Sunday Rewind - Daily Five Work on Writing

Work on Writing is a very important part of Daily Five.  Rewind - In retrospect, I need to provide more choices for this component of Daily Five.  For the majority of this past year, the kids wrote in their journals for Daily Five.  While they did show a lot of growth in their writing, it would have been even better if they had more choices about different types of writing to choose from. 

I Can Write a from A Cupcake for the Teacher

I plan to use the forms from this great resource from A Cupcake for the Teacher to make a writing bulletin board in our writing center. I found her Writing Center Starter Kit on Tpt. It has everything I will need to get started. You can check it out here Writing Center Starter Kit. Having some fun stationary, postcards, letter templates, cards, and notes is sure to add some life to the Work on Writing component of Daily Five.

With the implementation of Common Core Writing Standards this year, I am thinking that I will also need to have another writing time during the day to teach the different genres to my first graders.  I love teaching writing but sometimes struggle to get in the direct instruction and mini lessons needed for the kids to be successful. I am hoping to do a better job of backwards planning for writing time in my lesson planning this year.

What will you need to get started with Daily Five in your classroom? Mel D from Seusstastic has a great set of materials you can use to begin Daily Five I charts (I for independence) with your class and they are free.  Check them out here Mel D's super fantastic freebies. She is one of my favorite bloggers and shares amazing materials - many for free.

There is a great book study going on now in Blog Land around The Daily Five 2nd edition.  It is a quick read and will answer your questions about the how, when, and why of Daily Five.  Join in and reap the benefits of other teachers' insights and experiences.  

The  Freebielicious blog site is a great place to begin with lots of links to other teachers' blogs to share in this journey.  I would love the hear how you use the Daily Five and Work on Writing in your classroom.

~ Clara - First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Teaching 365

Daily Five Part 4- Read to Someone

Read to Someone in Chapter 5 of The Daily Five by Gail Bushey and Joan Moser, The Sisters, offer step by step guidelines.  If you haven’t yet read the book, get it and read it.  I am sure to keep it close by for ready reference as I begin first grade this year.

There is a tremendous amount of information in the book beyond what I am blogging about here. 

The purpose of Read to Someone is to increase the amount of time kids spend hearing fluent and expressive reading by others.

In order to be successful with these two dailies, the kiddos have to be able to:

1.  Listen carefully to their peers

2.  Offer appropriate assistance

3.  Share materials fairly

Focus lessons for these dailies include EEKK, Voice Level, and Check for Understanding.

EEKK – Teaches the kids to sit elbow to elbow and knee to knee to share a book they will read together. The kids may be reading the same book or two different books.

I will use this chart to help reinforce EEKK with the kids.

Voice Level – As any teacher that has tried partner reading knows, noise levels can be problematic. It is important to train the kiddos to use soft voices.  A quote from page 64 of the book states that “the loudest voice in the room is the one that regulates the noise level.” Model, practice, repeat!!! Using soft voices is important to the success of Read to Someone but can be very challenging.

Check for Understanding– Good readers retell what they read. This lesson helps the kiddos check for understanding of the book they are reading. The listener asks questions such as Who or What.  They may retell the story, “I just heard you read…”. This holds both students accountable for the reading and increases comprehension of the story.  Some teachers make a check mark with the questions on it as a visual reminder to the partners to read and listen carefully.

I love this graphic from http://kuieck.edublogs.org/files/2012/09/photo-21-11igawn.jpg. I plan to make something similar for my class to use during Read to Someone.

How do you handle Read to Someone in your classroom?  I would love to hear tips for success as well as challenges.

This week my goal is to sort my classroom library books and get them ready to go into book bins so the kiddos will have books to choose from for their Read to Someone time.

~ Clara @ First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Please leave your comments below.

Daily Five - Word Work

Here is an update on Word Work in my classroom.  The kids are loving the materials and I am loving how much they are practicing their Words to Learn.  The Words to learn in my classroom are 10 beginning spelling words plus 5 new sight words each week.

