Well, my first grade monkeys are well into Daily 5 by now.
I wanted to let you know how we kicked off the routine.
If you are thinking of starting Daily 5, the first thing you need to do is read The Daily 5 book by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.
The first year you try Daily 5, you should try to do it as close to the way it is described in the book. The Two Sisters know what they are talking about! I really was worried the first time I tried it - didn't think most of it would work. I was pleasantly surprised. The kids became so independent and I was able to run meaningful small groups. I was ready to find another job, then along came Daily 5 and saved my career!
We started Daily 5 lessons on the second day of school this year. I introduced the 3 different ways to read a book first.
This was really important because I have a lot of non-readers this year. They needed to be reassured that "reading" the pictures was legitimate. We took 2 days to complete this, like it is explained in the book. Then we reviewed the concept for weeks afterwards.
My Daily 5 board ready for T-Charts.
I took 3 days to teach this lesson and it needs to be reviewed often. www.brainpopjr.com has a good video about picking good books, too.
The kids love the I PICK lesson. I teach the lesson pretty much word for word from the book (substituting playing in the snow for golf). They love my shoes. (There's nothing special about my shoes, they just love the glimpse into my closet!) And walking out of my husband's large running shoe gets them laughing hysterically! I leave the shoes up for a couple of weeks as a reminder.
Then I introduced the student's book boxes
and they went shopping for good books.
(These colored, plastic book boxes are from www.ReallyGoodStuff.com)
I suggest spreading the book boxes around the room, so that kids are not pushing their way to their box at Daily 5 time.
We started talking about Read To Self the next week. Taking it slow in the beginning pays off in the end, so go slow and make sure the students understand and can explain each component before you go on to the next.I suggest spreading the book boxes around the room, so that kids are not pushing their way to their box at Daily 5 time.
That's the kickoff! Things just soar from there!
I love when visitors come in and stand, shocked, watching 6 year olds work independently!
Thank you Daily 5!
