arriving, or even as their class is taking a bathroom break – something to work on instead of just waiting in line! Tons of options, but just a matter of what works for you and your classroom schedule.

Welcome!

I’m Alison, a literacy specialist. I love getting kids excited about reading and writing – and sharing teaching ideas with other teachers!

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