Hello! I am writing this to explain how I implement Daily 5
in my classroom, along with all the other many curriculum guidelines we have to
follow from the district and state. I was very skeptical about making drastic
changes to my reading block this year since it was also my first year teaching
first grade. However, I cannot explain how much easier it has made my life and
elevated my teaching/instruction.
First, you should know that my school uses Guided Reading
levels to assess a student’s reading abilities. We are encouraged to flexibly
group among our grade level to ensure that students are working in small groups
with others on their same level. Each grade level teacher would have three
different reading levels within their classroom. Our reading block is an hour
and a half long.
Old Schedule
Before using the schedule I use now, I was teaching in a
very haphazard way. Here is what the schedule I was using last year looked
like:
Monday
On Mondays I spent 45 minutes teaching whole group reading
to my homeroom class. I taught the phonics, writing, and comprehension skill
for that week in that 45 minutes. For the last 15 minutes, students would go to
their “reading teacher” to learn the four new reading centers for the week. The
centers were on that week’s skill and changed every week.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
On Tuesdays I spent 30 minutes teaching my homeroom class
whole group. We focused on the writing, phonics, or comprehension skill for the
week (only one per day). The last hour students went to their reading class to
participate in guided reading with the teacher and reading centers.
Friday
I kept my homeroom students on Fridays for the entire
reading block. I gave the spelling and reading tests. Students did not participate
in guided reading, whole group instruction, or centers. They were tested on the
comprehension, phonics, writing, and spelling skill that was taught that
Monday.
Ahh! I knew 100% that I was not using best practices in my
classroom but it was my first year teaching and I wasn’t comfortable speaking
up yet. Here are just a few things that are wrong with the above method of
teaching…
- Students are only participating in guided reading three days a week. That is THE most important part of any reading block. It has to be done five days a week to be effective.
- Whole group lessons for more than 15 minutes are no longer best practice (unless you’re in college). A student’s attention span is typically as long as their age. For example, my students are six-seven years old so they can technically only stay on task for six-seven minutes. Building working stamina should be tracked and built each day so that students can last for 10-15 minutes on a task. Any longer is unproductive. I promise you will lose them.
- Centers are meant to be on a reviewed skill, not a skill taught the day before. Centers also don’t need to be changed every week. If your students have already mastered compound words then why make them practice it? If your students aren’t ready for compound words, why are they reviewing it? This method would only be effective for a handful of students.
New Schedule
This year I moved from second to first grade. I was on a new team and knew that we weren’t going to be flexibly grouping amongst each other for reading. Therefore, I would have my homeroom students for the entire hour and a half of reading. I was going to have a wide range of reading levels in my room and needed a model that would allow for this to be effective and benefit my students. I was in two classrooms while student teaching that used The Daily 5 and had read about it many times. I knew it was the best thing to use.
This year I am using this new schedule. It took a lot of brainpower
and schedule manipulation to come up with it, but so far it has been the perfect
schedule for my class. I had to take out the class bathroom break that we were allotted and yes, we really start class at 8:30
every day : )
Focus Lessons
Between each rotation we come together at the carpet to
reflect and have a mini-lesson. I always start with an Orton-Gillingham
(phonics or sight words) review in the mornings. The other mini-lessons will be
from our CAFÉ menu (comprehension, accuracy, fluency, expand vocabulary). I
will have to explain CAFÉ another time, but with the group I have right now we
are focusing on comprehension and vocabulary most days. I use our district’s
pacing guide and CCSS to determine specifically what skill I teach. This week
our CAFÉ lesson was on making predictions, and our writing/grammar lesson was
verb tenses. The lesson is always a quick burst of instruction. I almost always
use my ActivBoard and a read aloud when teaching mini-lessons. The skills I
teach whole group will then be replicated at my back table during guided
reading. I will reteach and adjust instruction for each group. This is meant to
be scaffolded--I do, we do, you do. The “you do” will come when they are in
independent centers.
The Choices
I meet with a small group during each rotation. The students
that are not in the group I’m meeting with are doing what I call a “Daily Five
Choice.” Those choices in my room are Read to Self, Word Work, Listen to
Reading, Work on Writing, and Lexia.
So, after our mini-lesson, where everyone is on the carpet,
I will call for the group I need. Those students get up, get their book bags,
and go to my back table to start reading. My other students stay on the carpet
and choose a Daily Five Choice using my ActivBoard. Students take the ActivBoard
pen one at a time and move their picture into the choice they want to go to.
They choose a different choice each rotation and depending on the student, they
may or may not go to each choice every day. My RTI students for example, will
only go to three rotations but are required to go to Read to Self.
Word Work
There are 5-6 plastic tubs stacked on my back counter area.
