In our class, we utilize The Daily 5. Part classroom management system, part curriculum framework, the Daily 5 is a way to engage students in daily reading and writing activities in a way that fosters independence. I use this time when students are doing their Daily 5 centers to pull groups and individuals to my back table for Guided Reading instruction. The Daily 5 was designed for a full day classroom, so we have modified it to fit our half day Kindergarten schedule. Essentially it has morphed into the Weekly 5! Each day of the week, during our Daily 5 block, a different table is working at a different station. By the end of the week, the children have participated in all the activities.
We used the beginning of the year to slowly learn how to participate in these activities, and built stamina (over time increasing the length of time we could quietly and effectively work within a station). Now that we can work independently for 20 minutes at a time in each activity, they have become centers. This is what the Daily 5 looks like in our classroom!
Read to Self:
These are some of the anchor charts we created as a class when we were beginning to learn how to Read to Self.
Here are students reading from their "Good Fit" Book Bags. These bags contain books that the students have selected ("shopped for") from our classroom library. These books are on the student's reading level. We use the Fountas & Pinnell Leveling system, and have students ranging from Level A-J.Word Work:
Anchor charts with pictures and easily accessed supplies all help children maintain their independence in this Daily 5 center.
Students work from differentiated word lists (which are taken from High Frequency Words and word families that we teach in Kindergarten) that are kept in their green folders. Students are required to practice making these words at least one day, and when they feel they have mastered their lists, they can read the words to me in exchange for the next list.
Listen to Reading:
Here are students after listening to the recorded story. They are completing "story pictures" regarding what happened at the beginning, middle, and end of the story they just heard.
Work on Writing:
Some children choose to use their Work on Writing time as an extension of Writer's Workshop, especially if they were particularly engaged in the story they were writing and they don't want to stop (Daily 5 usually follows Writer's Workshop time). Other students choose to write the room, grabbing a clipboard and a pencil and jotting down words they see around the room. Sometimes they organize these lists by number of letters in the word and sometimes they organize it by starting letter.
Read to Someone:
This is a favorite of the children! They love having a chance to show off their reading skills! Students pick books that are on their level so that they can read, with success, to their peer. They just love it!
These modifications to the Daily 5 have enabled us to create a literacy centered classroom environment in our half day Kindergarten class. If you are interested in finding out more about The Daily 5, please visit the official website:
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