Classroom visual schedule

Teachers already post the day's plan for themselves. A classroom visual schedule puts the same plan where the children can read it before they read words: one picture for each part of the day, top to bottom, at their eye level. For the other kinds of picture schedule, at home or for one child, see our visual schedules hub.

What goes on a classroom visual schedule?

Most classrooms that use pictures use one or more of these:

The free file on this page is for the first kind: a today strip and the cards for it. Our first then board page has a free board for the last kind.

How do you make a classroom visual schedule?

These steps follow a guide for early learning programs from the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) and a handout on making visuals from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) at Vanderbilt University.

1. List the activities of your day, in order. Arrival, circle time, centers, snack, outside, lunch, rest, story, going home: whatever your day holds.
2. Photograph each activity in your own room. The rug, the snack table, the playground door. Take each photo from the children's eye level, with one thing in view on a plain background. The NCPMI guide notes that children's backs in a photo are fine, so the cards still fit when the class changes.
3. Put a word under every picture. Both sources say to label every picture, and the NCPMI guide says to add the children's home languages. Then every adult in the room calls each part of the day the same thing.
4. Print, glue and laminate. Print at "Actual size" on cardstock, glue a 2 inch photo into each card's window, and laminate the cards and the strip, or cover them with clear contact paper.
5. Add hook-and-loop dots. The CSEFEL handout's tip: the same side of the dot on the back of every card, and the other side on the strip, so any card fits any slot.
6. Post it at the children's eye level where you can point to it often. The NCPMI guide suggests the morning meeting area. Top to bottom and left to right both work.
7. End it with an all-done pocket. When an activity is over, its card comes off and goes in the pocket, so the cards still on the strip are what is left of the day.

Our free strip comes in four pieces: a start piece with "today" and a line for the class name, two middle pieces and an end piece with the pocket. Tape the start piece to the end piece for 6 steps, and add a middle piece for every 3 more, up to 12.

How do you use it during the day?

1. Set up today's cards before the children arrive, in the order the day will go.
2. Go through the strip together at circle time. Point to each card and say its word. The NCPMI guide suggests reviewing the day at the morning meeting or the first large group.
3. Come back to it between activities. "Rest time is all done. Let's check what's next."
4. Give a child the helper job. The helper takes the finished card off and posts it in the pocket, or moves a clothespin down the strip.
5. Use the same words every time, the words printed on the cards.

A Lentini and Fox guide from the University of South Florida describes the same moves: show the schedule, touch or pull off each picture as an activity ends, and use it as part of the class routine every day.

What about a change in the day?

Put the change on the strip, not around it. The NCPMI guide's example: when it rains and the class can't go outside, take the outside card off, put up what will happen instead, and go over the change with the whole class. A CSEFEL brief on classroom schedules says to review changes at the beginning of the day.

1. Swap the card while the class watches. Take "outside" down and put "gym" up.
2. Say it in a few words as you point. "Rain. Gym today."
3. Show what is happening, not what isn't. A photo can't show "no", so the strip shows where the class is going instead.
4. Use the "?" card for something you can't show yet, such as a visitor or an event you have no photo for.
5. Photograph a new place early. A new room or a field trip spot can go on a card before the day comes.

Does a child need a schedule of their own?

Some classrooms add one. The CSEFEL brief describes a class with a picture schedule for everyone, where one boy also had his own picture schedule, posted at his eye level near his cubby, which a teacher went over with him each morning. The Lentini and Fox guide describes showing only a few pictures at a time, part of a day, or handing them over one at a time. We don't suggest which child might use one; that is the teacher's and family's call.

The cards in our free file fit a child's own strip too: print the file a second time, use the start and end pieces for that child's strip, and write their name on the class line.

How many cards should the class strip show?

As many parts of the day as you want to show in one place. The CSEFEL handout says a schedule can show part of a day, half a day or the whole day. Our free strip holds 6 cards with the start and end pieces, or up to 12 with both middle pieces. You can also put up only the morning, then swap in the afternoon cards after lunch.

Photos, drawings or words?

The NCPMI guide says that for young children it strongly recommends photographs of what each activity looks like in your own setting. The CSEFEL handout lists a range: real objects, photos, colored drawings, black and white drawings, and written words. Our cards are made for photos of your own room, with the word printed under each one. There are no drawings or clip art in the file.

What's in the free file?

• Page 1: a start guide. Take the photos, print and glue, build and post, and how to use it.
• Pages 2 and 3: the today strip, in four pieces: start ("today" and a class line, 3 slots), two middle pieces (3 slots each) and end (3 slots and an all-done pocket).
• Page 4: 12 classroom cards, each with a 2 inch photo frame and the word printed: arrival, circle time, centers, snack, outside, lunch, rest time, story, art, music, clean up, go home.
• Page 5: 11 more photo cards and a "?" card: small group, library, gym, line up, wash hands and bathroom, 5 blank cards to write on, and the "?" card, which has no photo frame.
• Page 6: 4 all-done pocket fronts to tape over the pocket box.
• Two sizes: US Letter and A4, as two files. Every card and slot prints at the same size on both.

The file is free for one classroom or one home.

For mornings and bedtimes at home, our free routine chart for kids holds any routine, 8 steps with a photo frame for each.

Frequently asked questions

Should a classroom visual schedule go top to bottom or left to right?

Either works. The NCPMI guide notes that left to right matches the way children will learn to read, and that top to bottom is fine too. Our free strip runs top to bottom, so a long day fits a narrow wall.

Should a classroom visual schedule show clock times?

Our free cards show a photo and a word, with no clock times, and the file has no time cards. For a class that is learning to tell time, keep a clock poster beside the strip, or add a small sticky note with the start time next to each card on the strip.

Where should the class schedule hang?

At the children's eye level, in a place you can point to many times a day. The NCPMI guide suggests the morning meeting area. Hang it low enough that a helper can reach every card and the pocket.

What is the difference between a classroom schedule and a routine?

A schedule is the order of the day: who does what, and when. A routine is one part of the day done the same way each time, often as a series of steps, such as getting ready for rest time. That is how a CSEFEL brief on classroom schedules puts it. A today strip shows the schedule; a routine strip shows the steps of one routine.

Can I use the free classroom visual schedule in my classroom?

Yes. The file is free for one classroom or one home. Please send colleagues to this page rather than sharing the file, and please don't resell or upload it.