Inside each tub is a different word work activity. Word Work is meant for a
student to practice sight words, spelling, or our phonics skill. These 5-6 tubs
do not, and should not, change every single week. The activity or game is
always the same but the skill or words might change. I do change tubs out
periodically, but it isn’t consistent. I monitor student ability and performance
each day, and will add or take away depending.
If I see that students are getting lazy and bored with a certain
activity I will replace it with a new one.
My students always enjoy the read and match picture/word station. This
has been a consistent word work choice since the beginning of the year. I will
elaborate more on word work activities in a later post.
Read to Self
During Read to Self, students take their individual book
bins to a successful spot anywhere around the room and simply read to
themselves. It is many of my students’ favorite choice. Each week students
choose new books from our classroom library to place in their book bins. Every
student is aware of his/her reading level and my library books are organized by
level. They have to pick five books on their level but can get two ‘just for
fun’ books from any other level. We have to allow our students time in school
to simply READ. Research repeatedly states that the greater access students
have to words the greater they will perform.
This is a wonderful chart from The Sisters that proves this
fact. Look at that! Students reading 20 minutes a day alone gives them access
to 1.8 million words and puts them in the 90th percentile rank. How
long are you allowing your students to read during class? How often are they
allowed or encouraged to go to the library? We have to get more books in their
hands!
Listen to Reading
There is an organizer in my room that holds all of our Listen to Reading
devices. I have two classroom iPods, two old iPhones, and one iPad. There are
many options for Listen to Reading but my students this year are using an app
called Booksy and QR codes. Listen to Reading is great for modeling fluency.
All my students enjoy using technology in the classroom and I love that it encourages
reading in a versatile way.
This is two friends using the iPad and Booksy during Listen to Reading. They use a headphone splitter to share the iPad. Students can go anywhere around the room to work on their Daily Five choice. Most of my students pick small spaces and corners like this.
Work on Writing
Students have a variety of choices when they go to Work on
Writing. Just like Word Work, I provide students with multiple options and
trust that they will take ownership of their own learning. Inside each
student’s book bin is his or her writing journal (a spiral notebook). Many
students choose to write in their journal during Work on Writing. We spend
multiple days at the beginning of the year brainstorming ideas of what to write
and building our writing stamina. My students also have other options like
squiggle stories, class journals, and picture cue cards to choose from while at
Work on Writing. I add and take away other writing options like lists, books,
letters, poems, and other organizers to ensure that my students don’t tire out
on one activity.
Lexia
Lexia is an online, individualized reading program that
teaches interactive ELA skills for students on their level. I have six
classroom computers that my students use to access Lexia.
Management
The Daily Five book outlines exactly how to introduce,
teach, and maintain classroom management procedures while students are in Daily
Five. I can’t stress enough how important it is to take your time introducing
each choice. This is so important because Daily Five is centrally focused on
reading independence, which is our ultimate goal as a teacher. I took my time
at the beginning of the year and followed the book as best I could. My students
now are completely independent. Not just one or a few students, but every
student. I can sit at my guided reading table without any interruptions and
know that when I look up at any time all my students will be working around the
room.
It takes a lot of patience at the beginning of the year to
go so slow and not jump into content right away, but it is totally worth it. I
would rather spend a few weeks at the beginning of the year to build up
procedures and independence than to waste crucial time the other eight months
out of the year wondering why my students don’t know what to do.
Using Daily Five has been the best decision I’ve made all
year. I believe it is the best way to structure your reading block. Here are a few
reasons why I feel this way.
- Students get more time reading multiple types of text, text on their level, and texts they choose and enjoy!
- After your routine is in place it is a million times easier on you, the teacher. You don’t have to plan a 30-45 minute whole group lesson. You don’t have to create 20 different centers every week. This schedules covers my core Reading block and my Reading RTI block, therefore I don’t have to plan additional activities for my Tier 1 students during RTI.
- Consistency! Look back at that old reading schedule I was using…so inconsistent. Students have to be on a set schedule and be aware of what they are doing every day. Again, that will make your life easier.
- My guided reading time is much more effective. There is not one second of wasted time when using this schedule. There is a constant sense of urgency in the room.
- The purpose. Students know why they participate in Daily Five. You can walk into my room and ask any student why they are reading to themselves at Read to Self and they will gladly tell you, “So I can become a better reader.” Students appreciate knowing why they have to work at school. We should tell them why so they can hold themselves accountable.
- Choice. Everyone likes to have options. We don’t particularly enjoy when someone tells us we HAVE TO go to this place, at this time, for this long, and do this activity. Why are we telling our students they have to? My first graders love having the option of where to go and what to do. I have seen the work effort and ownership of my students greatly improve by allowing choice in my classroom.
I will continue posting on more detailed parts of our Daily Five block. It is a wonderful model that is perfect for all learners. What do you like or don't like about Daily Five? Let me know your thoughts and questions!