Daily schedule cards (free printable, ten to a page)

About this sheet

A visible schedule answers the question students ask most, which is what comes next. Cards beat a typed list because you can move one when a fire drill or an assembly changes the day, and a child can see the change happen. These are text only, so they suit every grade and never go out of date, and the time sits in a colored strip so it reads from the back of the room. Type the day as you actually run it, one line per card, with the time before a vertical bar. A line with no bar prints as an activity with no time, which is useful for a day that runs by routine rather than the clock.

Grades: Pre-K to 5. Best in: August, September.

How to use it

1. Type your day in the box, one card per line, as the time, a bar, then the activity: 9:00 | Math.
2. Print on card stock or colored paper, cut along the card edges, and laminate if you will use them all year.
3. Stick the cards to the board with magnets or tape in order each morning, and take one down when its block is over.

Five ideas for class

1. Walk through the cards at morning meeting, then ask a student to point to where the class is now. The question teaches reading a schedule more than any lesson on it.
2. Keep spare blank cards for surprises. Writing Assembly on the board in front of the class models that plans can change without anyone worrying.
3. Flip each finished card over instead of taking it down, so students can see how much of the day has passed and how much is left.
4. Print a second set in a different color for the days that run differently, such as early release or a field trip, and swap the whole set.
5. Use the same cards for a visual schedule for one student, printed at half size, and tape it to the desk so the child can follow along privately.

Related

• Weekly class schedule
• Daily agenda board sheet
• Morning board
• Countdown timer