Word Work

I am writing today to follow up on my previous post about my Daily Five reading block. In first grade one of the most important Daily Five choices is Word Work. This is where students actively participate in centers that review sight words, spelling, or phonics skills.

In the book, the Sister's recommend starting Word Work after Work on Writing. However, we launched it in my classroom right after we mastered Read to Self. Most of my first graders needed more practice with words before they could jump into sentence writing.

At the beginning of the year, I introduced five Word Work activities. Like most of my Word Work stations, I found them on TPT. I chose activities that could be easily changed week to week. When I say changed, I don't mean completely traded out for a new activity. I simply mean the skill that was being practiced at each activity will change. I purchased Reagan Tunstall's "The Big Phonics Bundle" and used those as my initial Word Work activities this year. This bundle contains phonics skills for most first grade phonics/spelling skills. I use a sequencing chart from Orton-Gillingham to plan my phonics instruction. Because OG is very explicit and teaches phonemes in isolation I did have to create a few of my own Word Work centers at times. After Christmas we moved onto skills that were not in the bundle (final blends). I used other centers that I made or found from Miss Giraffe's TPT store. There are many sight word activities that can remain the same week after week. You can replace the words used with other words, or keep them the same!

Using consistent Word Work activities is great for your students. Last year I was teaching brand new centers every single week. I quickly explained each center and expected them to know what to do, and it be beneficial to them...that never happened. They were confused about what to do most days, and it showed in their work effort and performance.

When I was preparing for my Daily Five reading block last summer I was reading a TON of blogs on teachers that also used it in their classrooms. If they helped me, they might also be able to help you! These were my top two!

1. The Brown Bag Teacher
2.  Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits

Favorite Resources

I have also spent a lot of time and $$$ on TPT Word Work items. I love TPT for the hundreds of resources they have for teachers, however it can be very difficult to find products that are just right for you and your students. When I look for Word Work activities for my students I'm looking for things that are specific to the skill I want them to review, engaging or interactive, are easy to prepare, and can be used again with a different academic skill. These are my favorite resources I have used in my classroom during Word Work

Word Work from The Brown Bag Teacher

The above Word Work stations are great low prep resources that can remain consistent from week to week. I have used the "Spin a Word" and "Super Sentences" activities the most. My students LOVE them!

Phonics Bundle from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits

I love having centers that directly correlate to our standards and use the same "teacher language" I use when teaching phonics to my students. Reagan Tunstall's "Big Phonics Bundle" does just that for me. Seriously, these activities kept me alive at the beginning of the year. We used them for three-four months before changing the station altogether. Check out her blog I linked above to see how to she organizes Word Work in her classroom. 

Ending Blends from Miss Giraffe

For those end-of-first grade skills like final blends I needed a variety of activities to keep my students interest but to also practice the specific skills we were covering. Miss Giraffe's "Ending Blends" pack was perfect for that. Although they are worksheets, there is a variety of options to choose from which keeps my students interest. 

Management

Word Work was launched right after Read to Self in my classroom. However, the foundation lessons were already taught, so as soon as my students built their reading stamina up they were ready to start Word Work. I tried out a few different ways to manage the placement of students into each station. Eventually, allowing students to choose their own station using the ActiveBoard ended up being the best method for my students. You can read more about that in my previous post HERE.

The 10 Steps to Independence that The Sisters use to prepare students for each Daily Five choice is essential to managing your students. My reading block is the best part of the day (behavior-wise) because I have spent so much time stressing expected behaviors.

After choosing this option as their Daily Five choice students go to a large counter in the back of the room. On the counter I keep 5-6 plastic storage tubs. I purchased these tubs at Wal-Mart. They latch very easily and are super durable. I don't label my Word Work tubs with fancy labels. I wish I had time for that...I just don't. I use a dry erase marker to write the name of each center, and at the end of the week it wipes right off (if it doesn't you can use finger nail polish remover to help).

Inside each tub is all the materials they need for that specific center.

After students choose what Word Work station they want, they grab the tub and go somewhere around the room to start working. My students can sit anywhere they want in the classroom except at my small group table. One of the initial foundation lessons before beginning Daily Five was "How to Choose a Successful Spot." I have gone back to this lesson many times through the year when my students are not making the best seating choices (aka sitting by their friends). We remind each other what choosing a successful spot looks like and they are normally able to get started right away.

This is a great shot of one of my friends that Choose a Successful Spot! 

Q & A

What do students do when they are finished with a Word Work activity? 

• They choose another one! This allows my fast workers to always be busy, and my slower workers to have the opportunity to take their time. 

What if they have finished all the Word Work activities for that week?

• Choose your stations wisely! There is always at least 1-2 activities for the week that can be played or completed more than once. For example, Sight Word Go Fish cards. My students love playing Go Fish with a buddy and they are always in need of sight word practice! With this being said, most of my fast workers don't choose Word Work if they have already completed most of the stations for that week. Instead they go to Work on Writing, Read to Self, Listen to Reading, or Lexia. 

Do your students work with a partner?

• Only when the activity requires them to. I normally have a Read and Match and Go Fish center. Both of these games require a partner. Once again, we go over expectations and students know their voice level should always remain a whisper when working with a partner. It is also extra important that partners choose a successful spot around the room so not to distract others. 

How do you differentiate?

• Some of my Word Work centers are differentiated, but not all of them. I use clear sheet protectors like crazy. I color code my small groups and the sheet protectors so students know to grab the word work activity that matches their colored group. The Go Fish cards are differentiated by using colored paper. 

What do students do when they are finished with their Word Work?

• All work that can be turned in, is turned into my Turn In basket. I typically skim through these papers throughout the week and make sure students are putting forth their best effort and if the work is accurate. Work is then passed out into student mailboxes. Many of my stations are things that can't be turned in (those are my favorite). They obviously don't turn that work in. 

How can you be sure that they are actually doing the work if it isn't turned in?

• My favorite part of Daily Five is the point at the beginning of each launched choice where you talk to your class about purpose. "Why do you need to try your best at Word Work? Why do you need to work the whole time?" You literally talk about these things with your students. Remind them often and they will step up to the challenge. They want to become better readers, writers, and spellers. My kiddos will tell you that, and yours should too! 

I hope this helps answer some questions about Word Work. After switching to the Daily Five model I can see a difference in my center work and student accountably. Let me know if you have any other questions! 

My Daily Five Reading Block

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 90^th 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!