Independent Group Time

  HUMP DAY!!  Seriously, how much do you LOVE that GEICO commercial??  Just for giggles, I had to share!!

As the beginning of my school year gets closer and closer (less than a month away now...) I have been thinking more and more of how I want my year to look like.  One of the biggest challenges I'm facing is Independent Group Time.  In my district, there are no longer paraeducators in kindergarten classrooms.  During our Reading Block and our Math Block, we have small group rotations.  There is a group meeting with me, a group at centers, and an independent group.  During their independent group time, they are working on a task to help reinforce a skill.  Sometimes they are actually completing the task on their own, and sometimes they work with another member of their group.  However, there is no direct supervision while they are at that table.  I am not very far away, but I am trying to run a group and can't always rush over to assist them.  For me, this is a scary thought challenge that I need to address this year. I found some amazing ideas from Jessica Meacham over at Mrs. Meacham's Classroom Snapshots, and I will most definitely be trying out her Name Game (will post more about this next week).   I like the idea of having them complete a portrait of the Dragon of the Day (otherwise known as Student of the Day), and I think that this would be a good time for them to do so.  As my students become more proficient at this task, I will limit the time to the first ten minutes of the group.  As the year progresses I will have them label their portraits as well as create sentences using words that describe the Dragon of the Day.  I got this idea from Jody over at Camp Kindergarten, you should go check it out!!  To start the year, I'm going to have them try to write the name of the Dragon of the Day, even if they cannot correctly copy the student's name.  For the rest of the independent time, I'd like the students to work on reinforcing a skill we have previously discussed.  I will talk more about these activities as soon as I figure out what they are going to be!!  :-)  Do you have any independent group time in your classroom?  What sorts of activities do you have your littles do?  I would very much love to hear what you do!!