The kids are practicing their spelling words and having fun at the same time.  They take it very seriously.  Have you implemented Daily Five in your classroom?  I would love to hear how it is going for you.


Daily 5, By Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.  

Step 1 - If you don't have the book, get it.  I have read it through twice now and it has changed my perspective on how I will implement literacy centers in my first grade classroom this fall.  If you are at all interested in The Daily 5, get it, read it.

Work Work - Fun ways to have the kiddos practice spelling skills.  "The Sisters" in the book Daily 5, explain the importance of Word Work for reading and writing development.  Some of the goals of Word Work are:

• Experimenting with words for learning and practicing a spelling pattern
• Memorizing high frequency words
• Generalizing spelling patterns
• Adding to our knowledge and curiosity of unique and interesting words

                                   (The Daily Five, page 85)

Materials:  A key consideration for Word Work is identifying the materials students will use for their practice.  While there are tons of choices, The Sisters recommend selecting materials and then keeping it consistent for the year.  This supports their proposition of providing authentic reading and writing experiences for your students.  If the materials keep changing, the kiddos may become focused on the novelty of the materials rather than the Word Work.

A list  of materials I am working on for the kids to practice Word Work includes the following:

• Whiteboards
• Magnetic letters
• Scrabble tiles
• Wikki Stix
• Letter stamps
• Mr. Sketch colored markers
• Tactile letters, Foam letters, Upwords game (perhaps as one rotating activity)
• Just added:  alphabet beads for stringing their words

I plan to use the process outlined in the book, Daily 5, to introduce Word Work.  The Sisters make the point that the kids will need time to "explore and play" with the materials for Word Work in order to use them for tools for spelling practice.

Now that I have gathered the materials for Word Work, I need to have a kid friendly storage system that allows easy access to the materials but also keeps them organized.  The kiddos should be able to set up, work with the materials, and clean up independently.  A tall order...

My amazing teaching partner has made cards with our Words to Learn for each week.  Let the fun begin!

How do you organize your materials for Daily 5 Word Work?  What materials have been successful for use with the kiddos?  I would love to hear your thoughts.  Please leave your comments below.

~ Clara @ First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Daily Five - Work on Writing

Work on Writing is the next piece of Daily Five I plan to implement.  "The Sisters" - Gail Boushey and Joan Mosher, in their more recent writings recommend adding this element next after Read to Self.  This is a change from the order presented in the book, The Daily Five.

This change emphasizes the utmost importance of BOTH reading and writing. This makes sense to me as they are so closely related.

Be sure to read the book for more complete details about Work on Writing.  It is an amazing resource.  

Quote from page 80 of the book, "Intensive work (and play) in writing and word study also supports reading development.  The two components of Daily Five, Work on Writing and Word Work, help students hone their skills as writers and their knowledge of words."

How does Work on Writing for D5 differ from Writer's Workshop?  The main difference between the two is that during Writer's Workshop, I choose what the students are writing about such as a grade level genre piece or a specific writing strategy.  During D5 the kiddos may choose to continue working on their pieces started during Writer's Workshop however during the D5 it is their choice of what to write. That choice is the key.

Work on Writing follows the same gradual release model of instruction that will be repeated as you introduce each of the components of Daily 5 - Introduce, Brainstorm I-Chart, Model, Practice, Repeat, Build Stamina.  Refer to Chapter 6 of the book for excellent descriptions of what this looks like in a classroom.

I want to focus on what those very first lessons will look like in my classroom.  How can I foster the independence necessary to make D5 a success in first grade?

Day 1 - Create I-Chart of expected behaviors

             Teacher model writing process

                   Tell a short story.

                   Model the writing on chart paper (Write 3 or 4

                   sentences.)

                   Model underlining words you don't know how to

                   spell.  Come back later for spelling.

Day 2 - Brainstorm - Practice where to sit and what materials to use.   (Notebook/journal, pencil or pen, drawing or sketching - I plan to put their notebook/journal and a pen or pencil in their book bins.)

