Year Long Planning & Pacing Guide (K & 1st Grades)

Hello all! 

I am still trying to recover from our whirlwind "vacation".  We travel to Indiana every year to visit our family for the 4th and for the last couple of years our annual trip to the Midwest has coincided with the National SDE conferences in Vegas.   This year we flew to Indiana and stayed for a few days.  Then the WHOLE family drove up to Michigan where my brother & sister-in-law live.  We spent  a few days there celebrating the 4th (an annual family tradition) and then my husband and I flew to Vegas from Michigan and left the kids with grandma and grandpa...Camp Carroll :)  We stayed in Vegas for 7 days and then flew back to Michigan.  As soon as we landed we drove back to Indiana, stayed the night with grandma and grandpa, enjoyed a family picnic the next day, and then flew back to Houston that night.  

WHEW!!!!

Needless to say, I'm SO glad to be home!!  But I'm still trying to get back to normal.  

I met so many AMAZING people in Vegas.  There are so many inspiring educators and I love being able to talk to so many of them about the great things going on in their classrooms.  One of the conversations I had with a few of the teachers I met was all about pacing and planning.  I'm a firm believer in starting with the end in mind and the best way to do that is to sit down and figure out your year.  Identify where you need to start and where your kids will need to finish.   This will determine your course for the year.  I organize my year with a yearlong pacing calendar.

I know many districts provide a yearlong pacing/planning calendar.  I know many do not.  I've taught in districts with both scenarios and let me tell you...it's SO much easier to have a pacing guide with which to work!!  I went ahead and mapped out my year in both Kindergarten and First Grade so you can see what my year looks like and how I *attempt* to fit it all in.  While I know these pacing calendars may not work for many of you, I'm hoping  they *might* help some...especially those of you without the luxury of a yearlong planner.  

These pacing calendars ARE NOT editable, so I apologize for that, but they're a great starting point for those of you still trying to figure out your year!

PRINT THE KINDERGARTEN PACING CALENDAR HERE

PRINT THE 1ST GRADE PACING CALENDAR HERE

I love being able to glance at my year in an easy-to-read format.  It helps me to plan and prep materials in advance which makes me look like I'm organized (although I'm FAR from it, haha!!).  I keep a copy of my pacing guide on my desk (where I sit to create activities for my kids) and in my planning binder.  I take my planning binder to team meetings and bring it home with me and I always like to have a copy with me for those just in case moments :)  Here's how I format the plans so that I can see all the "big ideas" for the month on one little sheet.

While we're talking about the year-at-a-glance, I want to let you know that I added these thematic vocabulary cards to my shop.  There are over 800 title and picture/word cards included and they're $3 OFF tonight only, so grab 'em while they're discounted!!  If you already own my Work on Writing Bundle, DO NOT purchase these.  These are all included in the Work on Writing monthly packets.  

These have been such a great resource for my kids to use in their writing and they've also helped to build their vocabulary as well.  

As always, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!

Have a great day!