September | Week 1

Color Code

🔴 Only you — cannot be skipped or delegated

🟢 Can run simultaneously — another adult in the room handles this while you do something else

🟡 Get ahead move — not urgent today but doing it now saves you later

Day at a Glance

🐝

Morning Meeting

~45 min (with phonological awareness)

✏️

Writing FIRST

Unit 1 Drawing L1 + L2 (double)

🔢

Math

Topic 1 Lesson 1 — Count 1, 2, 3

📖

Read Aloud

Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes

🏛️

Social Studies

Good Citizenship L1 — Rules

💡

Note

Writing comes BEFORE math Weeks 1-6

📋 Prep Box — What Needs to Happen Today

🔴 Must Do

Letter sound cards staged at rug
Writing paper at every table
Math manipulatives pulled for T1 L1
Good Citizenship book ready
Morning message on chart paper

🟢 Simultaneously

Another adult rips math pages for today
Restock morning tubs for Monday
Organize student folders from this week

🟡 Get Ahead on Prep

Write Monday's morning message
Pull Week 2 read alouds
Stage SuccessMaker login cards for Tuesday
Note any students of concern — flag for Monday

🐝

Morning Meeting + Phonological Awareness

~45 min

Objective

Students practice the morning meeting routine and are introduced to phonological awareness through songs and letter sound cards. Slide-based structured literacy does not begin until Week 3. This week builds the auditory and routine foundation.

RF.K.1 RF.K.2 SL.K.1

🎵 Barbara Milne Songs 🎵 Khan Academy Kids 🎬 Alphablocks A–Z

1Sheep timer goes off → students come to bumblebee spots. By now this should be happening automatically.
2Hickety Pickety Bumblebee — one round, every student says their name.
🎵 SING: "Hickety pickety bumblebee, won't you say your name for me? [clap clap] [name] [clap clap clap]"
3Letter sound cards — hold up 5–6 cards, students call out the sound. Fast and energetic. 3 minutes max.
⭐ ROUTINE: Letter sound cards every single morning. This never changes all year.
4Read the morning message together. Point to each word. Talk about the day.
SAY: "Good morning, kindergarteners. Today is Friday, September 4. Today we start learning — for real. We will draw our first story. We will count. We will talk about rules. Let's go."
5One phonological awareness song — Barbara Milne or Khan Academy Kids. 90 seconds.
⭐ ROUTINE: Phonological awareness songs are the structured literacy block for Weeks 1–2. Slide-based instruction begins Week 3 with consonant /m/. This is intentional — build the ear before the eye.
6Brain break — 90 seconds. Chime to end it. Freeze. Move to table spots for writing.
⭐ ROUTINE: Chime ends the brain break. Students freeze and move to table spots. Practice this transition every time.

✏️

Writing — Unit 1 Drawing Lessons 1 + 2 (Double Lesson)

~35 min

Objective

Students understand that drawing is a form of writing. They draw a person — themselves — with a head, body, arms, and legs. Double lesson today because writing comes first in the schedule Weeks 1–6 and today is a 4-day week.

W.K.2 W.K.3 SL.K.5

Schedule note: Writing comes BEFORE math in the daily schedule from Weeks 1–6. Once the writing routine is established (approx Week 6), structured literacy moves back to the morning block and writing moves to afternoon. This week: writing is first.

1Mini lesson — 10 minutes at the rug. Hold up a blank piece of paper.
SAY: "In this classroom, we are all writers. Writers draw pictures to tell stories. Watch me draw a person." Draw a head, body, arms, legs on chart paper — narrate every step. "Now it's your turn. You are going to draw yourself."
2Chime → table spots. Writing paper is already there. Students draw.
SAY: "Draw your head. Draw your body. Draw your arms and your legs. When you are done, add details — what color is your hair? What are you wearing? What are you doing?"
3Students draw independently — 15 minutes. Circulate. Encourage detail. Ask: "Who else is in your picture? What is happening?" This is Lesson 1.
4Lesson 2 — transition to the second drawing. "Now draw your family." Another 10 minutes. Students keep going.
🧰 TOOLBOX: Students who say "I can't draw" — redirect immediately. "In this classroom there is no such thing as can't draw. Draw what you see. Draw what you know. Your picture is perfect because it is yours." Hold this line all year.
52–3 students share from the rug. Celebrate. Papers go in the left side of the folder — keeping.