Day 3 - What can we write about? Make a list of topics, a list of forms, and post the lists for the students to use when they are writing.

I plan to use the forms from this great resource from A Cupcake for the Teacher to make a writing bulletin board in our writing center.  I found her Writing Center Starter Kit on Tpt.  It has everything I will need to get started. Check it out.

Day 4 - Continue to teach different forms of writing in short focus lessons.  Begin practice sessions for 3 minutes.  Practice 1 -3 times as time allows.

Continue to follow the model of placing the kiddos around the room with their book bins, practice, signal, return to gathering place, check-in, revisit I-chart,  then practice again.  Add 1 minute each day until you build stamina to 20-30 minutes.

This bright carpet will be perfect for our gathering place.  I  can't wait to get into my new classroom and start setting it all up for first graders.

I know one of my biggest challenges will be to move away to the guided reading table and not use eye contact or proximity to manage the kids behavior in order to foster independence. Challenging but necessary.

How do you do Work on Writing with your class?  What challenges have you faced?  I would love to hear about your insights, suggestions, or successes.

~ Clara @ Teaching 365

First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Daily Five - Read to Self

Read to self may be the most important literacy learning in first grade.  In the past, my read to self time was DEAR, SSR, silent reading... a time when the kids chose a book, read it, and took an AR (Accelerated Reader) quiz to show they understood it.  This is quite different from the Read to Self described by "The Sisters" in The Daily Five.

I need to spend focused teaching time with the key concepts, materials,and routines to launch Read to Self with both mini-lessons and materials the kids will need.  

One of my big jobs to prepare for this part of Daily Five will be to organize book boxes for each of my students (25 first graders).

The kids will need an individual book box for their books.  It will have 3-8 picture books, magazines, and easy chapter books that I have selected for them to read. 

Here is a pic of the bins I will use.  Now I just need to label them and fill them.

I will post more pictures after I have it set up in my classroom. 


Mini-Lesson: 3 Ways to Read a Book
This lesson honors the kids level of reading development, whatever it may be.  In Daily Five, this lesson addresses the kids' belief that reading only means reading the words. 

What are the 3 ways?
Read the pictures
Read the words
Retell a familiar story

Mini Lesson: Good-fit Books
Using an anchor chart "I Pick" gives 5 ways to help choose a "good fit" book. Some time after this lesson, kids will choose their own books for their book boxes. For kids to grow as readers, they need to spend lots and lots of time reading with the majority of that time with "Good-fit" books.

 Daily Five - Model, practice, model, practice, model, practice,then repeat.

I will definitely need to go slow now to go fast later.  There is so much more in the Read to Self portion of the book.  Once again, get the book and read it, and then read it again. I am certain to keep it nearby as I continue my journey with Daily Five in my first grade class.

How have you used The Daily Five and Read to Self in your classroom?  Challenges, successes?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

~Clara

Daily Five - Reading the book The Daily Five - Part 1

It only seems natural that if you plan to try someone's ideas in your classroom, that first you should read the book.  "The Sisters", Gail Boushey and Joan Moser wrote a book detailing each part of this literacy process.  My first question to myself was, "What is Daily Five?"  I had been reading all over the web, Facebook, and Pinterest about it - Step one - Read the book!

Click here to view more details about the book. The Daily Five

"The Sisters" also have a website with extensive resources to support Daily Five along the journey.  I am considering buying a subscription to access all the wonderful videos and resources but many of them are free and accessible without a membership. 

The official Daily Five website

"The Daily Five is a series of literacy tasks which students complete daily while the teacher meets with small groups or confers with individuals. This book not only explains the philosophy behind the structure, but shows you how to carefully and systematically train your students to participate in each of the components." Quote from The 2 Sisters website. 

I would love to hear from you about your Daily Five journey. Right now I have more questions than answers. 

My next post will be about the first of the Daily Five routines, Read to Self. Those first days of school in first every grade are especially important to establishing routines.

~Clara