The Daily 5: Fostering literacy independence in the elementary grades
Gail Boushey & Joan Moser "the sistes"
The Daily five is a list of five tasks: read to yourself, read to someone, work on writing, listen to reading, and spelling/ word study. I will list these tasks below and also expand on these five tasks.
Pages 11-12
1. Read to Yourself
The best way to become a better reader is to practice each day, with books you choose, on your just-right reading level. It soon becomes a habit.
2. Read to Someone
Reading to someone allows for more time to practice strategies, helping you work on fluency and expression, check for understanding, hear your own voice, and share in the learning community.
3. Work on Writing
Just like reading, the best way to become a better writer is to practice writing each day.
4. Listen to Reading
We hear examples of good literature and fluent reading. We learn more words, thus expanding our vocabulary and becoming better readers.
5. Spelling/ Word Work
Correct spelling allows for more fluent writing, thus speeding up the ability to write and get thinking down on paper. this is an essential foundation for writers.
Although students have the freedom to decide what task they will learn on a given day, they are still aware of the classroom expectations. There is a structure to the Daily 5 and students are expected to do their work within that structure. Students are still taking responsibility for their learning by choosing a task and following through with it. This book also outlines how to properly introduce and implement the Daily 5 routine into your classroom. I will summarize the main points of how to introduce each element of the Daily 5 in subsequent paragraphs.
Read to Self
When
introducing students to read to self it is important to have them practice. But
before students even begin to practice read to self it is suggested that
students create a chart that outlines appropriate behaviour while reading. Both
the teacher and students will contribute to this chart. After the chart is
completed two students will be selected to model the appropriate and
inappropriate ways to read to self (49-51). After students have read and understood
the expectations a three-minute practice of read to self would take place.
The reason that children only get to read for 3 minutes in the beginning is so
that they stay on task and focused. If there is too much time allotted in the
beginning then students will develop bad habits which would prohibit them from
developing the proper “muscle memories.” After the three-minute practice
is up the class will gather to discuss if their reading behaviour was the same
as the behavior they had previously selected and wrote on the chart. The length
of time allotted to read to self would gradually increase over time as the students developed good reading habits.
Read to Someone
According to Boushley and Moser this component of the Daily 5 tends to be a favorite for children. Reading to someone allows us to further develop our reading fluency. The authors give useful examples of how to properly introduce read to someone to students. EEKK is one way of getting students set up to read to someone. This acronym stands for Elbow to Elbow, Knee to Knee. Students need to be in close proximity to each other when reading so that they can read quietly and not distract other readers. EEKK also ensures that the student being read to can still see the book. Students can take turns reading, as well as choral read, so that they practice reading in different circumstances. Children should also demonstrate that they are comprehending the book by summarizing the end of a paragraph or page.
Listening to Reading
Some children might choose to listen to reading (audio stories) rather than engage in partner reading. Students who are just beginning to learn English will find this extra beneficial. The authors point out not to make the same mistake as they did by having a pair of head phones for all of the students to share. To avoid a lice epidemic like they did just add small headphones to the school supply lists! Many students can also engage in listening to reading if an appropriate volume is found so that the audio book can be played on a speaker.
Work on Writing
Writing during the Daily 5 is not like writing during a workshop. Students do not have to follow a strategy or write in a certain genre. Ralph Fletcher is quoted as saying "You don't learn to write by going through a series of preset writing exercises. You learn to write by grappling with a real subject that truly matters to you." Teachers may not be telling students what to write about during this Daily 5 activity, but they can still provide a structure for children to work in. Students can be reminded of the different writing forms (ex. letters, lists, narrative), and of the different topics they can write about (ex. vacations, what they did over the weekend, about a family member or pet, etc.). One entry from this chapter that stood out to me was what to do if a child did not know how to spell a word. Instead of having the child cease their writing to ask how to correctly spell a given word, it is suggested that students be told to write down what the word sounds like, and then come back to that word later. So, for example, if a child did not know how to spell "weirdest," they could write down how it sounds, "weerdest."
Word Work
During the Word Work component of Daily 5 spelling and vocabulary are focused on. Learning how to spell, and learning new vocabulary does not have to be a dull task. As suggested in this book, and what is done in my practicum classroom, is giving students magnetic letters and a foil tray. Students can then work in partners and spell words on their foil tray. Students can also work with pen and paper and colourful markers, as well as on whiteboards. If children are allowed to be creative they will stay engaged during Word Work.
Final Thoughts
Through all of the Daily 5 components students are being taught proper behaviour. There needs to be some structure during Daily 5, that is created by both the teacher and students, so that quality work is still being accomplished. The Daily 5 would not be beneficial to students if they could not focus because the class was too loud, or if they were never able to stay on task because they hadn't been taught good learning strategies. Another point that was raised in the book was making sure that before each lesson or activity, that there was a discussion about why what they were doing in class is important. If students do not feel that they are learning something authentic and useful to them, then it is only natural that they should be less engaged and interested. One critique that I had was the limited time given to each component of the Daily 5 in the initial introductory classes. I think that 3 minutes might be too short of an amount of time for students to go through the Daily 5 cycle. If they are rushed through the stages of the Daily 5 then they might not become interested in using the Daily 5. However, I do understand why the authors recommend a time limit of 3 minutes. It is important that students stay focused and model good behaviour that they can then repeat in subsequent classes. I do think that it will always be dependent on the classroom and students in question when introducing the Daily 5, and that the teacher should make the best judgement call possible. I hope everyone found this topic interesting! The Daily 5 is a very useful way to teach literacy to early years students. The students in my practicum love the Daily 5 and I think it is something that we should all consider doing in our own classrooms. This book is a quick and easy read, and it is very informative.
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