I have to start with this statement…. any teacher I’ve ever met that has tried the Daily 5 has stuck with it and completely LOVED it! On the other hand, almost every teacher I know does it “in her own way” we have all adapted our own version of the D5 to fit our classroom, students, school, etc. I do believe the structure the Sisters have created, I think it is genius. It’s simple, it works and it truly involves my students. Even I have adapted it to fit the needs of my classroom and haven’t done the “exact” thing the Sisters preached. When I taugh kindergarten I didn’t allow choice (which is the main idea of having Daily 5) and this past year in second grade I let go of my control and allowed them to choose and I feel that it really helped my students open up to love literacy!
If you’re not familiar with D5 you can order the book here, it is an easy read and it is well worth a shot! This book study is all about the Sisters second edition, which is an updated version of their technique. You can click here to get your copy. You can also follow my Pinterest board, Daily 5 Fun! to get some ideas or get you started.
I loooooove the title of this chapter because it just shows you that these Sisters are teachers; they work in the classroom, they see first hand what works for students and they are sharing their findings. My favorite thing that they talk about is the fact that they don’t do all 5 rounds in one day. Praise Jesus! I’m not on my own… that seemed impossible! My first year I tried doing 3 rounds and I was really pushing it to squeeze them all in, after that I decided that 1-2 rounds is a successful day. I didn’t want to rush my reading group and I really didn’t like rushing through my check in time (which I allowed for sharing if they chose work on writing in addition to my mini lesson.) I will definitely be re thinking my Daily 5 literacy block for this upcoming year in first grade.
Chapter 2 really went into detail about the core beliefs of building a sense of community in your classroom with trust and respect. I also loved that they explained how important choice is! To those non believers… I was one of you, I couldn’t give up control. But when you model model model and teach those procedures your kiddos will shock you with their choice! Trust the Sisters! Another thing I loved was the importance of Brain Breaks. Ever since Go Noodle, brain breaks have definitely become a go-to for my kiddos. They love it and I love it!
I really hope you give this book (or Daily 5) a chance, it has TRULY changed my literacy block for the better! And I know it could do the same for you!
