The Daily 5
The Daily 5 is our reading structure based on the book “The Daily 5” by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. It is set up to help students develop strong habits of reading, writing, and working with peers that will lead to a lifetime of independent literacy skills and a genuine *love* of reading and writing. You will probably hear your child talk more about the Daily 5 as the school year goes on. Here is some information that might help you understand what your third grader is talking about.
The 5 “dailies” include:
*Read to Self: In the first daily, students find a comfortable spot in the classroom and simply read to themselves for up to 20 minutes. Students are able to practice their fluency and build their reading stamina (ability to read for long periods of uninterrupted time). An important factor in Read to Self is that they are able to choose their own books based on their interests and reading level (“good fit books”). It is SO important for third graders to LIKE reading and WANT to read!
In the beginning of the school year, the third graders will practice choosing "good fit books." The third graders will be able to hold the books that they are interested in and reading in their own book bin.
*"I Pick" is an important part of "Read to Self." We make it easy to remember how to choose good-fit books through "I Pick" with a fun song and dance. :) To practice at home, check out this link:
*"I Pick" is an important part of "Read to Self." We make it easy to remember how to choose good-fit books through "I Pick" with a fun song and dance. :) To practice at home, check out this link:
* Read to Someone: Here, students will learn to sit EEKK (Elbow, Elbow, Knee, Knee) and read with a buddy. They are responsible for “checking for understanding” with their buddy by re-telling what they have read/heard. Reading to someone helps students work on their fluency, comprehension skills, re-telling skills, and provides them with a sense of purpose for reading. We practice "Read to Someone" a lot throughout the year so that we remember to follow our I chart expectations!
"Elbow to elbow, knee to knee,
I'll read to you
and you'll read to me.
Elbow to elbow, knee to knee,
book in the middle
so we both can see!"
* Listen to Reading: Here, students are able to hear fluent readers read. Students can practice Listen to Reading by listening to a book on tape or CD, listening to a story on an iPad, listening to a “Mystery Reader” read, listening to a book on the internet, or even by listening to a teacher or adult read to them. For a list of GREAT websites to go to at home, check out our "Listen to Reading Websites" page on our classroom blog. There, you will find tons of great resources. Listen to reading always ends up being a class favorite.
* Work on Writing: Reading and writing are interrelated. Here, students can expand their writing skills and spend time working on writing that really matters to them. In the beginning of the school year, we work together as a class to come up with a big list with LOADS of different ideas to write about. The third graders can write about what they did over the weekend, what they want to play at recess, or all about their dog. They can write a make-believe story about a princess living in a tree fort, a talking frog, or a flying elephant. We also talk about different formats of writing. In their journals, the first graders can write lists, friendly letters, narratives, "dear diary" entries, poems, or even jokes. As with every daily, we work on building up 20 minutes of stamina. Work on writing time is when third graders can take what they have learned during our writing lessons and apply them independently. I am not there to remind them about putting their periods at the end of their sentences, and I can not help them to spell a word. Instead, it is their chance to "show off" what they know. If they do get stuck on a word while writing, I encourage them to stretch it out, look for clues around our classroom, and spell it the best they can. If it doesn't look write on their paper, they should underline it and keep going. That way, they can always go back and fix it if they want to, but they won't get so hung up on spelling one word. I love seeing how the third graders grow as writers throughout the year... and their work on writing journal ends up being a great document of that growth.
Sometimes, third graders (just like adults!) have a hard time coming up with an idea for a topic to write about. On those days, the third graders can choose a topic from our jar of writing prompts. When they are done, they put the prompt back in the jar for someone else to use.
* Working with Words: In this daily, students are able to work with spelling patterns and high frequency words. This is also a time in which I have students work on their "Words their Way" word sorts. After their sorts are complete, they can choose to use different materials to practice their word sorts and word wall words with including play dough, wiki sticks, markers, stampers, and chalk. I also have different word family sorting activities and spelling games that they can choose from. This daily always ends up being a class favorite! The first graders love working with all of the different hands-on materials.
For more information on the Daily 5,
check out these sites:
Please also check out our "Educational Websites" page on our blog for a list of great "listen to reading" websites for extra practice at home!
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