🔢

Math — Topic 1 Lesson 1: Count 1, 2, 3

~40 min

Objective

Students count objects 1–3 and match quantities to numerals. Whole group only this week — no rotation yet.

K.CC.A.1 K.CC.B.4 K.CC.B.5

🎬 Numberblocks — 1, 2, 3 🎵 Sesame Street Counting

1Chime → smartboard spots. Math pages are already at table spots — leave them there for now.
2Whole group mini lesson — 20 minutes. Count everything in the room. Count students. Count fingers. Count manipulatives. Make counting physical and loud.
SAY: "Let's count everything we can see. How many windows? How many doors? How many of you are wearing red? Count with me — 1, 2, 3."
3Chime → table spots. Math page is there waiting. Students count and record — 15 minutes.
🧰 TOOLBOX: Students who finish early go to the math shelf. Introduce the math shelf explicitly today: "When you finish your math page, put your pencil down and go to the math shelf. Find something to do quietly." This is the beginning of the early finisher routine.
4Chime → collect pages → transition to read aloud.

Double dip: Math counting reinforces Writing Unit 1 Drawing — counting fingers drawn, counting figures in pictures. Flag it when you see it. No need to over-explain. Just point it out.

📖

After Lunch — Read Aloud (Joy Only)

~10 min

Book This Week

Pete the Cat and His White Shoes — or any book from the September read aloud list. No comprehension questions. No stopping. Just reading.

1Students come back from lunch. Bathroom train runs — this is its second day in operation. Reinforce the system.
2Sheep timer → bumblebee spots. Pick up the book. Read it. That is all.

🧰 TOOLBOX: After-lunch read aloud is a regulation tool as much as a literacy tool. Students come back from lunch wound up. A quiet read aloud resets the room. Protect this block every day — it is not optional time.

🏛️

Social Studies — Good Citizenship Lesson 1: Rules

~15 min

Objective

Students identify classroom rules and explain why rules are important. This is Lesson 1 of the Good Citizenship unit — 12 lessons total, completing by end of Week 3.

6.1.2.CivicsPI.1 6.1.2.CivicsDP.1

1Connect to No David from yesterday. David broke every rule. Why do rules exist?
2Students generate classroom rules together. Teacher writes them on chart paper. "What rules do we need in our classroom so everyone is safe and everyone can learn?"
3Students draw one classroom rule on their paper — what does following a rule look like?
⭐ CROSS CURRICULAR: This drawing connects directly to Writing Unit 1 Drawing. Students are applying the same skill — drawing to communicate an idea — to a social studies concept. Double dip.

🧰 TOOLBOX: Good Citizenship runs end of day, 3:20–3:30 block. Every lesson is about 15 minutes. 12 lessons = 12 days = completed by end of Week 3. Do not skip this unit — it sets the civic foundation for the whole year.

· · ·

End of Day + End of Week Checklist

✅

Collected

Math pages + writing pages in folders

📁

Folders

Folder check — left vs right side correct?

📊

Notes

Log any students of concern for Monday

📱

Class Dojo

End of Week 1 post — celebrate the class

🖥️

Tuesday Prep

Stage SuccessMaker login cards for Tuesday

🏠

Leave Today

You have done a week's worth of work. Go home.

Week 1 is done. Here is where you are:
Structured Literacy: Phonological awareness routines established. Letter sound cards introduced. Slides begin Week 3 with consonant /m/. ✅
Math: Topic 1 Lesson 1 complete. ✅
Writing: Unit 1 Drawing Lessons 1 + 2 complete. ✅
Social Studies: Good Citizenship Lesson 1 complete. 11 lessons remaining. ✅
All 6 core routines established and running. ✅

Monday: Week 2 begins. Labor Day is September 7 — 4-day week.

Week 1 · Day 4 🎉