Planning Document Help Needed

[Guest]

HELLO

 

I am not sure where to post this because i have been reading about how people manage there day. but here goes...

 

I am feeling slightly confused at the mo - i work in a reception class of 26 children and following various courses that i have attended and after talking to other reception teachers i feel that i need to have a more integrated day routine.

 

All of my planning up until this time has been completed using NLS and NNS format as well as a weekly plan divided into the six areas, and therefore i have tended to do Numeracy itme, Literacy time and then choosy, topic related activities in the PM. But just for fun i thought it would be good to mix the whole lot up and and have an intergrated day.

 

But i was wondering how do people plan for thier intergrated day- does anyone have any examples of planning that i could have a look at?

 

my idea was to have whole group times throughout the day so i am covering mental/oral starter, phonic work, big book etc. throughout the day and then 1 or 2 adult initiated activites - Literacy/ NUmeracy/ Curriculum etc through the day and the other children choose thier activites. but how do i write it down so that i make sure that all the children are completing the activites? i have talked to my head about this and she was behind me changing it which is a +ve step now i just have to do it!!!

 

Any ideas gladly recieved

VEry confused Sarah xx

[Guest]

Just read what i have written and it was quite long really!!!!

Whoops! but i think it makes sense?!?!?!

[Susan]

Hi Sarah,

Have you looked at the planning formats? I think that you are right in thinking that you need an integrated day approach. I have resisted the NNS & NLS planning formats as I think they are difficult to implement without being very formal.

However there is a Numeracy & literacy planner that I have designed to allow us to plan our activities against learning intentions without structuring it as the designated forms do and we have found this allows us to move with the children more successfully.

We plan the other 4 areas over a 3week period (there are 3 of us & this allows us to share resources most efficiently!), giving a balance in this time to the other areas. We have teaching focus times throughout the day to deliver numeracy/ literacy elements as you describe. We make sure we have at least 4 phonic sessions and 4 numeracys sessions a week. We also have a reading / bookskills/ guided reading type activity at least 4 times. It can be difficult fitting in a whole class focus for other areas.

 

Does that make sense, hope it helps a little but if not ask again!

 

Susan

[Guest]

Thanks Susan

 

that does help just wondering do you have a set timetable to ensure that all children get to have a go at all the things you plan? i have restriants because i am in a numeracy based classroom and have to swap to a literacy based classroom due to lack of resources every morning after break! this worked OK when it was 2 recption classes but now i have the only YR class and the other is a Y1, and they have less 'choosy' activities for those not involved in adult initiated tasks!

 

i am probably worrying too much about this and think i might just give it another try and see how things go and if it don't work then i'll think again!!!!!

 

Tahnks

Sarah xx

[Susan]

OH Sarah,

thats a slightly different perspective!

I'm not surprised you're struggling.

An integrated day is just that, integrated! you can not share resources on a daily basis as you are putting undue pressure on yourself and the children. You could share resources over a longer period of time and perhaps you need to have a focus on maths one week & literacy the next. By that I do not mean ignore the other area completely but focus on activities to supprt on or the other.

This will obviously need consideration & negotiation especially as I think you are sharing with a year1 class.

 

You may have read elsewhere on the site that I set up my Reception classes last September as Curriculum areas( Iam the FS ccord.).we are a 3 class intake so 1 room was literacy based, 1 was creative based & the other Maths & K&U based.

Each teacher had their own class base in which the teaching focus was delivered (3 times a day, as previously indicated) and then we rotated on mass to another room for a week(4 days-as we found we needed to be 'home based' on a Friday to consolidate learning in Literacy & numeracy).

 

We abandoned it for many reasons and returned to 3 cross curricular rooms at Feb half term for many reasons but an overriding reason was that we were always clock watching & never had the time to develop & extend our teaching focus to suit our children!

 

It was not easy to share resources. especially those made for your class and often teachers were seen with armfuls of materials going up & down the corridor! Each of us had different working practises that made sharing teaching spaces difficult!

 

Children benefiited from the concentrated activity time but also missed out due to time restrictions already mentioned and lack of certain areas of provision such as role play.

 

So my answer to your timetabling question is the teaching focus times are timetabled between activity times. An activity may relate directly to the teaching focus that has just taken place but others will be cross curricular. I like to work so that I have seen all children in the same day complete an activity, but you could work one activity over a longer period to encompass all the children. Depending on the activity, I may repeat it for absentees. PE sessions etc where I need to move out of my classroomare also tometabled!

If you are sharing resources and a workspace, you will need to plan to work one activity over the week, i guess, to include all children but your other activities can't be integrated can they? DO you move your painting etc from 1 classroom to another, or the bricks, the role play?

 

Let us know how you get on but I think you need to renegotiate organisation to implement what you were thinking of.

 

Good luck

 

Susan