Daily Five Freebies

Hi y'all. Currently I am in the process of reading the 2nd edition of Daily Five. I have found that implementing Daily Five framework to be very successful in both my kindergarten and first grade classrooms. Let me admit this, I don't do everything that the two sisters recommend. I make changes and adapt in order to make it fit for my classroom. For the past 3 years, I never gave students the opportunity to make their own choices about where to go for literacy. I, the teacher, would make the choice for students.  However, at the end of last school year, I gave students the opportunity to make choices.  The students were much more engaged during literacy because they got to choose where to go. I did however told my students that they needed to do iRead, a scholastic computer based program, everyday. I did have some sense of control :) When I allowed my students to make structure choices, I seen a lot of positive changes in my literacy block. I think for next school year (in a month or so), I will begin by telling students where to go for the first month and then move to student choices. I am crossing my fingers that it goes well.  To make the transition from teacher to student choice, I have made several things to help hold students accountable.  I made a literacy rotation check off sheet for every student. To download a free copy of this checklist, click here.

I am going to laminate these so students can reuse them every week. Here are some questions people have asked me about my literacy block:

What is your literacy block schedule?
8:45-9:00   Reader's Workshop Mini-Lesson
9:00-9:20   Rotation # 1
9:20-9:40   Rotation # 2
9:40-10:00  Rotation # 3
10:00-10:05 Closure/Share

How do you hold students accountable?
At the end of each rotation, students will mark their checklist.  Also, all of students "work" will be placed behind the checklist on their clipboard.

How often do you pull small groups?
I pull small groups during every rotation. I see my lowest readers every day and highest readers 1-2 times a week. Because I was blessed with a student teacher last school year, we were able to see all the groups everyday.

How do you launch your literacy block?
Hmm....I try to take away the memories of the first month of school. Kidding! We start off with read to self (suggested by the two sisters).  Then as soon as students build their stamina, I launch the next choice.  Remember, it is important to MODEL MODEL MODEL and step aside. I do not pull small groups until I know my students can be INDEPENDENTLY  during literacy.

To help build stamina, I have a poster size read to self stamina chart that I use to keep track. It is 18x24 so it is HUGE! I am all about making things electronically.  All I do is going to staples.com, print services, and upload this bad boy. You can print this at staples for only $1.79 by clicking on engineering prints! It is VERY affordable. Here is the link: http://www.staples.com/sbd/content/copyandprint/engineering-prints.html

If you would like a copy of this to print, click here. In order to use this, you will need to print on 18x24 size paper though.

Where do you get your mini-lesson from?
To be honest with you, EVERYWHERE. We did not have a require literacy program so I used a combination of CAFE, Teacher's College Reader's Workshop Curricular Calendar, and Common Core State Standards. We started off the year teaching students about CAFE strategies. I really like starting off with this because students had the opportunity to learn about reading various reading strategies.  Then after all the strategies were taught, students will set reading goals and pick 1-2 strategies to work on.  I created these reading strategies cards for my classroom.
To purchase the kindergarten CAFE strategies cards, click here.

To purchase the first grade CAFE strategies cards, click here.

Please let me know if you have any further questions! Happy Sunday!