Daily 5
This year we will be incorporating The Daily 5 into our day. It is a structure that helps students develop the daily habits of reading, writing, and working independently that will lead to a lifetime of literacy independence. The Daily 5 is made up of 5 components, they are; Read to Self, Work on Writing, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, and Word Work. We will have three 20 minute sessions where students will be working on these five areas. Between the three sessions, we will meet together on the carpet for mini lessons and to reflect on how our sessions went. While students are working on the Daily 5, I will be meeting with reading groups and doing individual conferences with students.
Before we start The Daily 5, it is very important to go over each of the 5 areas and talk about what is expected from both the students and myself. For each area, we will be making an “I chart”. Students will help come up with what they are supposed to be doing, as well as what I will be doing during that time and it will be recorded on the “I chart”. The “I charts” will then be posted on our Daily 5 board.
Our CAFE board will also be a big part of The Daily 5. CAFE is an accronym for comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expand vocabulary. After I teach the students a reading strategy during our mini lessons, one of them will write it down on a sentence strip and add it to the CAFE board under the correct heading. These will be the strategies that students work on during their independent reading, as well as during reading group time.
Before we start The Daily 5, it is very important to go over each of the 5 areas and talk about what is expected from both the students and myself. For each area, we will be making an “I chart”. Students will help come up with what they are supposed to be doing, as well as what I will be doing during that time and it will be recorded on the “I chart”. The “I charts” will then be posted on our Daily 5 board.
Our CAFE board will also be a big part of The Daily 5. CAFE is an accronym for comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expand vocabulary. After I teach the students a reading strategy during our mini lessons, one of them will write it down on a sentence strip and add it to the CAFE board under the correct heading. These will be the strategies that students work on during their independent reading, as well as during reading group time.
Read to Self
During Read to Self time students find a quiet spot in the room; on a cushioned crate seat, carpet square, bean bag or reading pillow brought from home and they read independently. They read from their book bins which contain 10-12 just right books. This is also a great time to work on their “CAFE” reading strategies.
Read to Someone
During Read With a Partner, students can read with a partner by sharing their book or taking turns reading their own books. Students pick a partner and then find a quiet spot in the room to sit EEKK (elbow, elbow, knee, knee), and they take turns reading to each other. Students were given a wooden checkmark with “who, what, where” written on it to keep in their book baskets. They were taught to stop their partner every few pages to check for understanding. Eventually they will be able to use question rings and beachball bookmarks to check for comprehension.
Listen to Reading
During Listen to Reading, students listen to stories on iPads, MP3 players and at the listening center. When the students are allowed to have the iPads during this rotation they may choose from different websites and apps. BookFlix, Tumblebooks, Raz-Kids and StoryLine Online.
Work on Writing
During Work on Writing, students work independently on writing of their choice. Work on Writing provides students with time to spend on writing that really matters to them. They may choose to write a persuassive piece, a friendly letter, a report, poetry, a personal narrative, and many more types of writing. Students also have to make a reading response in the notebooks about something they have read that day during their rotations. Students have also been able to incorporate our iPads into their work on writing component by using the site Edmodo and responding to discussion questions posted by me and eventually each other.
Word Work
During Word Work, students work with spelling words, word wall words, and vocabulary words. Word study allows students to experiment with words, memorize high-frequency words, generalize spelling patterns, and add to their knowledge and curiosity of unique and interesting words. Students pick a tub (activity) to take back to their seat or a quiet spot in the room. Tub activities include using play-doh, Scrabble tiles, wikki sticks, magna doodles, letter tiles, puzzles, stamps and many more.