Schedules

Lots of people have commented and asked me to share some sample schedules, so I thought this would be the easiest way to do that! :) I have found that the Daily Five/CAFE works well in ANY kind of schedule. It works great if you have an uninterrupted block of time, but it also works great if you have small chunks of time.

I couldn't find the exact schedule, but the first year I used Daily 5 in my classroom, I had 3 thirty minute blocks when I squeezed in our 3 rounds. On average, we'll do 3 sessions each day but children can always choose from all 5 options.

I generally try to map out how I think our day might look, but I usually end up making changes once we get into the routine and see how we can help our day (and our brains!) flow smoothly. Here are a few samples of schedules I've used in recent years.

Schedule 1
8:50-9:30 Poetry/Journals/Reading
9:30-10:00 PE
10-10:20 Whole Group Reading Instruction
10:30-11:20 Mini-lesson/Daily 5/Small Grp Instruction/Conferring
11:30-12:10 Lunch and Recess
12:10-12:40 Mini-lesson/Daily 5/Small Group/Conferring
12:40-1:10 Library/Intervention
1:10-2:10 Math
2:10-2:30 Snack
2:40-3:10 PE
3:10-3:40 Music or Science
3:40-3:55 Packing Up
3:55 Dismissal

Schedule 2
8:50-9:15 Poetry/Reading
9:15-9:45 Intervention
9:45-10:15 Thinking Together with Books
10:15-11:20 Mini-lesson/Daily Five/Small Grp/Conferring
11:30-12:10 Lunch and Recess
12:10-12:40 Nonfiction Studies
12:40-1:10 PE
1:10-1:40 Music or Computers
1:40-2:00 Snack
2:00-3:00 Math
3:00-3:40 Writer's Workshop
3:40-3:55 Packing Up
3:55 Dismissal

Schedule 3
8:50-9:30 Poetry/Reading/Journals
9:30-10:00 Library or Nonfiction Studies
10:00-10:15 Whole Group Reading Instruction
10:15-10:45 Mini-lesson/Daily 5/Small Grp/Conferring
10:45-11:00 Snack
11:00-12:00 Mini-lesson/Daily 5/Small Grp/Conferring
12:00-12:30 Word Work/Writing
12:40-1:20 Lunch and Recess
1:30-2:30 Math
2:40-3:10 PE
3:10-3:40 Music or Computers

Schedule 4
8:50-9:30 Poetry/Reading/Journals
9:30-10:00 Library or Nonfiction Studies
10:00-10:45 Mini-lesson/Daily 5/Small Group Instr
10:45-11:00 Snack
11:00-:11:30 Word Work/Writing
11:30-12:30 Math
12:40-1:20 Lunch and Recess
1:20-2:30 Mini-lesson/Daily 5/Small Group Instr
2:40-3:10 PE
3:10-3:40 Music or Computers

If you're just getting started with the Daily 5, it might be best to just try what you think might work and tweak from there. I've had some classes who were able to do 3 rounds back-to-back while others could only handle a max of 2 in a row. I hope this helps you in some way! :)